Katy United Classic #7 – Setters With Great Technique

Last weekend was a big one in the current club season and all eyes (or actually, most of them) were justifiably turned to the 2022 USA Volleyball Girls 18s Junior National Championship in Phoenix, Arizona. There were, however, tournaments happening elsewhere and one of them was the Katy United Classic #7, held at the club of the same name in the Katy area, which reunited 17 teams from the Houston region in the 16s age groups for a day of competition. We were there, closely following the action and will report on some of the most promising players we saw on the court during the week. As usual, we start the week with some of the talented setters who led their teams in the event.   [player_tooltip player_id="186231" first="Anna" last="Blaine"] – Texas Legacy 16 Elite – HS: Klein Collins – 2024 Think of a physical or technical tool you'd want on a setter and [player_tooltip player_id="186231" first="Anna" last="Blaine"] has it. She stands at 6'1”, has long arms and is an excellent blocker. Her setting technique is also very good and she uses her quick release to run a fast-paced offense with her team. Blaine, who is also an excellent defender, is mentally very strong as well as she's very calm on the ball and has the confidence to repeat a play after she makes a mistake. She was highly productive for Klein Collins in the last high school season, tallying 890 assists, 140 digs, 48 aces, 72 kills and 32 blocks. <iframe src="https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15088661/615dbec7e98526077051269d" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>   Catherine Grad – Katy United 16 Navy – HS: Tompkins – 2024 A diminutive and extremely talented playmaker, Catherina Grad guided her Katy United 16 Navy team to an appearance in the gold bracket championship match. The 5'3” setter has excellent technique and pinpoint location, repeatedly setting the ball to the same spot. Also capable of playing as a defensive specialist, she's an asset on the backcourt too with her ability to read plays and her dangerous floater server, which granted her team some good runs from the service line.   Paige Woodruff – Fr Challenge Elite 16 – Magic - HS: Clear Lake – 2024 Paige Woodruff stood out as one of the most creative setters in the tournament. Playing with a lineup of shorter hitters, she had to use all of her craftiness to make her Fr Challenge Elite 16 – Magic team produce on offense. The 5'7” Woodruff also impressed with her ability to remain precise with her location even when she had to bumpset. A lefty, she's also a solid server and defender and showed unexpected power on her arm when asked to hit in a couple of rotations. <iframe src="https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14058468/624f51ae1600451108634a11" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>   Samantha Duong – Katy United 16 Red – 2024 A 5'5” setter who excels for her smart ball distribution and the consistency of her sets, Samantha Duong did a great job with her Katy United 16 Red team. Her offensive strategy was really interesting as she managed to keep all of her hitters involved and made intelligent decisions in difficult moments. Duong also proved to be a good server and defender. <iframe src="https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15378331/6260a7ec5eec04114c353a6b" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>   Chloe Stein – TX Hurricane 16 CAT 5 – HS: Ball – 2024 Chloe Stein caught my attention already during the warmups with her excellent technical gesture when setting the ball. She was able to repeat it over the course of matches and added a high level of precision to her sets. Stein also impressed with her excellent decision-making, which made her consistently use the right hitter at the right time. The 5'7” setter is also a threat to score with her crafty setter dumps and is a solid defensive player. She had a prolific high school season with Ball, producing 475 assists, 190 digs and 46 aces. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Texas Hurricane's Chloe Stein uses her middles extremely well <a href="https://x.com/PrepDigTX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrepDigTX</a> <a href="https://t.co/Z1xciPR0qJ">pic.x.com/Z1xciPR0qJ</a> — Guilherme Torres (@grtorres) <a href="https://x.com/grtorres/status/1517896086169559041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>   Emma Cravey – Texas Legacy 16 National – HS: Klein Cain – 2024 Emma Cravey showed an interesting game with her Texas Legacy 16 National team. The setter has great hands and stood out with her intelligent and precise ball distribution. She did a great job in keeping all her hitters involved during matches and displayed an interesting ability to make good decisions with the ball in her hands.