Attackers At The Early Bird At Capitol Sports Center

Kyp Harasymowycz January 9, 2024 @ 06:40 AM

Continuing on with my view of the seven courts at the Early Bird in Plainfield, there were a ton of kids from Indiana putting balls away regularly. Here are some of my favorites.   There were SO many bigs that could have taken up column space today. A few that caught my eye have varying degrees of readiness for the next level, starting with [player_tooltip player_id='173243' first='Ellen' last='Zapp'] ('25, 5-11 MB/RS/OH, Center Grove). In the matches I saw her play, she was attacking from every type of set in the middle for Circle's 17-1. In high school, she hits on the left pin, but was clearly asked to attack from everywhere. Is she ready for the next level? Sure. And to know that she can play any of the three front row positions, depending on school need, makes her that much more recruitable. [player_tooltip player_id='499060' first='Maycee' last='Hoefler'] ('26, 6-0 MB, Christian Academy of Indiana) was the desperately-needed big for Union's 16 Purple squad. Smart and strong, Maycee had great court vision to place the ball when attacking instead of just blindly swinging away. When given the opportunity, she took the second ball as an out-of-system solution for her hitters---even earning an assist or two in the process. [player_tooltip player_id='499062' first='Macyn' last='Jones'] ('26, 6-0 MB, Plainfield) is another big to pay attention to. From the 16 Volt squad at Circle, she was forcing opponents change their shots simply because of her presence at the net. That should serve her well moving forward this season. [player_tooltip player_id='487350' first='Emmerson' last='Gott'] ('26, 6-0 MB, Western Boone) is a long and lean middle from Circle's 16 White team who used her length AS her strength on both offense and defense. NCIS 18-1 had a VERY young six rotation outside hitter in [player_tooltip player_id='499064' first='Ella' last='Miller'] ('27, 6-0 OH, Benton Central) that immediately caught my attention. Her advanced ability to transition from pass to attack was impressive, along with her high attack point. She has some strengthening to do, but with her advanced skills and next-level athleticism, she'll be fine moving forward this season. She certainly didn't play like a freshman on Sunday.

Continuing on with my view of the seven courts at the Early Bird in Plainfield, there were a ton of kids from Indiana putting balls away regularly. Here are some of my favorites.