Nebraska D-League 17’s Players to Watch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Since basketball season finished up Nebraska's D-League volleyball league is heating up. Established in 2020 Nebraska D-League is was formed to continue to develop volleyball players in Northeast Nebraska. Practice began in February and they started competition last week in Power League. Denae Buss and Tracey Kuester-Burtwhistle are co-directors for the league. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Buss commented,&nbsp; “We have some very talented teams, and some of our teams have done very well in their previous age group so we are excited to keep challenging them and moving them forward to the next level. As a club, we really want to see each individual making strides to improve their game through hard work, volleyball knowledge, and mental toughness.” The top 17's play in both open and gold divisions for the season.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a closer look at some of the athletes on the 17's roster:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Middle Blocker Lexi Eickhoff had 148 kills for the State Champion Hartington Cedar Catholic Lady Trojans this past fall. She has a nice swing and gets up in the air and can just hang, making it hard for opposing middles to block her.. Eickhoff sees the court well and can find open spots on the floor. She had 136 total blocks in her junior campaign.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Libero/Defensive Specialist [player_tooltip player_id='256659' first='Katy' last='Jones'] had 507 digs and 35 ace serves&nbsp; for the Lady Trojans and was a key part in their State Championship. Jones is super impressive as a libero regardless of class. She really plays balls in front of her well, runs through balls effortlessly and serves receives extremely well. Her standing serve is lethal as it tails off at the end giving opponents fits. Jones had some amazing saves this year and I love her hustle and her ability to read the hitters.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another key to the tandem Trojan defense is Libero/Defensive Specialist Annika Kuehn. She had 227 digs and 22 aces this past fall. She does a great job playing left back defense and keeping her team in system. Between Jones and Kuehn, it was frustrating for opposing offenses. Both players are super quick and read well!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Battle Creek's setter [player_tooltip player_id='104969' first='Tylar' last='Humphrey'] is an offensive threat at the setter position. She had 492 set assists and 24 kills this past fall for the Braves. She is not afraid to dump behind her head to zone 4 or find the donut on a perfect pass to make defenses scramble. Her jump serve is sneaky as she led her team in ace serves with 38. The serve can paint the lines or the corner causing confusion for opponents.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Outside hitter Mallory Ericksen from Laurel-Concord-Coleridge had a nice junior campaign with 204 kills and 324 digs and chipped in 32 aces. Ericksen has great court sense and finds holes on the floor whether it is a roll shot or a tight tip. She hits seam really well and does a nice job of tooling off of blocks to get kills for her team. Ericksen is a smart hitter on the pin for the Bears.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we are nearing the halfway part of club season look out for these athletes on the court. Here is the 17's schedule for the rest of the year:&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>17U- Coach Eriksen &amp; Coach Hoenk: MASTER COACHES</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>March 19 – Midwest Power League – Lincoln, NE – Kinetic Sports Complex (Open</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>March 25/26- Great Plains Regional Festival @ CHI, Omaha, NE (Gold)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>April 22/23- NE AAU Grand PRIX- Lincoln, NE-JVA (Open)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>April 30-Pentagon May Day Challenge- @ Pentagon, Sioux Falls, SD</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>17U- Coach Boyer</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>March 19 – Midwest Power League – Lincoln, NE – Kinetic Sports Complex (Club)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>April 2-Nebraska One- Lincoln, NE</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>April 22/23- NE AAU Grand PRIX- Lincoln, NE-JVA (Club)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>April 30-Pentagon May Day Challenge- @ Pentagon, Sioux Falls, SD</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->