5A West Players to Watch in 2023

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Summer is right around the corner and that means team camps/scrimmages and in season practices are on the horizon. We are going to take a look at a few players from each class on both sides of the state that could have a break out season in 2023. We will start with the second largest class, 5A. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Players:</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Taylor Vann</strong>- Defensive Specialist for Bishop McGuinness. She is part of the extremely talented [program_tooltip program_id='432025' first='OK' last='Charge'] 16UA team. They have won roughly 84% of all of their matches this season and currently ranked top 50 in the nation. Taylor is a huge part of this. Her back row capabilities are tough to match. The past school/club season has been huge for her. Her ability to work before the play happens, puts her in a great position to make plays. She will likely be a cornerstone for another huge BM playoff run. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='212407' first='Livia' last='Ward']</strong>- Setter for Mount St. Mary. What else can we say about Livia? I'm excited to see which colleges start showing interest in 2023. She is very deserving of this. She is a student of the game, she has great instincts and works hard year round to be the player she is. Her mental game is where I've seen some of the most growth this club season from her. A trait that is highly sought after, is making those around you better and she does that with every team she is a part of.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Addison Siess</strong>- Middle Blocker for Duncan. I was able to watch Duncan play a couple times last season and Addison was someone who was able to make an impact in each match I saw. She works hard on both the defense and offense side of the game equally. She was also a huge spark plug in the energy department. She was not scared to be a little animated and let her team know she was excited. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='498546' first='Alexis' last='Williams']</strong>- Middle Blocker for Lawton Mac. Mac was a FORCE up front last season and will continue to be in 2023. They have one of the most athletic front row's you will find in the state. Tall, lateraly quick, explosive, and dominate are all words that describe this crew. Alexis will be at the heart of this in 2023. If you leave an open net for her, she will dent the floor. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='220247' first='Mayli' last='Whetter']</strong>- Setter for Piedmont. Mayli has continued to impress us and work on her craft. Playing on the dominant Peak 15-1 team has given her a ton of high level experience. Even though Piedmont will lose a solid senior class, they have plenty of talent coming up to restock the shelves. Mayli will be a key part of the machine that Piedmont is becoming. Look for her decision making to be a huge difference in matches this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Wrap Up:</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5A is made up of the 33-64 largest schools in the state. Most of these schools are just on the outskirts of Tulsa and OKC. The west side made up 5 of the 8 teams in the state tournament, with MSM, BM, Piedmont, Carl Albert and Lawton Mac all punching their tickets. Duncan and Newcastle both finished the year at #10 and #11 respectively. The west will look to continue to put 4-5 teams in the playoffs this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->