Club Team Feature – Texas Tornado 18 Adidas
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The club school season is already underway in the state of Texas and hundreds of teams have already been in action and done great things over the first weeks of play in the Lone Star State. Everyone is taking a…
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Continue ReadingThe club school season is already underway in the state of Texas and hundreds of teams have already been in action and done great things over the first weeks of play in the Lone Star State.
Everyone is taking a little break for the holidays and will get back to full power on the first weekend of January, so we’re taking the week to feature some of the 18s teams from the Houston area that we believe have the potential to make really good things over the next few months.
Texas Tornados 18 Adidas
The top team from the club located in Northwestern Houston had a solid campaign at the FAST Warm Up, winning four of their five matches to finish fifth. Tornados 18 Adidas is as strong as anyone on the backcourt with liberos/defensive specialists Lauren McIntyre and Kirby Kliafas Kirby Kliafas 5'10" | S Cypress Ranch | 2023 State TX doing all the dirty work so tall and athletic pin hitters Evyn Snook Evyn Snook 6'1" | OH Magnolia West | 2023 State TX , Emily Schaper Emily Schaper 6'1" | OH Cy Woods | 2023 State TX and Maddy Chaapel Maddy Chaapel 6'0" | OH Katy | 2023 State TX can shine at the net.
Key Players
Originally an outside hitter, Snook has been playing on the right this season for 18 Adidas. The move places her in a more comfortable position for her to make the most of her offense, while also allowing her to support the team’s passing system when needed. She’s an incredibly versatile offensive player, using her size and power really well, but also turning to tips and roll shots when the play calls for it. Snook, who had really impressive scoring numbers during her high school career, has a very heavy right arm and is very intelligent with her offensive approach, doing an excellent job of hitting around the block to score.
A very talented and versatile player, Kliafas spent the last high school season playing setter for Cy Ranch, one of the top teams in the entire state. She’s now back at her thing playing libero/DS for Tornados 18 Adidas and has been playing a great role in the team’s defensive efforts. Kliafas is extremely technical and calm on the ball and her unusual length for a libero allows her to make plays not many others would. Besides having the technical and physical skills to play great defense, she also works very hard on the backcourt to generate transition plays for her team.
Highlights
A long and athletic outside hitter who’s used to carrying her team’s offense, Schaper adds a lot of firepower to the pin. She’s an excellent all-around player, though, and can score in a variety of ways – she can use her length and size to overpower blockers but also find nice angles to go around them and send a torpedo toward the defender. Schaper has also grown to be a very consistent and reliable player, coming up big in key moments to help her team and playing well even if she’s under pressure or offensive overloaded. She can also create problems from the service line with her tough floater.
Chloe Howard
Chloe Howard
Howard splits setting duties at Tornados 18 Adidas with Haley Muse and the two play a big role with the team. She’s very steady and precise with her locations and tends to not overcomplicate things with her ball distribution, putting her top hitters in a good position to score and using her middles whenever she has a chance. Howard is also always very calm on the court and will rarely make a mistake because of a bad decision. She also has very good ball control and adds a lot on defense.
Another versatile and effective pin hitter, Chaapel plays opposite to Schafer, ensuring Tornados 18 Adidas always has a top scorer ready to strike on the left. She was the leading scorer in her high school team Katy this season and her offensive punch is one of the highlights in her game. Chaapel can hit the ball hard and put a lot of power on it, but she’s also smart and skilled enough to find creative solutions when not in ideal conditions. She’s also solid on the backcourt and helps the team in more than one way as the all-around player she is.