Club Team Feature – AVA TX 17 Adidas
The club 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…
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Continue ReadingThe club 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 the month, so we’ll take the week to feature some of the 17s teams from the Houston area that we believe have the potential to make really good things over the next few months.
AVA TX 17 Adidas
The team from the Absolute Volleyball Academy from League City finished fifth in their first tournament of the year, the FAST Warm Up, with a campaign of three wins and two losses. AVA TX 17 Adidas had a deep roster with options in every position and a good mix of athleticism, easily seen in Asia Menard Asia Menard 6'0" | RS Barbers Hill | 2024 TX , Auma Mbeche-Odhiambo and Wylie Singleton, and skills, with Kenedy Massie Kenedy Massie 5'11" | S Manvel | 2025 State TX and Sarah Haggerty leading the way.
Key Players
A prospect that doesn’t lack athleticism, Menard recently stood out in our Prep Dig Top 250 Expo in Houston. Her physical tools are truly impressive and make of her a real difference-maker on both sides of the ball. Menard can move quickly at the net, jumps well and does a very good in pressing opposing hitters with her arms when blocking. She’s also a force offensively as she makes contact with the ball at a very high point and swing as hard as anyone. She’s been playing on the right with AVA TX 17 Adidas and displayed a great ability to adjust to higher sets on either pin.
Auma Mbeche-Odhiambo
Auma Mbeche-Odhiambo
An addition coming from Houston Juniors , Mbeche-Odhiambo substantially increased AVA TX 17 Adidas’ firepower at the pin. A tremendous jumper, she can score from anyone on the court by combining her impressive vertical and her superior technical skills. She led her high school team Bellaire in scoring in the last high school season and also played an important role as one of the team’s leaders on the court, constantly pushing and encouraging her teammates. Mbeche-Odhiambo also does a very good job with her passing and defense.
When a setter plays one age group up in a strong club as AVA, it normally tells a lot about how good she is and that’s the case with Massie. One of the top Class of 2025 setters in the entire state, she embraced the challenge of leading AVA TX 17 Adidas after joining from Houston Skyline. Massie has all the tools to excel in the position as she has good size, is very precise with her locations and typically displays impressive maturity and smartness with her ball distribution. She’s also capable of impacting the game with her blocking and her defense.
Wylie Singleton
Wylie Singleton
Singleton is what one would call a high-energy player. Very strong physically, she doesn’t hold anything back when she’s on the court and it’s very easy to see from the outside that she gives everything she has in every single play. Singleton makes a very strong approach to the ball on offense and gets to swing it with even more power. Her blocking has also evolved over the years and now has a much better balance between length, technique and reading. She also has very good ball control for a player of her size and profile.
Sarah Haggerty
Sarah Haggerty
Haggerty does an excellent job in AVA TX 17 Adidas’ backcourt and keeps the team on track in the defensive side of the game. Very quick and mobile, she also benefits from her outstanding positioning to get a lot of touches on defense and generate transition plays for her team. As a good libero, Haggerty also leads the team’s serve-receive efforts, assuring the setter also has good passes to work with and run the team’s offense.