H-Town Showdown #2 – 17s – Setters
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The traditional club tournament H-Town Showdown had the second of its four scheduled stops of the year last weekend in Houston, with more than 100 teams competing in three age groups at three different venues in the region. I was…
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Continue ReadingThe traditional club tournament H-Town Showdown had the second of its four scheduled stops of the year last weekend in Houston, with more than 100 teams competing in three age groups at three different venues in the region.
I was at the FAST Complex on Saturday afternoon, following the 17s Division and got to watch the 16 best-seeded teams compete during the way and to see some of the finest volleyball talent in the state of Texas in action.
Several players stood out for their great level of play and I’ll take the week to feature some of them, beginning with the setters:
Division winners HJV 17 Elite were deep in the setter position, with Gilreath splitting her time on the court with Charli Crowson Charli Crowson 6’1″ | OH Brenham | 2024 State TX . The athletic and talented Gilreath was a joy to watch with her efficient and entertaining playing style and strongly contributed to the team’s offense. Gilreath did a great job with her ball distribution and used her athleticism and body control to operate when the pass was too tight or off the net. She also contributed on defense and made a tremendous impact with her serving, going on long runs from the service line.
The crafty Gonzalez did an excellent job running Houston Stellar 17 Elite’s offense along Meghan Donoughue Meghan Donoughue 5’11” | S Friendswood | 2024 State TX . Extremely technical and intelligent, Gonzalez was very creative with her ball distribution and put her hitters in a great position to score more often than not. She was also dangerous with some setter dumps. One of the team’s leaders, she’s very vocal on the court and frequently pushes her teammates forward. Gonzalez also did a solid job on the backcourt, causing impact with her serves and playing very good defense.
Highlights
The talented and hard-working Walker was a bright spot in her AVA TX 17 Attack team. She was very clean on the ball and very precise with her locations all day and complemented her technical skills with a very high volleyball IQ, which allowed her to make great decisions when on the ball. Walker was especially effective when setting against the flow and also made a very positive impact on the backcourt playing defense.
Highlights
Onyinyechi Ndee
Onyinyechi Ndee
‘Onyi’ Ndee was another setter from the Houston Juniors club to stand out. She played with HJV 17 Premier and was solid all day. Ndee has good athleticism and uses it very well to move on the court and get in good positions to make plays. Her physical tools also help her push the ball to the pin from anywhere on the court. Ndee is also very skilled, uses all her hitters well and is precise even when out of system. She’s also very active on the backcourt and is a very good blocker.
Hoss made great contributions to her Katy United 17 Adidas team from her setter position. She’s also very calm on the ball and intelligent with her decisions and that proved to be extremely valuable when the team was struggling and playing under pressure. Don’t sleep on Hoss’ setter dumps too as she loves to catch defenders off guard. The setter is also very solid on the backcourt when playing defense and often has some long serving runs.