Tour of Texas Finals Champs – TAV Houston 16 Adidas
The Tour of Texas is one of the most prestigious series of tournaments in the nation simply due to the quality of teams that compete it in. What makes it amazing is the fact that every team had to qualify for…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe Tour of Texas is one of the most prestigious series of tournaments in the nation simply due to the quality of teams that compete it in. What makes it amazing is the fact that every team had to qualify for it. No matter how you shake it, every team earned their place by competing either by last year’s results or this year’s Tour Qualifier. Then they prove themselves through the series of stops to show that it was no fluke. Which brings us to this past weekend’s Tour Finals stop. We are going to write a series of articles highlighting both individual and team achievements from what we were able to witness. Both Guillerme Torres and myself were in attendance with over 50 college coaches to watch some incredible match-ups. My first article goes out to the 16’s Division Champion – TAV Houston 16 Adidas.
TAV Houston 16 Adidas
Club Director/Head Coach Joe Lind gave some statements on how they were able to win the Championship. He said, “We only had eight fully healthy players able to go this weekend competing against some of the best competition in the state and nation.” He then went on to state the following, “Ups, downs, leads, comebacks. All of it. Saturday we were down 5-10 in 3rd set vs AJV Adidas. We took our second time out, and then came back to win 15-13 to finish 3rd in the power pool. This (Sunday) morning: first match vs SA Jrs, down 22-24 in the 2nd set, match point for SAJ. We came back to win 30-28, and then win the match in three sets. Second match vs HJV Elite, we were down 0-6 in second set after winning first set 25-23. We regrouped and won 25-19. The championship match vs Drive Nation was a roller coaster three set victory vs another great team. I am super proud of the resiliency. Shout out to my assistant head coach Camille Alfaro – who called a great serving strategy all weekend. Setter Audrey Terry played a 5-1 all weekend due to an injury to our other setter and played her heart out!” These were some fantastic words from a very happy coach/director. We saw some great individual play, which led to an amazing weekend for their team. I’ve known Director Lind for some time now having coached against him for many years and his teams always play very hard no matter who they are up against. There are some great things brewing in Houston with his program and this championship just proves it. We have some of his players ranked in the state and we found some more that just proved that they should be considered and are now on our watch list. They have had a tough time against these teams so far this season, but proved the they are not afraid of anyone and if you want to beat them, you will have tear them off of the court because they will not go down without a fight. They should be commended for their heart and fight to win the 16’s division of the Tour of Texas.
As always we could easily write about each player and their special contributions to the team’s success, but we will keep our “Most Outstanding Players” article to a select few that we wanted to highlight. We will be covering the rest of their athletes in future articles for sure as they are deserving of recognition because they are invaluable to their team. Stay tuned for those articles also.
Jaela Auguste Jaela Auguste 6'0" | MB Grand Oaks | 2024 State #17 Nation TX [2024] 6-0 Middle (HS: Grand Oaks/Club: TAV Houston/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Jaela is currently ranked as the 57th best overall prospect in the 2024 Class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. She plays high school volleyball at Grand Oaks High School. We profiled her a few times and here is a little refresher on what we stated, “Miss Auguste is a multi-sport athlete who excels at track and field also. She is an amazing high jumper, which also translates into the volleyball game by helping her with attacking and blocking. She has lots of natural power and tons of raw athleticism that will propel her into stardom on the court as she continues to progress. Jaela is learning all of the routes on the route tree for a middle and is a show stopper with a slide behind the setter. Her blocking is something that any casual observer notices as its hard not to with her long wingspan and quick footwork to close out on the attacker.” To say she played “big” is a huge understatement. We watched as she rose up well above the net to unload some bombs on her opponents. Her block was key against some huge state ranked attackers all weekend. She is someone who we think will for sure continue to rise in the rankings in our next update. A flat out stud who was turning heads amongst college coaches who were watching.
Amelia Creacy Amelia Creacy 6'1" | RS Bridgeland | 2024 State TX [2024] 6-0 Right Side (HS: Bridgeland/Club: TAV Houston/ Verbal: Uncommitted)
Amelia is currently ranked as the 62nd best overall prospect in the state according to the 2024 Prep Dig State Rankings. She plays on the pins for Bridgeland High School. We profiled her previously when we introduced her to the rankings and this is what we stated, “This left-handed right side can bring the thunder when she swings. This is such a great weapon to have for any team that has a setter that can set against flow regularly. We love how she uses her arms to gain momentum throughout her approach as it allows her to get up higher and also swing even harder. She will be a huge asset to the any team that she plays for due to the fact that she can serve tough and also play defense in the back row after. The sky is the limit for this kid and she has every chance to continue to move up the rankings as we update them throughout the years. We are extremely excited to have her in the Prep Dig Family and look forward to covering her career.” She played amazing for this squad this past weekend and showed up when it mattered the most. Her contributions to this team’s offense and defense cannot be overlooked. We think she has so much untapped potential to continue to rise in the rankings.
Skylar Skrabanek [2024] 6-1 Outside/Right Side (HS: Tompkins/Club: TAV Houston/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Skylar is currently an unranked prospect in the 2024 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings, but showed a lot of promise and made my watch list for our next update. Miss Skrabanek stars at Tompkins High School. This lengthy pin can hit at either side of the net with power. She is a great prospect for the next level due to her frame and natural power. She has an absolute whip of an arm that wows you when she unleashes it. I love her footwork as she transitions to her touch point and also when she closes her approach to the ball. Sky can turn on the ball and paint the line with the best of them. She is even a viable offensive threat out of the back row too. We think she has a very high ceiling and can’t wait for our next Rankings update.
Samara Coleman Samara Coleman 6'0" | OH Grand Oaks | 2025 State #74 Nation TX [2025] 5-11 Outside (HS: Legacy Prep Christian Academy/Club: TAV Houston/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Samara is currently ranked as the 18th best overall player in the 2025 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. This kid can absolutely fly. The bouncy pin attacker is a stud for Legacy Prep Christian Academy. Coach Lind speaks very highly of Samara and thinks she is a steal of a recruit. Her thirty inch vertical and state ranking number will not allow her to be a secret for long. To be able to compete at the top 16’s open level is something to be proud of, but to do it while playing up an age group is even more admirable. We will be writing a few more articles on this youngster for the next few years so get ready to read more about her. This kid was doing it all from both the front row and the back row for TAV Houston. This was not a fluke at all and mark my words…they will continue to be in the running in the age group due to the tempo at which they are running Miss Coleman on the left side. She will have so many splits that will be difficult to stop with her raw power threading that needle.
Audrey Terry [2024] 5-5 Setter (HS: Grand Oaks/Club: TAV Houston/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Audrey is currently an unranked prospect in the 2024 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings, but showed tremendous heart and determination this past weekend. She plays at Grand Oaks high school and just ran a 5-1 offense against some monster left side attackers for two days. The five foot five setter was able to quarterback from the front row and was dishing some absolute dimes to her hitters all weekend. I loved the tempo to her outsides and she also knew when to throw it back to the back row hitters for a kill. She was brilliant mixing it up to keep the opponents off-balance. The championship could not have been done without the amazing play of Audrey. She deserves all of the kudos in the world to lead her team to some amazing come from behind victories. Take a bow Miss Terry…you played amazing.
As always stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following us, Prep Dig Texas Family! Don’t be afraid to interact with us. We love the likes, shares, and quotes/comments. Keep them coming!