High School Team Feature – Cypress Creek Cougars
The high school season is going at full pace in the state of Texas and every team in the state has been on the court enough times for us to have a good idea about what to expect from them.…
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Continue ReadingThe high school season is going at full pace in the state of Texas and every team in the state has been on the court enough times for us to have a good idea about what to expect from them.
Here at PrepDig, we are committed to covering and promoting as many prospects as possible, from the most popular names to the hidden gems that typically abound at the Lone Star State and during the high school season we’re also doing it by featuring the teams they play at.
Every time we’re at the gym, we’re giving a good look at the teams on the court and we’ll try to feature as many as possible here in this space. Today’s highlighted team is the Cypress Creek Cougars.
The Squad
The Cougars entered the season needing to replace two key contributors from past campaigns who graduated in outside hitters Lindsey Kriendler and Kayla Richardson. They have a lot of strength in the middle with Alyssa Dinh, Jaeda Rawls-Fletcher and Mailyn Harris, a top libero in Gabby Espiricueta Gabby Espiricueta 5'1" | DS/L Cy Creek | 2023 TX and a talented setter in Grace Krohn.
Key Players
One of the most respected liberos in the Houston area, the 5’1″ Espiricueta leads the Cougars from the backcourt. Extremely quick and technical, she does an excellent job with her ball control and generates tons of transition opportunities for the teams she plays. She’s also the type of player that makes a great impact on her teammates with her positive mindset. She entered the season with more than 1,000 passes to her name and is on the verge of reaching the same mark in digs.
Grace Krohn
Grace Krohn
Last season’s District’s Newcomer of the Year, Krohn is a perfect fit for the setter position with her good size, superior understanding of the game and extreme calm on the ball. She does an excellent job with her ball distribution and is also extremely accurate with her locations, besides displaying an interesting ability to turn bad passes into hittable sets. Her size makes of her an efficient blocker and also a threat for setter dumps. Krohn also has great defensive reading and makes tons of digs every match.
Ashanti Butler
Ashanti Butler
An extremely physical and dynamic outside hitter, Butler is often Cypress Creek’s go-to scoring option. She’s a tremendous jumper and has a long and heavy right arm, which she uses to smash balls across the net. Butler can be nearly unstoppable when hitting a quick set near the pin she likes best, but is also versatile enough to score from the right too. Despite her physical tools being a massive part of her game, she’s also intelligent and well-rounded enough to score with well-placed tips when they are the best alternative.
Alyssa Dinh
Alyssa Dinh
A physical and athletic middle, Dinh has impressively improved her game coming into the season. Her excellent size and long arms, which allow her to have a high contact point on offense and a big block when defending, remain as her main assets on the court, but she has made significant progress in other areas of her game. Dinh is still a force in the middle with her ability to get off the ground quickly and terminate with power, but she has been doing other things, such as playing on the right, hitting from the backcourt and even passing, at a very high level as well.
Sofia Grimm
Sofia Grimm
Originally a middle blocker, Grimm was moved to the pin this season due to the impressive number of options in the position and has proven to be a good fit there as well. Her 6’2″ frame certainly helps on offense and when it comes to blocking, which is obviously one of her strengths. Her technical skills are truly impressive, though, as she immediately became a six-rotation outside hitter thanks to her ability to pass and play defense.