2023 Club Profile: Five:1 16 Black
Five:1 Volleyball should feel good about the growth the program has been showing in recent years, along with the growth their teams have been showing in the early stages of the 2023 club season. 16 Black is a great example…
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Continue ReadingFive:1 Volleyball should feel good about the growth the program has been showing in recent years, along with the growth their teams have been showing in the early stages of the 2023 club season.
16 Black is a great example of that, as they took some bumps in the opening month, but have turned a new gear as we approach the end of February.
Here’s a look at what this squad is comprised of in 2023.
Five:1 16 Black
Eric Lazowski will be coaching this squad, which has a lot of representation along the I-75 north of Oakland County.
It’s an 11-player roster for Five:1 with an emphasis on ball control and being technically sound. Mia Buttigieg and Morgan Dominick are the two primary defenders for the squad. Both saw varsity action last fall for Grass Lake and Swartz Creek, respectively. Both play with a lot of composure and maturity and will help this team develop throughout the club season.
Five:1 also has some flexibility at setter. Keira Krans, Payden Whitmore and Breanna David can all step into the spot. David and Whitmore can also shift to the outside. Whitmore is an OH/DS specialist as well, while David can handle the right side.
Krans ran the Heritage offense this past fall while Whitmore also saw varsity action at Haslett, but stuck primarily to defense and hitting. David was a breakout star for Bay City Western, splitting time at setter and the outside. She led the Warriors in kills while also racking up assists. She also showed she can hang with some of the top players in the state during the Michigan Top 250 Expo in December.
Whitmore and David also have Maggie Elliott, Ryan Garrett and Anna Logan on the outside with them.
Logan was one of the contributors to the Fenton offense, as they were a top program in the Flint Metro League. Garrett was part of a Davison squad that won a Division 1 district championship, while Elliott was a power arm for Freeland, showing a high ceiling for the next few years.
In the middle, Five:1 may not have the size of other clubs, but their middles do bring a lot of quickness and high court IQs. Alivia Hafner, Annaliese Mileski and Julia Rodriguez make up the trio.
Rodriguez was a member of the Frankenmuth varsity team that won nearly 40 matches in 2022 and reached the Division 2 regional finals. That was key experience for her to be part of and grow as a player. Mileski (Swan Valley) and Hafner (St. Charles) were part of a competitive Tri-Valley Conference that saw a lot of pressure points throughout the prep season.
This team opened its season at the JVA Rock N’ Rumble last month and took some lumps in the 16 Open, but gained some valuable experience as well.
They were able to follow that up with a ninth-place finish in the 16 Premier Division of the Central Zone Invitational at the end of January.
This past weekend they competed in the Battle of the Ohio Valley event and really took a big step forward. They finished tied for third in the 16 Open, falling in the semifinals of the gold bracket. They picked up six wins along the way, including two they had to grind out in three sets.
This weekend showed they learned how to finish out the tight matches and will be a threat in the region going forward.