Club Team Feature – Houston Stellar 18 Elite

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The high 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.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Houston Stellar 18 Elite</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top team from the Houston Stellar club located in the Pasadena area stands out for its scrappy and efficient playing style, which benefits from the presence of players like [player_tooltip player_id='141251' first='Avery' last='Wilks'], [player_tooltip player_id='87571' first='Jordan' last='Eager'] and [player_tooltip player_id='153301' first='Stratton' last='Sneed'] to thrive. The team had three wins and two losses to finish ninth in the FAST Warm Up.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Key Players</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["141251"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Stellar 18 Elite's main strength is certainly its team play, but if there's one player who stands out individually, that's certainly Wilks. An absolutely elite middle blocker, she dominates the net and has the ability to take over matches from her position. Wilks is very athletic and has excellent footwork, which helps her on both sides of the ball. She is coming from a high school season in which she produced more than 300 kills and 100 blocks for her team Barbers Hill, earning a spot in our Class of 2023 Prep Dig All-State 1st team.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63ab04c284f3a"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15260157/62c122c29a9c1f05c03fbc5d' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63ab04c284fc2"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["87571"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"When a setter combines excellent technical skills and a very high volleyball IQ, things normally go well for her. And that's exactly when you see when Eager is on the court. Her hands are capable of doing magic with how accurate she can be, but the fact that she seems to always be one step ahead of everyone else helps her make plays no one saw coming. Eager is also very quick with her movement, which allows her to get to the ball and be in a good position to set no matter what. She's also often used as a defensive specialist, a role she also thrives because of her superior ball control.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63ab04c285081"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15260159/63706803ab92f20aac897246' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63ab04c2850cd"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["153301"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"A long and efficient hitter, Sneed is a player who's capable of carrying any team's offense. She is very effective from the left and the right thanks to her great combination of size and skills. Although she can face any blockers across the net, Sneed is also very good at finding ways to score, be it by finding angles to hit around the block or simply tooling it. She's also capable of putting up a big block and has made great progress with her backcourt skills of late, converting into a truly all-around player.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63ab04c285188"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/13377285/6363168868902e08a06366e4' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63ab04c2851b6"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Emma Carro","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2023","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"5'7u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32926","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Pasadena Memorial","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"Houston Stellar","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Part of Houston Stellar 18 Elite's backcourt strength comes from Carro's presence on defense. Her excellent positioning makes playing defense look easy as it puts her in a position to make good plays with less effort than others would. Carro also has excellent ball control and is able to keep the ball up in the air even when she can only use one of her arms to make contact with the ball. He's very efficient with her passing as well and does all the little things you'd want from a libero, such as covering her hitters and setting in transition, very well too.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63ab04c2852d1"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17099491/62c122e090f9af12681fe8b4' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63ab04c285300"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["141253"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"An explosive pin hitter with a strong all-around game, Thedford was a key piece for her high school team Dawson in the last club season. 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