H-Town Showdown #1 – 18s – Middles
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…
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Continue ReadingLast 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.
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.
I was at the Texas 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.
Jordyn Jones
Jordyn Jones
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 Texas Tornados 18 Adidas team as she moved well, got off the floor quickly and used her arms extremely well to press opposing hitters.
Ava Kennon
Ava Kennon
The 5’10” 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. Kennon also made some digs in the few moments she got to play defense.
Allana Archie
Allana Archie
Archie was possibly the top offensive option in her Asics Willowbrook 18 Gold team on Saturday. Extremely physical, she was on fire at the net and bounced balls against basically every opponent her team got to face. Archie is so difficult to stop because she makes a quick approach, jumps well, makes contact with the ball at a very high point and still hits it hard. She has an interesing one-footed approach to hit that may cause some confusion to opposing blockers too. Archie also caused some impact with her blocking, taking up a lot of space from opposing hitters with her long arms.
Daniels was incredible for HJV 18 Elite, providing the bracket winners with endless energy in the middle. She’s a player that doesn’t hold anything back on the court and it’s possible to see that over and over when she makes her offensive approach. From how she explodes to start her run to how hard she swings, it’s clear that Daniels gave her 100% every step of the way. She was a handful to deal with offensively because of her firepower and her intensity and also did a great job with her excellent blocking.
Highlights
Nadazia Simien
Nadazia Simien
A talented volleyball and basketball student-athlete, Simien was almost in a league of her own in the bracket she was with her Renegades 18 Adidas team. Much more physical than the vast majority of the players she went up against, Simien used her athleticism to dominate the net on both sides of the ball – she was really difficult to stop offensively because of her high contact point and was very focused and active with her blocking. I had watched her play for another club in the last season and she made great progress since then, polishing some areas of her game.