Regional Review 16s

Derek Jackson May 14, 2023 @ 08:00 AM

This past weekend was the OKRVA Regional Championships. Almost every age had a "bid" division and a "Club" division. Those competing in the BID division, were in search of finishing high enough to keep their season alive and grab an elusive national tournament bid. Some teams already earned their bid at a national qualifier earlier in the season. Therefore those teams tend to skip this tournament, such as, TPV 16-1, UPVBC 17 Elite, and Peak 15-1. We are going to take a look at some awesome players from the 14s division all the way to the 17s division this week. We will work our way up, starting with the youngest group first.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Top 8:</h2>   Gold Champion- UPVBC 16 Elite   2nd Place- OK Charge 16 National   3rd- UPVBC 16 Pink   4th- Rise 16-1   5th- Peak 16-2   6th- OK Charge 16 UA East   7th- OK Redline 16-1/ TPV 16-2   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Players:</h2>   [player_tooltip player_id='296230' first='Emry' last='Brown']- Outside Hitter #2 for UPVBC 16 Elite. She is an efficient killer. She does a great job of decision making when it comes to her attacks. She makes the safe play when needed and unloads on the ball when open. She clearly is a team leader by how much better she makes those around her. She is a standout for Bartlesville High School and will be for her career. They have had some really good Bruin players, she will be near the top when her career comes to a close.   Bailey Makahununiu- Setter #19 for Peak 16 National. Bailey balled out at regionals. Always looking and playing calm, cool and collected. They ran a 5-1 and she took just as much pride in blocking and digging as she did setting. Her sets were consistent and gave her hitters every opportunity to score. Something that caught my eye was how well she stayed neutral and set against the flow. She quietly makes this machine run smooth.   Maggie Lyons- Outside Hitter #16 for UPVBC 16 Pink. POWER! She can drop the hammer when she gets to the front row. She also has clearly been working to add a topspin serve to help utilize that power from the service line. She is able to hit with such power because she has such spring in her legs. I would love to see her approach touch. She has to be gaining in on the 10' club. Her and fellow OH, Katelyn Standifer, bring a constant barrage from the outside.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Wrap Up:</h2>   We had an amazing club season here in Oklahoma. We qualified 23 girls indoor teams from ages 14 through 18. That list will be available on OKRVA website, as well as, what tournament they earned it at. Those headed to nationals- Congrats, safe travels and we know you will represent us well. To those whos season came to a close- Great job this year! We all have taken strides forward and had many laughs along the way.

This past weekend was the OKRVA Regional Championships. Almost every age had a "bid" division and a "Club" division. Those competing in the BID division, were in search of finishing high enough to keep their season alive and grab an elusive national tournament bid. Some teams already earned their bid at a national qualifier earlier in the season. Therefore those teams tend to skip this tournament, such as, TPV 16-1, UPVBC 17 Elite, and Peak 15-1. We are going to take a look at some awesome players from the 14s division all the way to the 17s division this week. We will work our way up, starting with the youngest group first.