Texas High School Spotlight – Lovejoy Leopards

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now that the high school season is well underway, we are starting our series of articles on those teams who have been lighting up the stat sheets and scoreboards.&nbsp; We will be highlighting a few teams that have a chance to do something very special this year if it all works out.&nbsp; Today we bring our attention to the Lovejoy Leopards out of District 13-5A.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Lady Leopards are currently 14-12 after attending some grueling competitive tournaments and We have written about some of these players before and here is a little from our recent articles about them if you need to remember who they are:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='155119' first='McKenna' last='Brand']&nbsp;[2024] 5-6 Libero (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Dallas Skyline/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":225214,"width":157,"height":179,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/09/McKenna-Brand-scaled-e1662857867288-895x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-225214" width="157" height="179"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mckenna is currently ranked as the 52^nd best overall prospect in the 2024 class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings.&nbsp; She stars in the back row for Lovejoy high school and also for the amazing Dallas Skyline program.&nbsp; I was front row for quite a bit of her club team's tourney season and she was super impressive as a libero.&nbsp; Her amazing play has not skipped a beat now that her high school season is in full swing.&nbsp; I love how much command she has in the back row whether it is in serve receive or the defensive end.&nbsp; She can split the court in serve receive and take up a lot of real estate in the formation and take some pressure off of other players.&nbsp; I love how much ground she covers in pursuit of the ball.&nbsp; She is quick and always balanced with impeccable footwork.&nbsp; She leads the team in digs and digs per set. &nbsp;Miss Brand is definitely one to watch and she has what it takes to move up the rankings when we update them soon.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='124135' first='Bethanie' last='Wu'] [2024] 5-10 Setter (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Drive Nation/Verbal: Yale University)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"left","id":225215,"width":136,"height":207,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/09/Bethanie-Wu-setting--scaled-e1662858050354-674x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-225215" width="136" height="207"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bethanie is currently ranked as the 39^th best overall prospect overall in the 2024 Class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings. &nbsp;She plays high school volleyball at the three-time State Champion Lovejoy High School and will play club this coming season with Drive Nation.&nbsp; Miss Wu is someone who I have been following very closely for the past couple of years and she has proven to be super consistent as a distributor.&nbsp; She is as accurate with the ball in her hands as they come.&nbsp; I love how she never seems to get rattled in big moments and her teammates know that they can trust in her delivery of the ball.&nbsp; She runs a fabulous tempo with her middles and paints the target like a sniper on the pins.&nbsp; Even though she has big shoes to fill with the departure of Gatorade National Player of the Year Averi Carlson, the Leopards are in “great hands” with Bethanie.&nbsp; They will always have a fighting chance in every match because of her elite level of play.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='153291' first='Hannah' last='Gonzalez'] [2023] 6-3 Middle (HS: Lovejoy/Club: [program_tooltip program_id='431200' first='[program_tooltip program_id='431200' first='Madfrog' last='']' last='']/Verbal: Uncommitted)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":225216,"width":111,"height":193,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/09/Hannah-Gonzalez-scaled-e1662858151831-589x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-225216" width="111" height="193"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hannah is currently ranked as the 14^th best overall player in the 2023 class according to the Prep Dig Texas State Rankings.&nbsp; Miss Gonzalez plays at Lovejoy HS and also club for national powerhouse [program_tooltip program_id='431200' first='[program_tooltip program_id='431200' first='Madfrog' last='']' last=''].&nbsp; We have written about this juggernaut many times over the course of her career and she is still just as dominant as ever.&nbsp; She has the experience of winning a few state titles already and brings that to this team who is filled with young talent.&nbsp; They will rely heavily on her leadership to keep them in prominence.&nbsp; She is filling up the stat book with blocks and kills for this squad and will be looked at to stay consistent as the district schedule begins.&nbsp; If we know anything, nothing will stop Hannah from dominating at the net.&nbsp; Watch out for a great end to a phenomenal career during this final high school season for her.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are some other studs on this roster that deserve some accolades also. Two of their kill leaders are stud sophomore pins Morgan Vanvoorhis and [player_tooltip player_id='212729' first='Anna' last='Barr'].&nbsp; Like your average horror movie, these two are on a killing spree and filling the stat book up.&nbsp; Super soph middle Shellby Burriss has been a great wall at the net blocking everything that comes her way.&nbsp; She is also one of the leaders in hitting efficiency.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='142637' first='Isa' last='Camacho'] is another ball control stud in waiting for this awesome defense.&nbsp; This team has their young stars battling against older opponents and that should bode well for them at the end of the year and beyond.&nbsp; They have been ranked super high on many publications team lists all year long.&nbsp; They will definitely have another run in the UIL State Playoffs. &nbsp;I, for one, will not ever bet against this team or its wonderful community that supports this program.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes.&nbsp; If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at <a href="mailto:nov8vb@yahoo.com">nov8vb@yahoo.com</a>.&nbsp; Also don't forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends.&nbsp; Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook.&nbsp; Thanks for following Texas Family!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->