AAU Houston Grand Prix – 17s – Liberos

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All eyes in club volleyball this past weekend were turned to the Triple Crown NIT, one of the most anticipated tournaments of the entire calendar, which is reuniting the very best teams of the country in Kansas City, MO. Prep Dig will continue to have for the next several days extensive coverage of the event, but we've also continued to follow very closely all the local tournaments that took place during President's Day weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of these for the state of Texas was the AAU Houston Grand Prix, a massive event that reunited 170 teams in seven different age groups across three venues in the Houston area.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I was at the Katy United facility on Saturday, checking out the 17s division, which featured 19 teams from Texas, Louisiana and Utah. During the week, I've been bringing my positional articles, highlighting the players that shone the brightest in their position. As we continue to explore different positions, it's time we look at the liberos that ran a defensive clinic on Saturday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/02/aau-houston-grand-prix-17s-photo-gallery/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CHECK OUT OUR PHOTO GALLERY OF THE EVENT</a></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["254080"],"_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":"Swanson was one of two liberos used by Texas Tornados 17 National during the day and she was extremely solid and reliable on the backcourt for them. The libero took great care of her left-sided position in the team's backline and made a handful of digs using her quickness and outstanding ball control. Swanson reads the game very well and that also helped her get a hand on tips and setter dumps. A good server, she was also very consistent with her positioning when covering her hitters.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63f64965bfe9a"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16327150/63f25d835eec2607f040f7f1' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63f64965bff25"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["233600"],"_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":"Katy United 17 Molten made a surprising run to finish third in the Gold division and Belcher was one of their big names over the weekend. The left-handed libero was impressive on the backcourt, using her quickness to get on the ball and making very few errors. Belcher played with a lot of energy and did some other things really well too, such as leading and encouraging her teammates and setting when the team got out of system. She also had some good serving runs in big moments of matches, especially against Sporting Edge - 17 Armour.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63f64965bfff0"} /--> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/grtorres/status/1627111989058084864?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/grtorres/status/1627111989058084864?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Other Positional Standouts:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>* <a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/02/aau-houston-grand-prix-17s-middles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Setters</a> * <a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/02/aau-houston-grand-prix-17s-middles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Middles</a> * <a href="https://prepdig.com/2023/02/aau-houston-grand-prix-17s-outsides/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Outside Hitters</a></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":"Ashlyn Robbins","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2024","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"null","_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":"Westlake","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"Club 801","_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":"Utah's Club 801 Nat. Kaipo had a rough day on Saturday, losing all three matches they played, but libero Robbins still found a way to stand out with her game on the backcourt. She was great with her passing, covering a big chunk of the court, and also got to recover several balls because of her excellent positioning while covering her hitters. Robbins is also a very aggressive server and got opponents out of system quite often.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63f64965c015a"} /--> <!-- wp:image {"id":322739,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/02/IMG_1335.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-322739" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["192623"],"_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":"TX Legacy 17 Elite had probably the strongest libero duo in the entire division with Alvarado splitting the duties with [player_tooltip player_id='192639' first='Olivia' last='Murillo']. Very quick and technical, Alvarado controlled the backcourt when she was on, dominating serve-receive and getting a lot of touches on defense. She was also very effective when asked to set in transition and caused some problems for opponents from the service line with her top spin jump serve.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63f64965c0203"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17180907/63f498b47bd41f0c54938cd9' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63f64965c0238"} /--> <!-- 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":"Kieryn Adams","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2024","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"5'3u0022","_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":"Schulenburg","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"Texstar","_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 left-handed Adams was one of the cornerstones of her Texstar 17 team. Splitting time at the libero position with Shayla Williams, she was very active on the backcourt, displaying good efficiency with her passing and impressive effectiveness on defense. Adams was also one of the top servers in the division and caused some impact from service line on certain occasions.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63f64965c036d"} /--> <!-- wp:image {"id":322727,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/02/IMG_1158.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-322727" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image -->