PNW Notebook: USAV Nationals 16/17 Day One

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With day one of the USAV GJNC 16 and 17 Divisions nearly in the books, let's take a closer look at some of the teams and players who stood out in Chicago today. With 20+ Pacific Northwest teams in action, the Upper Left has strong representation at the final national championship of the indoor club season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='161833' first='Hayden' last='McGehee'], Athena 16 Gold</strong> The 2025 setter played gritty defense in guiding her team to a 2-0 record on the day. McGehee served tough, getting Athena off to a great 3rd set start in an eventual victory against Elevation. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='250021' first='Jule' last='Whitley'], Club Gold 17 </strong>Whitley always plays with max effort out of the middle blocker spot, she displayed a flat, hard float serve and good ball skills when playing defense in the back row. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='251546' first='Stella' last='Foley'], SIVBC 17 Storm</strong> The 2024 outside was a difference maker defensively playing middle back for the Storm. Her length lets her run down balls to the corner and she had a highlight reel "dig kill" in a third-set victory over FDL Fusion. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='497506' first='Karolina' last='Flanagan'] and Gracie Legg, CPA 16 Katie</strong> Legg is a cat-quick libero from Idaho, and Flanagan is a multi-sport athlete playing outside hitter from Gonzaga Prep. The CPA squad dropped an epic 26-28 set against a tough Vision 16 Blue team. Flanagan showed off her impressive vertical with some big kills and blocks on the day, Legg has a high volleyball IQ and is a threat to score on the second ball "pineapple" to the corner if teams don't stay locked in. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='230156' first='Grace' last='Wesenburg'], Dakine 17-1 Surf</strong> Wesenberg has easy power when she rises up to take a swing from the outside. The 2024 hit absolute rockets running fast tempo in the Dakine offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='268469' first='Gabi' last='Smith'], NPJ Seattle 16 National</strong> The middle from Seattle Prep continues to come on as a force for NPJ. Smith showed a great press on her block, picking up points in critical moments. She is running the "3" with power and her kill in transition finished off a first-set win over NYC Juniors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='391924' first='Elisabeth' last='Levick'], OJVA 17</strong> Levick is an excellent setter and attacker, her length setting the middle gives her attackers a great advantage as the ball is right there for them. She had success terminating down the middle from her right side spot when OJVA had a free ball play on. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='250536' first='Kendall' last='Focht'], Renovators 16 Kari</strong> The 2025 setter from West Valley in Spokane helped RVC battle hard on the day, she had great energy and gritty defense working in the matchup against United 16 National. Focht dug up some tough setter attacks and did her best work setting on the full run to keep Renovators in the flow. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17322384/64471ad132e6a305d4ecee27' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64a3a2cf05b46"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17308558/649779d5478e340b34dc2bcb' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64a3a2cf05b71"} /-->