AAU Houston Grand Prix – 17s – Middles

<!-- 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'll be bringing my positional articles, highlighting the players that shone the brightest in their position. Today we'll look at the middles.</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_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":"Grace Ellis","_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":"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":"Montgomery","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"Texas Legacy","_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":"Ellis stood out in a TX Legacy 17 Elite team that had a lot of strength in the middle. She's very long and mobile and pushes her arms very aggressively across the net to take up space from opposing hitters. Another thing that makes of her an excellent blocker is her great reading of opposing hitters. Since I started watching her play in events in the area, Ellis has always stood out as more of a blocking middle but she made some really strong plays of Saturday too, displaying intriguing improvement in that area.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63f1b2e14a6f9"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15051090/63f4dcbb0c5e340bdc9cb981' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63f1b2e14a74f"} /--> <!-- 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":"Adison Ozuna","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2025","_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":"St. Joseph","_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":"An outside hitter earlier in her career, Ozuna plays one age group up with Texstar 17 but you can't really notice it because her level of play is so high. Very athletic, she's a dynamic presence in the middle and a very productive player on both sides of the ball. Her offense is really powerful and difficult to stop and she also hits from the right with tremendous power. Ozuna is also an aggressive blocker, who makes life really difficult for opposing hitters, and does an excellent work patrolling the net.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63f1b2e14a7e4"} /--> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://x.com/grtorres/status/1627087830462894082?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/1627087830462894082?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- 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":"Onya Curtis","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2025","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"6'0u0022","_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":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"Reign Elite","_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":"Curtis was an interesting player to stand out in Louisiana's Reign Elite 17U. Also a highly-rated basketball student-athlete in her state, she displayed some interesting physical and technical skills on Saturday. Curtis is very strong physically and gets off the floor very well. She's very quick too and has the ability to hit different sets with power down the middles. Her mobility also helps with her blocking, but she also thrives for being aggressive with her arms placement.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63f1b2e14a876"} /--> <!-- 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-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":"Annie Cathey","_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":"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":"Clear Lake","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"Club South","_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":"Cathey was one of the pillars of her Club South 17-1. 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Sherman could change the story by emerging as a force in the middle. Her game is still a work in progress, but there are certainly interesting assets, starting with her tremendous length. She looks like a very strong offensive player at times and is very hard to stop when she gets into a rhythm, but could be better with her consistency and decision-making at times. 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