Top Youngsters at The Gauntlet: Pins Who Stood Out From 14 Open

This field of 14 Open teams at The Gauntlet provided for plenty of exciting matches and chances to watch some of the elite, young volleyball talent the Midwest has to offer. There were five pin hitters who really stood out amongst the rest. It might be best to write these names down because you're likely to hear a lot from them in the years to come.    You would be hard pressed to find a 14-year-old player as well rounded as Utterback. She's a six rotation OH whose back row play is as equally outstanding as her front row attacking and blocking. Audrey has the ability to hit line and hard sharp cross in a way that not many other youngsters can and her serve is downright lethal. Add that to her ability to serve receive confidently and you have a star in the making.     Kaitlyn is another six rotation OH who is the perfect combination of a high flyer and heavy hitter. She combines the ability to hit both cross court and line shots with a seriously powerful swing. One of my favorite things about her game is that she was always active, whether transitioning to swing or communicating in the back row.     The first thing I noticed about Ella was her ability to serve both precisely and with a lot of pace and movement. She is a six-rotation pin hitter who is just as good in the back row as she is in the front. Teams seemed to avoid serving her and for good reason; her passing is solid, especially for an 8th grader. She can pass and swing to hit very effectively on both sides of the court and is able to hit a wide range of shots with quite a bit of heat.     Belle is another high-flying pin hitter who takes a huge approach and swings hard. She works really hard to get deep in transition every time, so she is able to easily adjust and hit shots when she swings. One thing I really appreciated about her game at this age is her ability to manage out of system swings very efficiently. Whether swinging from the front or back in out of system situations, she hits the ball smart and confidently.     Neda is a player who can hit in all three positions on the front row in both serve receive and transition. She works hard to transition deep in order to get her big full approach with long arms and then hit with a heavy arm. Her swings were some of the hardest I saw all weekend from the class of 2028. She was able to take care of the majority of the sets for her team while staying efficient and not making a ton of errors; something that is not easy to handle as an 8th grader.

This field of 14 Open teams at The Gauntlet provided for plenty of exciting matches and chances to watch some of the elite, young volleyball talent the Midwest has to offer. There were five pin hitters who really stood out amongst the rest. It might be best to write these names down because you're likely to hear a lot from them in the years to come.