Katy United Pre-Nationals: 15s - Setters

The USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship is quickly approaching as the best teams in the country are currently preparing to make the trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, where they will compete in one of the several age groups and divisions from July 3-11.   At this time of the year, warm-up tournaments abound in the state of Texas and last weekend one of them, the [program_tooltip program_id='538544' first='Katy' last='United'] Pre-Nationals, took place in the Katy area, with 55 teams from the 11s to the 16s age groups getting to test themselves on Saturday and Sunday.   <ul> <li>[program_tooltip program_id='538544' first='Katy' last='United'] Pre-Nationals: 15s - <a href="https://prepdig.com/2024/06/katy-united-pre-nationals-15s-photos/?itm_source=parsely-api">Photos</a></li> </ul>   Prep Dig was in attendance on Sunday, when the nine teams of the 15s division competed, and we'll now take the week to highlight the prospects that stood out during the day. As usual, we begin with the setters:    Keeling was a part of the Skyline BCS 15 Royal team that ranked first in the division with three wins and just one set dropped. She split setting duties with Aspen Dunn and the two did a very good job in terms of keeping the team's offense in a rhythm and operating with great efficiency. Keeling was very precise with her locations and also thrived with her distribution, keeping all of her hitters involved. She took hitting duties on some occasions when she was at the net and also displayed interesting skills to contribute from the service line and on serve-receive.     Adams and her AVA TX 14 Adidas team had great success even playing one age group up, getting three wins and a loss to finish second. The dynamic setter showed great maturity and tremendous quality to run the team's offense and consistently put her hitters in a good position to score. Adams was very quick in her movement and kept a high pace when running the team's offense as well, accelerating the game whenever she could - she did very well when dealing with tight passes too. The setter was also very talkative and had a strong leadership role with the team.    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/06/IMG_5397.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-548887" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">AVA TX 14 Adidas vs. Houston Force 15 Galaxy</figcaption></figure>    Rolens set for the [program_tooltip program_id='538544' first='Katy' last='United'] 15 Molten team that ended the day with two wins and a loss, ranking fourth. A very technical and intelligent player, she was a key piece in the team's playing system and remained consistent during the entire time she was on the floor. Rolens not only used all of her hitters well, but also connected well with each of them, running different plays and sets that helped them score points. Rolens showed great quality from the service line and also contributed at the net, making good use of her height and reading of the game to make an impact with her blocking.    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/grtorres/status/1799797247758172485 </div></figure>    With one win and two losses, Buskirk's team Texas United 15 Navy ranked sixth in the division. The setter was huge for them with her all-around game and her ability to contribute in different areas. Her setting was very reliable and efficient as Buskirk displayed great precision and consistency, even when she had to deal with passes off the net. She also handled her own when hitting at the net and used her ball control to contribute on serve-receive on some rotations.     Ford and her [program_tooltip program_id='431337' first='Texas' last='Tornados'] 15 National teammates ranked seventh with their campaign of one win and two losses. She was one of the team's setters, splitting the duties with Hailey Coleman, and helped the team with her all-around game. Ford's setting was very consistent, even when passes didn't find her near the net - she had no trouble tracking them with her excellent footwork. The setter was also very good on defense, displaying the ball control needed to handle hard-driven swings and the quickness to get to tips, and used her impressive vertical to have success in her hitting attempts.

The USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship is quickly approaching as the best teams in the country are currently preparing to make the trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, where they will compete in one of the several age groups and divisions from July 3-11.

At this time of the year, warm-up tournaments abound in the state of Texas and last weekend one of them, the Katy United Pre-Nationals, took place in the Katy area, with 55 teams from the 11s to the 16s age groups getting to test themselves on Saturday and Sunday.

Pre-Nationals: 15s - Photos

Prep Dig was in attendance on Sunday, when the nine teams of the 15s division competed, and we'll now take the week to highlight the prospects that stood out during the day. As usual, we begin with the setters: