18s National Standouts in Columbus

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What is the last tournament for most, these 18s had a strong showing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='160894' first='Milani' last='Lee']</strong>, S, LEGACY –&nbsp;Lee is a 6-2 setter that will jump set every pass that comes to her. Her sets are generally tighter to the net that allows hitters to challenge the opposing blockers. Not only does she allow hitters to challenge a blocker, she will also have their back on defense. She covers a lot of court and sometimes appears to come out of nowhere because she is backing up a teammate.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ashley Smith</strong>, RS, Coast –&nbsp;Smith is really great at building momentum into her approach and going from slow to fast. This puts her in a position to reach high. Although she reaches high, she will also challenge and score points off the block. Additionally, her blocking footwork is similar as she performs an excellent crossover step regularly. All that explosiveness and she does stay careful when the ball is close to the net.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ava Avila</strong>, OH, Inland Valley Force –&nbsp;Avila is a player that does just the right amount of everything to play well with her teammates. She does not do too much which frees her to be ready for an urgent play. When the ball is out of system she power dumps or rolls the ball back to zone one. Her block is great in that she really gets to the antenna protecting her libero from a line shot.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jillian Massenait</strong>, L, Rage –&nbsp;Massenait is a very supportive teammate by cheering throughout the rally. That support is reinforced by an effort to always dive for a ball just a bit outside her range. When contacting the ball, she creates space for her arms by taking extra steps backward.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Emma Jones</strong>, MB, Seal Beach – Jones takes her approach and gets up with a great open stance to the setter. Her natural swing is straight ahead and that open space enables her to move the ball around a big blocker. She broad jumps into an attack because she maintains distance away from the net. This also enables her to move the ball around a big blocker. Before all of that, she does an excellent job tracking a pass. This keeps a consistent distance away from the setter too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Quinn Atteridge</strong>, MB, Vision – Atteridge, like Jones, broad jumps into an attack because of the distance she keeps away from the net. This allows for a full swing that usually lands in the back third of the court. Even on a slide approach, she continues to hit the ball deep because of a high contact point. Liberos need to be ready because her point-scoring swing goes that way.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Evan Ybarra</strong>, OH, Mountain View – Ybarra runs an approach that is close to the net that can make it difficult for the blockers. She can muscle as ball past them. Before her approach, she is great at getting outside. This creates a wide range of attacks that include a tough cross-court winner. As a blocker, her help block with the middle is seemingly always there and she also knows when to pull off the net.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->