16 Premier Black and Silver Teams Gear Up For Las Vegas

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our earlier story on Great Plains Region 16's teams headed to Las Vegas featured Premier 16 Gold in Open, but two more teams from this age group are trying to make some noise too. 16 Black and 16 Silver will descend on Mandalay Bay next week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let's take a look at Premier 16 Black they come into Nationals with a 35-25 record. Ball control, especially in serve receive, has been their strength. They are playing in the National Division. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='187703' first='Evynn' last='Olsen'] is a 5'6” libero/defensive specialist for 16 Black. She does an excellent job of reading her hitters and has great ball control. Her consistency and steadiness in serve receive give Black a ton of options across the net. Last fall for Bennington High School she racked up 247 digs. She also had 125 kills on the outside for the Badgers too, which can come in handy too!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Keeping with the defensive dandies is libero/defensive specialist Nora Konz. She does a great job of keeping balls alive whether it is with her platform or her hands and is quick to read hitters. She too is a great serve receiver and has great ball control. Konz also has a great serve that just can die in front of passers. She hit lots of great spots and got on a nice serving run in Lawrence at the Pre-National Tournament against PVA.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5 '10 " Outside [player_tooltip player_id='518581' first='Taylor' last='Elsasser'] has a great cut shot swing, but can also do an off speed shot down the line. Elsasser transitions well which gives her plenty of room to see the court and make adjustments. She is a strong outside for 16 Black who does a great job of hitting shots and using off speed to find the open court. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Middle [player_tooltip player_id='253934' first='Scotlyn' last='Erwin'] has great footwork and can run a fast tempo ball. She has really good body control and if she is set too tight or is too early she is able to send the ball to the endline on a controlled tip.&nbsp; She also has a big block at the net and brings a lot of energy to her teammates on the floor. She has a high ceiling!&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5'9'' setter [player_tooltip player_id='349407' first='Sarah' last='Faust'] does an excellent job of distributing the ball across the net. She has a nice touch on the ball and her back&nbsp; sets are pretty flawless&nbsp; and deceiving! She is a defensive minded setter and does a great job of playing defense first before releasing to set.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at Premier 16 Silver in the Patriot Division. Overall ball control is their strength.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5 '7 "&nbsp; Libero [player_tooltip player_id='396737' first='Danielle' last='Vallinch'] strength as a defender is being able to get the middle of the court and in between balls. She does a great job of crossing on defense. Her plattform is steady and away from her body. Vallinch has great ball control overall!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='349417' first='Halle' last='Nienaber'] is a defensive specialist for Gretna East during the prep season in the fall, but for Premer 15 Silver she hits on the outside as well. She has a great platform for passing and does a nice job keeping balls alive and in control. Nienaber can also jump well and is explosive when hitting. She can hit the ball cross court or a shot down the line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Outside Hayden Silva has a nice cross court shot, but that won't hurt you. It is her craftiness&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>and her effectiveness of roll shots and off speed that help her get kills or side outs for her team. She is not afraid to go up looking like she is going to kill iit and then give a finesse or roll shot. It is hard for defenses to read her.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It will be fun to see how all of the Premier teams do in Las Vegas next week! Stay tuned!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->