Windy City Qualifier – Texas Liberos to Watch
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The qualifying season continues at full pace as teams from all around the country attempt to secure their spots in the 2023 USA Girls Junior National Championship. Texas club teams are no exceptions, as they are flying all across the…
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Continue ReadingThe qualifying season continues at full pace as teams from all around the country attempt to secure their spots in the 2023 USA Girls Junior National Championship. Texas club teams are no exceptions, as they are flying all across the nation to play in those events and book their tickets to Chicago from June 28-July6.
This coming weekend will present several opportunities with National Qualifiers taking place in different locations and among them is the traditional Adidas Windy City National Qualifier, which will be held at McCormick Place, in Chicago, from Friday to Sunday.
Several teams from the Lone Star State will make the trip up North and we’ll preview the tournament by featuring some of the players who will have key roles with their teams. Don’t sleep on these liberos as they can make a difference for their teams:
Solodky has been switching between libero and defensive specialist with her Austin Skyline 15 Royal team that will compete in the 15 Open division. In either role, she provided a lot of backcourt stability for her team, taking a big role in serve-receive and making strong defensive plays. Solodky reads the game really well and often places herself in great spots to make digs without having to even move, but her excellent ball control also allows her to make clean digs when the ball is a little outside of her body. She’s also a solid server.
The top libero in the state according to our 2025 Prep Dig State Rankings, Krueger will be a rock on the backcourt for her Austin Skyline 16 Royal team in the 16 Open division. Few defensive players can make as big of an impact in a game as she does as the libero covers a lot of ground on serve-receive and delivers perfect passes, strong helping the team’s offense, and also making big plays on defense. Besides being very strong from a technical standpoint and disciplined when it comes to tactics, Krueger is also very consistent and very rarely makes a mistake.
Efficiency is the name of the game with Spell, the starting libero of the HJV 16 Premier team that will be in action in the 16 USA division. She’s one of those defensive players who quietly put on excellent performances and are nearly indispensable for their teams. The main key to Spell’s game is her excellent reading of the game, which often places her one step ahead of everyone else on the court and helps her make complicated plays look easy. Spell, who has excellent ball control, is also very efficient when covering her hitters and setting in transition.
Highlights
A new face with Impact – 171 this season, Souza will lead the team’s backcourt efforts in the 17 USA division in Chicago. She works as hard as anyone on the backcourt and is well-known for her impressive ability to make digs. Souza has excellent ball control and is also very quick at getting down and changing direction, a combination that gets her a lot of touches in her left back defensive spot. The libero is also extremely solid and reliable with her passing.
Highlights
A stellar libero with one of the most reliable and efficient games in the entire state, Volpe will anchor the backcourt of her HJV 17 Elite team in the 17 Open division. She’s not only very productive, but also incredibly fun to watch with her highly-competitive and hard-working mindset on the court. Volpe reads the game very well and reacts to it very well, using her outstanding ball control to make plays. She’s incredibly consistent and, looking from the outside, it really feels like she never blinks, being so focused and into matches as anyone I’ve seen on the court.