FAST Pre Nationals – Outsides to Watch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The month of June has arrived and that means that in just a few weeks the club volleyball season will come to an end, with the best teams in the country competing at the 2023 USAV Girls Junior National Championship, which will take place in Chicago, from June 28-July 6.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Preparing for the GJNC is the focus for most teams in the nation now and the ones from Houston and nearby regions will have a great chance to test themselves ahead of the event this weekend at the traditional FAST Pre Nationals tournament, which will take place across the FAST Complex and the Katy United facility on Saturday and Sunday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's a huge tournament, with 104 teams competing across five age divisions, and Prep Dig will be there following the action. Before the tournament begins, however, let's list some players that will be competing with their teams who are worth your attention. These outside hitters should be in top form this weekend:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"[player_tooltip player_id='536463' first='Caroline' last='Walden']","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2026","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"6'1u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32564","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Cy Woods","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"[program_tooltip program_id='431337' first='Texas' last='Tornados']","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Expect Walden to be the leading scorer in her [program_tooltip program_id='431337' first='Texas' last='Tornados'] 15 Adidas team that will begin the tournament in the Power Pool in the 15s division. She has excellent length and a heavy right arm and uses this combination to score at a high volume. Walden is pretty effective even when out of system and it's been great to see how much she progressed with her decision-making and her understanding of the game since I first saw her in action, during the last high school season. She's more consistent now and also made great strides with her passing and defense. Walden also goes well on the right, where she can only focus on putting the ball down.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-647f5724f0e16"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17027847/646139c9c11a230c1cfe48e3' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-647f5724f0e73"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["245380"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Hutchins and teammate [player_tooltip player_id='318200' first='Ava' last='Carrasquillo'] will give Roots 151 Green one of the best outside hitter duos in the 15s division, where they will compete in Pool 2. She's a very strong offensive player, who gives her team a lot of firepower and stability at the pin. Hutchins is tall, jumps well and swings hard, but what really makes of her offense as effective as it is is her ability to watch the block and always find ways to hit around it. Her swings are really difficult to dig because they're powerful and well-placed and Hutchins also holds her own when passing and playing defense.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-647f5724f0ede"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/18953821/646254d67bd2a00600a75c44' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-647f5724f0f00"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["187268"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Valt adds a lot of firepower to her HOU Stellar 16 Elite team that will be competing in Power Pool 3 in the 16s division. She has excellent size and uses it very well to score points, hitting all sorts of different sets at the pin with great efficiency. She's also a player that will produce in bit moments, often playing a big role in the team's victories. Valt also makes a lot of impact with her blocking as she reads the game well and is very disciplined with play above the net. Her passing is very reliable as well.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-647f5724f0f56"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15260355/6459a0be3deaa60f3ce6a5c0' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-647f5724f0f75"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["269797"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Owens and her Impact - 171 team will battle in Power Pool 2 in the 17s division. An excellent all-around prospect, she will be heavily involved with everything her team does on the court. Her offense is very diversified as Owens can be very explosive and has a very quick right arm, but she also uses her vision well to score with tips and roll shots. Her technical kills also come to play in a strong way as Owens is very efficient at tooling blocks up at the net and at passing and playing defense on the backcourt.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-647f5724f0fc8"} /--> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXrBo8NoRFA","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXrBo8NoRFA </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Rylee Esquibel","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2024","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"5'7u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32564","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Devine","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"TNT","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Esquibel plays a massive role with her TNT 17 Black team what will appear in Pool 5 in the 17s division. I've watched them play earlier this year at the AAU Houston Grand Prix and Esquibel was an integral part in her team's play with her all-around skills. She gives TNT a good level of stability with her passing, but also produces efficiently at the net. Even a little undersized, Esquibel uses her technical skills well to hit around the block and tool it to score and makes very few mistakes.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-647f5724f1068"} /--> <!-- wp:image {"id":322736,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/02/IMG_1296.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-322736" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image -->