Windy City 18s: Ignite Elite Finishing Fifth In 18 American!

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A huge congratulations goes out to the young ladies from "the region" who finished fifth this past weekend at the Windy City 18s qualifier in Schaumburg, Illinois. Here are a few of their highlighted players.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>'23 [player_tooltip player_id='289610' first='Lexi' last='Cripe'], 5-9 OH, Kentucky Wesleyan signee</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lexi was the clear frontrunner for the offense this weekend. Her whip of an arm and relentless pursuit of every ball at maximum energy helped set the tone for her squad all weekend. I liked her varied shots, her ability to hit front and back row, her six-rotation passing abilities and her anticipation.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>'23 [player_tooltip player_id='289626' first='Brianne' last='Salinas'], 6-1 MB, Malone signee</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For every smaller player, there needs to be that big that gets it done. Brianne hits a heavy ball and has the vision to pick and choose her shots at will. She can defend from pin to pin as well, and caused opposing hitters to not only alter their shots, but make errors too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>'23 [player_tooltip player_id='296127' first='Jacey' last='Graham'], 5-7 OH, Lake Central </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The "other" outside for Ignite Elite had some of the more explosive jumps of the weekend of any team in this division. She makes up for her size easily with her springy athleticism and quick arm. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>'23, [player_tooltip player_id='289620' first='Abigail' last='Opilka'], 5-7 S/RS, Hanover</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The only way teams can finish top-five in a qualifier is to have a setter keeping other teams' defenses honest. Abigail regularly mixed up offensive tempi, but knew when to set her go-to hitters when a point was absolutely needed. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>'24, [player_tooltip player_id='296128' first='Anna' last='Marcinek'], 5-5 S/DS, Crown Point</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Able to be both a setter and a defensive specialist at this level is not the easiest set of tasks. To do so against players a full year older than yourself is impressive. Anna can be a three-rotation setter for a larger school, a 5-1 setter at a smaller school, or even a defender if you need it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->