Tour of Texas Stop 1 – Excel 17 National Red – Top Performers
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One of the most anticipated tournaments at the beginning of each club season is the Tour of Texas because of all of the talent that will be competing. The first stop was held in Dallas, TX this weekend. I was…
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Continue ReadingOne of the most anticipated tournaments at the beginning of each club season is the Tour of Texas because of all of the talent that will be competing. The first stop was held in Dallas, TX this weekend. I was able to attend this prestigious event and this next series will be about those players who stood out while I watched their matches in person. I spent most of my time watching the Invitational tournament, which was riddled with Open level talent. There were teams that traveled from Utah, Georgia, California, and Hawaii to compete with our Texas teams. Without further ado, let’s see who stood out on each team.
Excel 17 National Red
The tournament got off to a wonderful start on Saturday and finished Sunday evening. It was meant to end on Monday but the freeze halted the event and no one was able to finish the tournament. Even with no true champion crowned, we were all still able to see some awesome volleyball. Excel 17 National Red ran right through the competition and did not drop a single set on their way to an undefeated record of 7-0. The following players are who stood out to me when I watched them play.
Sydney Strenger Sydney Strenger 6'1" | MB Emerson | 2025 State TX [2025] 6-1 Middle (HS: Emerson/Club: Excel/Verbal: Lipscomb)
Syd is currently ranked as the 61st best overall prospect in the 2025 Class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings. She plays at Emerson High School and also plays for the Excel volleyball club program. Miss Strenger is someone who recently moved up more than thirty spots in our state rankings during our last update. Her exploits have not changed one bit on the court as she is still wreaking havoc on opposing players. Sydney plays the game with a tremendous zeal that is contagious to all of her teammates and to those spectators who watch. As a blocker she patrol the net with the best at the position. Her footwork and reaction time work very well together as she moves laterally to stifle the opposing attackers. Rarely does she get fooled by setters and if she is late, she always makes up for it by reaching into her blocking zone to take it away from attackers. When I watched them play in person, she was at her peak and on time for quick sets from the middle. The Lipscomb commit proved that she is ready to take on anyone.
Jordyn Moore Jordyn Moore 6'1" | S Argyle | 2025 State TX [2025] 6-1 Setter/Right Side (HS: Argyle/Club: Excel/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Jordyn is currently ranked as the 101st best overall prospect in the 2025 Class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings. She plays at Argyle High School and plays club for the Excel Volleyball program. Having a setter with a frame like Miss Moore is a true gift for any coach. While we have covered her before in the past few years, I love how her game has blossomed and taken it to the next level. She is a true college prospect who can impact a game in many facets. Because of her size, she is a threat when she jump sets. Defenses have to guard against her attacking, so when she fakes them out and sets the ball, it creates some awesome splits for her attackers. The ball also comes out of her hands so smoothly on its way to its location. There is not a location that she cannot hit the bullseye on over and over again. I love how she spreads the ball around to all of her hitters and creates so many one on one situations. The way she feeds her middles should be seen by every young setter who wants to learn what it should look like. We are very high on her abilities and you should be watching her closely if you need a setter in her grad class.
Janie Deapen Janie Deapen 5'10" | OH Rockwall | 2025 State TX [2025] 5-10 Outside (HS: Rockwall/Club: Excel/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Janie is currently an unranked prospect in the 2025 Class according to our Prep Dig Texas State Rankings, but she truly wowed me with her back row play. She plays for Rockwall High School and also for the Excel Volleyball club. There are a lot of left side hitters who are very one dimensional and only focus on attacking, but they are a dime a dozen in the world of recruiting. In order to truly stand out, they must add some back row play to their weaponry. Janie made me stop and watch her with how she played defense out of the middle back zone. There were some rallies where she came out of nowhere and kept the ball alive with amazing defense. She hustled and gave some glorious effort for her team to be competitive. This one game alone made me put her down on my short list of outsides to add to our watch list for potential ranking. This youngster is also a very talented scorer who can absolutely throttle the ball above the net. Did I mention that she is left-handed and can hit from both pins. The athleticism it takes for a left to be able to allow the ball to travel over their shoulder and time it perfectly for a kill is something that not many can truly fathom until they see it in action. I fell in love with her play and if you give her a look, you will also.
While I only wrote about three players extensively, there were some others who also did very well when I watched. Halle Jameson Halle Jameson 6'2" | OH Marcus | 2025 State TX played extremely well at the net during the match that I was present at. She is someone who we have been watching since last season and she is still giving opponents a hard time at the net. Libero Sophia Noble Sophia Noble 5'6" | DS/L Rockwall | 2025 TX also wowed me with her back row play. She was passing the ball in system very well from serve receive and moved around the court well to cover her hitters.
As always stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following us, Prep Dig Family! Don’t be afraid to interact with us. We love the likes, shares, and quotes/comments. Keep them coming!