Queens Court Tournament Elite Varsity Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Which Elite Varsity division team will reign supreme?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Queen's Court is one of the most anticipated tournaments in Orange County every year. It's a pre-season, non-CIF event that is highly competitive and helps get teams ready for league play. There's competition for Frosh-Soph, JV, Varsity, and Elite Varsity. Last year's champions for Elite Varsity and Varsity were Aliso Niguel and Upland High School. It's less than a week until teams hit the hardwood at Momentous and Clava. Who will ultimately rule the courtin the Elite Varsity division?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Elite Varsity</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Elite Varsity division is going to be full of top-notch, high-quality volleyball battles with several of Orange County's top programs participating. This year reigning champ Aliso Niguel returns to the elite division of the tournament and will be joined by Beckman, J Serra, Mater Dei, Ontario Christian, Orange Lutheran, San Clemente, San Juan Hills, Santiago (Corona), and Tesoro.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last year's Queens Court tournament champion, Aliso Niguel was 27-5 overall and 7-1 in league. They return setter/opposite, [player_tooltip player_id='161478' first='Nicole' last='Feliciano'], who will be a senior this year and likely be the team leader. She is committed to UCI. Last year, Aliso Niguel made it to the CIF-SS finals in division 2 but this season will be without setter Shelby McIlroy (Claremont McKenna) and big attacker Kendra Duffey (Portland State) whom they lost to graduation. It will be interesting to see how the up-and-comers step into their new roles in their absence.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Beckman high school was the undefeated Pacific Coach League Champs in 2021 and had six all-league players, including the MVP of the league Emerson Wilford. Wilford was also All-CIF division 2 last year and has headed off to college at Wichita State. They also lost Chloe Lee (Seattle University) and Alyssa Tonnu (U Mass – Boston). However, they still have a good core of returners and will look to be competitive at the tournament. J Serra &nbsp;was 24-8 overall, and 6-2 in league, second only to Mater Dei in the powerful Trinity League. They have lost outside hitter Hayley Hahn to graduation (Santa Clara) but had a relatively young team last year and so they return this season as veterans.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The team that has a great shot to take the division is likely Mater Dei They return three class of 2024 Max Preps All-Americans to the court this season. Last year's Trinity league champions were 36-6 overall and 8-0 in league. They will have a duo of All-American juniors on the court in 6'3” outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='159534' first='Babi' last='Gubbins'] &nbsp;and libero Melissa Cawa. Gubbins is a big arm for the monarchs, while Cawa controls the floor in the back row. They will also have Max Preps All-American middle [player_tooltip player_id='159535' first='Liv' last='Hertzog'] returning as their senior captain. Hertzog is slightly undersized as a middle at 6' but moves very well and has a powerful arm when she gets a hold of the ball. Mater Dei also has some impressive pins returning in juniors Cymarah Gordon and [player_tooltip player_id='159533' first='Isabel' last='Clark'] who both clear 10' when they attack.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->