Two Atlantic Coast Grand Prix Champions
This was an AAU weekend tournament in Virginia Beach. I focused on the 17/18 open and 16 divisions since much of my time was spent coaching my own team. East Coast Power 17 Lehigh Valley Titanium This Pennsylvania team in…
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Continue ReadingThis was an AAU weekend tournament in Virginia Beach. I focused on the 17/18 open and 16 divisions since much of my time was spent coaching my own team.
East Coast Power 17 Lehigh Valley Titanium
This Pennsylvania team in the Keystone Region has some length. There are not a lot of teams from that area that have qualified for Nationals, but ECP LV defeated Vienna Elite 17-L pretty handily in the finals 25-17, 25-16. VE 17-L is a team that had just played in the 18 Nationals in Pheonix. The only set loss for ECP LV came in pool play to VE 17-L when they beat them in three 19-25, 25-18, 15-9. Below are some of the players that deserve accolades for their play.
Breelyn Bender – She is a 6’2 middle blocker. Love her movement in the middle. She has a solid block, runs a smooth slide and can hit the quick sets. She also can go back and contribute with a pretty mean serve. She is a 2024 playing at 17s and can only improve next year.
Abigail Schweitzer – While she is only 5’9″ it does not hinder her as an outside. Abigail hits the ball to the deep corners of the court, shredding the defenses with her mixture of shots. There were a couple times she hit a high ball in the middle, rifling it past the big block as if it did not exist. Her jump serve also has some downward spin action that opponents found tough to pass.
Carly Cambell – At 6’0″ she plays right side when in the front row but more importantly sets when in the back row. Her sets have some quick tempo that are spotted at various zones along the net. She also puts up a good block on the right side. Carly is also a 2024 playing at 17.
Scarlett Jago – The libero of the team, Scarlett covers a lot of ground. She also broke out a pretty good jump spin serve in the finals when things seemed pretty much in control. She is aggressive receiving serves, her 5’8″ height allowing her to take much of the court.
Vienna Elite 16-F Venom
It was another domination of a tournament by the three 16 teams of Vienna Elite. The 16-F team downed the 16-L 21-25, 25-19 and 15-12 in the finals, but it is 16-L that will be going to Nationals. The 16 RS team shared third place with Ridgetop Volleyball Club, another Keystone Regional team. There were 26 teams in the tournament. Below are some of the players from VE 16-L that impressed.
Brooke Bundy – She orchestrates the offense running a 5/1. At about 5’7″ Brooke does not create the tallest block in the front row, but she makes up for it with consistent sets that fuels the offense. Nice quick tempo to the middles, outsides and to the right side. She plays a steady defense in the back row.
Jocelyn Shortle – Jocely appears to be the go to gal for Brooke on the outside. At 5’9″ she relies more on placement than power to get her kills, feeding on the deep corner in the “1” spot. She also has a nice cut shot indicating there may be some beach to her game.
Sydney Pham – When you run a 5/1 offense you need a libero that can step in to set. Sydney did a good job of putting up juicy out of system sets that the outsides could hammer. She also passes well and moves her feet to create the right angles when playing defense.
Ashley Wise – Coaches are usually looking for girls taller than 5’7″ to play right side, but Ashley has a nice jump and a fast arm swing that can send balls to the floor quickly. She buried a couple over sets and smacked a back quick set from Brooke. What she lacks in height she makes up for in quickness.
Two other girls worthy of comment are:
Contessa Falsone (Dynamix 16) – They lost to Vienna Elite 16-L early in the playoffs, but the middle play of Contessa impressed me the most at the tournament. She stands 5’10″ but her sprawling defense and her quickness to hit the outside set tells me she could play anywhere. She runs a nice slide, glides from pin to pin and hits the middle well so that may be her future.
Ashley Roberts (Go Volley 17) – This 17 club is located in the Winchester area of Virginia. They only won one match in the tournament but Ashly showed some good skills as an outside. Her passing could use more consistency but she has good height, hits a good out of system set and powered some back row sets There is a lot of promise to her game.