Standout 2023 Defenders From the Sizzle

Breit Nelson July 18, 2022 @ 01:14 PM

The Prep Dig Sizzle held in Appleton, WI was a blast. While it started with a 1 day JV tournament, the Varsity then took over the last 2 days. PD Scouts were buzzing from court to court over the course of the 3 days trying to take in all the action. Here are five 2023 defenders that were standing out. [player_tooltip player_id="92023" first="Abi" last="Banitt"] Banitt simply does not give up on the ball, and she keeps her team in-system with a solid first contact in serve-receive with consistent passing. She does a nice job reading the attack and helping direct defensive efforts and strategize. From the service line Banitt has a nice flat, hard serve that can be tough to stick with. [player_tooltip player_id="149044" first="Hannah" last="Soblewski"] <img class="size-medium wp-image-209831 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/07/Hannah-Soblewski.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />Horicon has some solid attackers but their strength is in Soblewski’s defensive play and distribution by [player_tooltip player_id="122476" first="Natalie" last="Boehmer"]. Soblewski has great communication skills to go along with strong serve-receive. She also plays with a lot of energy as she covers a majority of the court. Maggie Paulios Paulios is everywhere on the court, and you can oftentimes find her directing defensive efforts. Teams typically don’t serve her too much once they find she is solid in serve-receive. Paulios is also proficient at covering her hitters and using fast twitch reaction to keep a blocked ball alive and playable. [player_tooltip player_id="119396" first="Kennedy" last="Schmitz"] <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/07/Kennedy-Schmitz-crop-4232x2779-1658167580.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-209833 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/07/Kennedy-Schmitz-crop-4232x2779-1658167580-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>Schmitz is extremely active from sideline to sideline on defense. It isn’t uncommon to see her flying just about everywhere to keep a ball alive because she often reads the attack before most other defenders and is quick enough to get to the ball before them. Schmitz helps make up a balanced FVL roster and anticipates the path of the play well ahead of time. [player_tooltip player_id="159655" first="Elise" last="Uphoff"] Uphoff is quick and super scrappy in defense. She’s got a lot of energy and gives her team a ton of confidence knowing she is in the back court. Opponents should probably serve away from Uphoff as she efficiently makes a good first contact to start the rally and typically her squad can get a first ball kill.