PNW Notebook: USAV Nationals 16/17 Day Two

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Day two is complete at the USAV GJNC, let's take a closer look at some of the teams and players who stood out in Chicago today, covering teams we did not see on day 1. 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='201074' first='Elizabeth' last='Andrew'], Athena 17 Gold </strong>Lizzy has had quite a club season, playing with USAV Girls U19 National Team and winning the Best Blocker Award at the 2023 U19 Pan American Cup. The 6'5" middle from Ridgefield has been working a very tough to handle topspin serve- her contact point and pace have ignited long service runs for Athena 17 Gold. The team is currently 4-2 in the American Division.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Leah Lewis, CRU 16 Baden </strong>Lewis played middle on day 2 with resolve and hustle, working pin to pin and showing a quick arm when the CRU setters found her in transition. She soft blocked several shots against AZ Sky 16G, and created opportunities for the team to score. Lewis has some wheels too, we saw her run down a ball to keep a point alive almost leaving the court from her middle spot. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Michelle Ding and [player_tooltip player_id='249447' first='Tatum' last='Gill'], SIVBC 16 Tornado</strong> Ding showed hustle and grit playing the middle back, and the six-rotation outside made some excellent adjustments to terminate points from the pin. Gill delivered powerful swings from the right side and passed well in serve receive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='267777' first='Hanna' last='Ligons'], SNVF 17 White</strong> Ligons racked up four points in short order versus GP 17 Rox. After a stuff block for a point, she turned a ball for a kill, then pounded a set under the 10-foot line. after a GP timeout, Ligons came back on and dunked down an overpass for another SNVF score. The Glacier peak prospect is long and athletic, with a high upside.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='467299' first='Lauren' last='Hutchinson'], PSVBA 16 Legacy </strong>Hutchinson was blasting a flat, hard serve in a match versus Club One AZ. The middle blocker showed some solid defense from the backline too, coming up with a dig and making it look easy. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lucy Mortimer, Seattle Juniors 16</strong> Mortimer is a 2025 athlete from Kings high School, and she played with terrific enegy and bounce on the right side for Seattle Juniors. She recorded multiple monster blocks against 501 Volley, and confidently scored with swings off the block. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='249593' first='Audra' last='Rose'] and Soe Jung, OJVA 16 Gold</strong> The team is having a nice run so far in the Freedom Division in Chicago. Overall they are sporting a 4-1 record including a good win over Tstreet IE 16-Andy today. Rose provides the power out of the middle, including a huge kill on the end line late in a tight set 1 versus T-Street. Soe Jung gets to everything and can take balls out of her area accurately in serve receive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='245156' first='Rebecca' last='Wilber'], NPJ Seattle 17</strong> The 2024 outside played with terrific presence and control in the middle back, handling her business when she was targeted in serve receive. Wilber has the strength and platform to dig up hard swings on target to her setter, and showed the willingness to set the second ball to the pin when needed. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16650561/641a7cbc664b8e1188d4deed' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64a4f344ab131"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17214079/63ce7a814ba7a615a4897e45' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64a4f344ab15a"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17308521/64a4deab7bd43c0584cfce04' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64a4f344ab176"} /-->