H-Town Showdown #1 – 18s – Middles

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last weekend was a big one for club volleyball in the state of Texas as the season started to get some steam with multiple tournaments popping up all around the state and providing prospects from the Lone Star State with a great opportunity to develop and showcase their games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Although the Tour of Texas Qualifier held in Austin was hands down the highlight of the weekend, the Houston area also had some really good competition at the H-Town Showdown #1, a tournament that reunited 100 teams from three different age groups across three venues in the area. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I was at the [program_tooltip program_id='431337' first='Texas' last='Tornados'] club on Saturday afternoon following the two top brackets of the 18s Division and got to see some familiar faces confirm my thoughts about them and several new ones make a strong impression. I've been featuring five players in each position who were in top form on Saturday during the week and today we'll focus on the middles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- 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":"Jordyn Jones","_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":"6'1u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32924","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Cy Springs","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"[program_tooltip program_id='431337' first='Texas' last='Tornados']","_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":"Jones' physical tools are truly impressive and she uses them very well to make a great impact at the net. There's absolutely nothing not to like about her physique as she's tall, incredibly strong and has long arms and quick feet. Jones is a force offensively as she makes contact with the ball at a very high point and has excellent hand contact. Her blocking was also very productive with her [program_tooltip program_id='431337' first='Texas' last='Tornados'] 18 Adidas team as she moved well, got off the floor quickly and used her arms extremely well to press opposing hitters.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63c5c5b57d8dc"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/13496824/63c4e6b3664b1c0b74bd3841' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63c5c5b57d959"} /--> <!-- 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":"Ava Kennon","_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":"5'10u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32924","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Dawson","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"[program_tooltip program_id='431166' first='Houston' last='Juniors']","_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":"The 5'10u0022 Kennon battled taller middles all-day long with HJV 18 Premier but still stood out as one of the top players in her position. The key for it is the way in which she uses her athleticism to even things up at the net. Kennon was easily one of the best blockers in the entire tournaments, combining great reading and impressive quickness to make decisions and get up at the net. She was also very successful offensively, more often hitting a very quick set in the middle that had opposing blockers late. 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