TOV Challenge #7 – Setters With Great Potential

<p>Another weekend, another tournament in the club season in the great state of Texas. While several of the top teams in the Houston area took the weekend off, there were events going on and we were there following the action.</p> <p>Our choice this past weekend was the TOV Challenge #7, which took place at the Texas One Volleyball Club, in Richmond, where eight teams competed in the 18s Division and 12 hit the court among the 17s.</p> <p>As usual, we’ll present the most impressive players in each position during the weekend, following with our selection for the All-Tournament Teams in both divisions. We start with the setters.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="140398" first="Ava" last="Derbes"] – Woodlands Revolution 18 Premier – HS: A&amp;M Consolidated – 2022</strong></p> <p>Arguably the most complete setter in the tournament, [player_tooltip player_id="140398" first="Ava" last="Derbes"] led her Woodlands Revolution 18 Premier team to victory in the division. The six-foot-tall Derbes is an extremely valuable asset to her teams with her ability to contribute in several areas of the game. She’s great with the ball in her hands, running a fast-paced offense with impressive precision and consistency. Derbes doubles up as a right side hitter when at the net and also plays excellent defense. A Tulane commit, she displayed her amazing versatility during the last high school season when she broke a record with A&amp;M Consolidated by recording 14 triple-doubles.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/13159098/6242d041f31e38056ce32feb" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Trinity Williams – AVA TX 18 Attack – HS: Little Cypress-Mauriceville - 2022</strong></p> <p>Trinity Williams is another setter with multiple talents. She splits time between hitting and setting duties with her high school team Little Cypress-Mauriceville but was AVA TX 18 Attack’s main setter during the tournament. The 5’6” Williams, who also plays golf and competes in track &amp; field, is very fast on the court and does an excellent job in tracking passes and moving to the best possible position to set, assuring better accuracy. A Prairie View A&amp;M commit, she’s also an excellent defender.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/11310280/621177e14ba85b07d0522234" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Julia Liang – Fort Bend Jrs 18 Legacy – HS: Fort Bend Clements - 2022</strong></p> <p>Julia Liang thrives for her consistency and reliability. The 5’7” playmaker is one of those setters who can set the ball at the exact same location over and over, bringing a lot of value to their teams. Liang is also a solid defender and gets to impact the game in a variety of ways with her high volleyball IQ. She produced impressive 919 assists during the last high school season with Fort Bend Clements.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/13653369/616b1e8e64dfaa0ab4e38b16" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Kyla Paulino – Houston Skyline 17 White – HS: Fort Bend Austin - 2023</strong></p> <p>A talented playmaker with a consistent and intelligent game, Kyla Paulino did a good job when running Houston Skyline 17 White’s offense. She’s very accurate with her sets and runs a fairly simple system, but places her hitters in a good position to score time and time again. At 5’9”, Paulino is extremely solid at the net and also goes well on the backcourt with a dangerous serve and very good defense.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16306494/617cc7f8bd746c0bb459b9bb" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Haylie Robinson – Texas Hurricane 17 CAT 5 – HS: Pearland – 2023</strong></p> <p>Under Haylie Robinson’s guidance, Texas Hurricane CAT 5 advanced all the way to the final of the gold bracket in the 17s Division. She has good size to play the position and does it with great efficiency and consistency, always putting her hitters in a good position. She becomes a hitter herself too at the net and also gets to contribute on defense and with her dangerous serve. Robinson also seems to be very supportive and positive on the court.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Lauren Burns -</strong> <strong>Texas Hurricane 17 CAT 4 – 2023</strong></p> <p>Lauren Burns’ game is still coming together but she showed some interesting skills for a player of her position. She has good size for a setter and a clean touch on the ball. She likes to play fast and to use all of her hitters, keeping everyone involved. Another thing that stood out in her game was her precision even when she was forced to bump set. A lefty, Burns is also a good server and does a great job in communicating with her teammates on the court.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Texas Hurricanes’ Lauren Burns has stood out as one of the best ball handlers in the 17s division <a href="https://x.com/PrepDigTX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrepDigTX</a> <a href="https://t.co/HVNzHdxYgv">pic.x.com/HVNzHdxYgv</a></p> — Guilherme Torres (@grtorres) <a href="https://x.com/grtorres/status/1512823760428146694?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>