FAST Warm Up- 15 Open – Middles that Made a Difference

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now that the FAST Warm Up is completed, and over 250 teams competed in this tournament from 11-18's, it's time for our positional super-stars. We will start with our middles who made a difference on their teams in the 15 Open division. We know there was so much talent in the gym, but these middles caught our attention one way or another.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='254288' first='Peytyn' last='Pyle'] / TAV Houston </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our watchlist athlete [player_tooltip player_id='254288' first='Peytyn' last='Pyle'] had an outstanding showing on Sunday. Her setters love feeding her the ball, and she really worked to get into the offense. Her 6'1 size and quick feet to the pin made her a very effective blocker, and one of the reasons her team made it to the gold medal game on Sunday. Pyle also had a solid float serve that was hard to pass, and she had a few aces from that serve in the game against Houston Stellar.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='254092' first='Callie' last='Funk'] / [program_tooltip program_id='431166' first='Houston' last='Juniors']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='254092' first='Callie' last='Funk'] has been on our radar a lot lately and for a good reason. Callie showed up again this weekend for HJV and was a big part of the defense. She had several blocks for points while I was on her court. She's got an amazing reach and press to the other side of the net and makes it really hard for opposing hitters to get the ball around her. She was also an effective server and defender while on the backcourt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Julia Wright / Houston Stellar</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Julia Wright brought a lot of energy to her Houston Stellar team. She was active offensively and blocked well. She made some big plays at the net against TAV Houston, that helped her team come close to the upset. While she isn't a flashy middle, she is disciplined at the net and in transition.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='219319' first='Makenna' last='Hertless'] / STVA</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I love watching South Texas Volleyball Academy play, their club is full of hustle and heart players who are so fun to watch. [player_tooltip player_id='219319' first='Makenna' last='Hertless'] did her job in the middle on Sunday against some really good competition. She competed for every ball and never gave up on a play. While she might have been undersized in her position, you could never tell.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Elsie Law / Austin Performance</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 6'2 middle blocking Elsie Law definitely got our attention at first because of her size on the court. Austin Performance is stacked with height on its' 15 Adidas team. Elsie seemed to move effortlessly from pin to pin and was an aggressive attacker. She will be one to watch in future tournaments.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->