Bluegrass Preview: 17 Open Continued

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Power pools aren't the only 17 Open teams playing this weekend in Louisville. Let's take a look at a few more teams playing in the tournament in the 17 Open division. We'll include their courts and times they play so they're easy to find.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Empowered 17 Elite Black, Court 52 at 1400</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If there's a team that will stand out because of its size, it would be this roster. The two bigs in question that are still available are <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='230528' first='Abbie' last='Cresse'] ('24, 6-4 MB)</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='330444' first='Katerina' last='Koepke'] ('24, 6-1 RS).</strong> Abbie is, well, 6-4. She's long lean, strong and can attack high enough to make blocks irrelevant. She also takes up a ton of space on net defense, and her bloodline includes an older sister currently on the University of Louisville's roster. Oh, and her high school just won the 1A state title back in November. Katerina is lefty that can hit any angle from the right pin and gives fits to opposing pin attackers. Her ability to hit high and with pace should garner a ton of attention this weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Metro VBC 17 Pink, Court 52 at 1400</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Playing that massive Empowered team first-thing on Saturday afternoon is a bunch of ball-control-first players from the Evansville area. Setters <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='330446' first='Addi' last='Fullop'] ('24, 5-6 S) </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='157434' first='Payge' last='Johnson'] ('24, 5-8 S)</strong> have been playing high-level high school and club volleyball for years, it seems. Addi's feet get her to a ton of balls that might otherwise put a team out-of-system, while Payge can run a fast offense in a 5-1 or can be a complementary 6-2 setter for a larger school. Either way, you'd get a setter that can run the show, help run a 6-2, and make every ball hittable.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Munciana 17 Pandas, Court 53 at 1400</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Just one court over, we get our first mention of a Munciana squad this spring. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='330445' first='Danielle' last='Schade'] ('24, 6-2 OH)</strong> is a big, strong and heavy-armed pin attacker that can put balls away from anywhere. Her ability matches her size, and she can defend her position pretty well. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='228839' first='Kynnadi' last='Bell'] ('24, 5-6 DS/L)</strong> is one of a LONG line of exceptional liberi coming from Yorktown that can pass at a very high level. There are no less than two Yorktown defenders playing in regular rotations at any one time in the Big Ten, and Miss Bell looks to be right in line with those brilliant passers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Summit 17Blue Elite, Court 55 at 1400</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For our final team, we go back to the Fort Wayne area, which has a nice collection of skill, size and age groups to recruit from. I'm keeping a special eye on freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='227184' first='Bailey' last='Sinish'] ('26, 5-10 OH/RS), </strong>who shouldn't be intimidated in the least playing up two ages into the 17 Open division. She hits high, transitions fast, and is super athletic for her age. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='161656' first='Jersey' last='Loyer'] ('24, 5-11 OH)</strong> is your standard six-rotation outside that can lead by example. Her high school and club careers are both quite long, and her maturity shows in her play. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->