Athletic middles in action at the ATX Showcase

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The city of Austin will continue on the spotlight in the club volleyball scene in the state of Texas for another week as after hosting the second stop of the Tour of Texas, the state's capital is set to welcome another major event.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Between Saturday and Sunday, the Austin Convention Center will host the 2025 ATX Showcase, a massive club tournament featuring over 400 teams, which will be spread across 17 divisions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players from every corner of the Lone Star State will make the trip to the Capital City and among them are some really exciting prospects. As the start of the event approaches, we're featuring some of them, and today will look into the middles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["536881"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67a14be107c80"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Baker will play for the Roots 16-1 Green team that is entered in the tournament's 16 Open division. Expect her to be one of the most physical players in the entire event and her incredible athleticism is typically a great asset to her team at the net. Baker has long arms, gets off the floor very well and swings with a lot of power, being, at times, unstoppable for opposing blockers. Because of her length and mobility, she's also an elite blocker, who gets stops and keeps opponents under pressure. She can play on the left and the right too, giving her coaches plenty of tactical flexibility and options on how to best use her.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/19571547/672ad8cafd08e0b269e343fa' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67a14be107e4b"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Madeline Harris","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2026","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"6'1u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32924","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"St. Pius X","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"[program_tooltip program_id='431337' first='Texas' last='Tornados']","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67a14be107ef1"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Harris and her [program_tooltip program_id='431337' first='Texas' last='Tornados'] 17 Adidas team will be among the contenders in the 17 Open division. She joined the team this season, after solid performances with Houston Stars, and provided them with a much-needed physical presence at the net. Harris is a very productive blocker, who moves very well laterally at the net and plays aggressively with her arms above the net. Offensively, she benefits from her high contact point to beat blockers and send the ball out of reach for opposing defenders. The middle is also an aggressive server, who hits the ball at a very high point from the service line and puts a lot of pressure on it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17158122/67a11390cc3d6237289f7972' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67a14be107f1a"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Aeris Vera","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2025","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"6'1u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32924","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Pieper","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"Ignite","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67a14be107fa6"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Vera will featured for the Ignite 18 Blaze team that will be a part of the 18 Girls division in Austin. A tall and long player, she's very effective at the net on both sides of the ball. Vera can hit a lot of different sets in the middle and she's very good at improvising and finding solutions to score when the set is too tight or low. She's also a very good server, who often gets opponents out of system.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/17926701/6785a349131a133b591012fb' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67a14be107fcc"} /-->