Club Team Spotlight – Austin Juniors 16 Molten

We are coming to the end of the volleyball season soon and we wanted to write a few articles on certain club teams who we think deserve some recognition for their season. Qualifier season is now coming to an end and some teams have punched their ticket to USA Volleyball Junior Nationals, which will be held in Indianapolis later on this summer. Let's take a look at a team who has had a great season so far and who we will be seeing at Nationals. Take a bow Austin Juniors 16 Molten…you have earned it.   <img class="size-medium wp-image-192756 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/04/AJV-16-Molten-Play.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />Austin Juniors is no stranger to getting their teams or players recognized as they are a nationally known club and have been a staple in the volleyball community for a long time. They routinely pump out prospects to play at the next level. I was able to watch their 16 Molten team in Dallas at the Lone Star National Qualifier over Easter weekend. I have been keeping up with their season, but it was my first time to see them in person. Two of their players came up to me while at the convention center to introduce themselves in person and let me know what court they would be on later that day. I had two time slots available in my itinerary and loved that they came up to me in person, so I decided to check them out. I was glad I did, because they have quite a bit of talent on their team. So far they are 47-15 on the year and sit at 5th in the region according to AES results. They have four top five finishes this year and have never finished worst than 9th place. They have double qualified for USA Junior Nationals with amazing finishes at the Pacific Northwest Qualifier and the Northeast Qualifier in the USA Division. We are proud of their success and look forward to seeing them in Indy this summer. Even though we can write about each and every athlete that contributed to their success, I am only going to cover a few players that stood out while I was watching. Let's meet a few of them. [player_tooltip player_id="124129" first="Campbell" last="Bartley"] [2024] 5-11 Setter (HS: Austin/Club: Austin Juniors/Verbal: Uncommitted) <img class="size-medium wp-image-192755 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/04/Campbell-Bartley-e1651279052781-167x300.jpg" alt="" width="167" height="300" /> Campbell is currently ranked as the 47th best prospect overall in the 2024 Class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. She is a tall setter with amazing posture from the Austin area who plays for Austin High School and the amazing Austin Juniors volleyball club. Miss Bartley did a great job moving the ball around to all of her hitters in the challenge match I saw. What was more impressive was her ability to set her middles so consistently. This is one of the main reasons why her team has been so successful this year. She uses her middles even during out of system plays and it keeps them super aggressive throughout each match. She remains so composed on the court no matter how competitive the match may be or how much adversity her team is going through. This kind of leadership is visible from the sidelines and we loved what we saw from her. She talks to her hitters well during dead balls so they know what routes they are running. What truly stood out to me is how she came up to me and introduced herself during off time of the tourney in Dallas. In the day and age where the youth of this country have a lack of social skills, Miss Bartley showed me that she is very mature for her age and not afraid to put herself out there. This will be good when talking to college coaches during recruiting and later in life when she has interviews. I will gladly keep watching her career closely as she continues to progress as a setter. Kacey Kazmierski [2024] 5-10 Setter/Right Side (HS: Lake Travis/Club: Austin Juniors/Verbal: Uncommitted) Kacey is currently an unranked prospect overall in the 2024 Class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. She is a great setter that plays at Lake Travis High School and for the nationally recognized Austin Juniors club program. She has great size and strength for a setter and is truly polished in the position. One thing I loved about her play was her posture when delivering the ball to all locations along the net. She was powerful enough to push the ball to the pins during out of system plays and also graceful enough to set her middles in quick situations. She served very tough in the match I saw and ran a very good balanced offense moving the ball around to every hitter to keep the other team off-balanced. I was also impressed because she stayed in the front row and did a great job as a right side. We will gladly keep our eye on her as she continues to progress in the sport.   Kayla Patel [2024] 5-7 Outside (HS: St. Stephens/Club: Austin Juniors/ Verbal: Uncommitted) Kayla is currently an unranked prospect in the 2024 Class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. She is a talented left side and defensive specialist for St. Stephens Episcopal High School and also for the amazing Austin Juniors volleyball club. My mouth dropped when I saw this smaller pin hitter's vertical as she raised up and attacked. She has great hang time and gets off of the ground very quickly. That foot-speed is apparent in every aspect of the game when you watch her play. She has a picturesque approach in which she truly uses her arms in an upswing that helps her vertical gain a few inches. That upswing is beautiful to watch and then it culminates in a very violent and lightning quick arm swing with tremendous power from this small frame. She is someone who we will be watching for sure moving forward and are glad we have her on our radar now.   Lauren Petty [2024] 5-10 Right Side (HS: Home Schooled/Club: Austin Juniors/Verbal: Uncommitted) Miss Petty is currently an unranked prospect in the 2024 Class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. This powerful lefty is a great weapon that AJV uses early and often in their offensive scheme. She takes a very aggressive approach and has a whip of a left arm. In the challenge match that I saw, she was very aggressive as a right side and it proved to be a huge advantage for her squad. She has great size and challenges opposing attackers at the net to slow them down. Her blocking technique requires great timing and this is something that Miss Petty excels at. She was on fire when I was watching her as she truly helped her team both offensively and defensively. I will be watching her closely to see how much more she progresses in the sport and right side position.   They have been playing well together as a team and it shows in their two national qualifier finishes. Other notable players who have been starring for this fantastic team are super powerful middle Carrington Jaimes, high scoring outside Lainey McGehee, and amazing libero [player_tooltip player_id="182106" first="Bella" last="Parayno"]. We will be highlighting others from this team in another article soon as they gear up for Nationals. Stay tuned for more from this wonderful team as we will be watching them in person in Indy.   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. 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