FaR Out Takes Home Three Presidents’ Day Open Titles

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>FaR Out brought home a lot of championships this past weekend at the Presidents' Day Challenge in Michigan.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>FaR Out 18 Gold, FaR Out 17 Black and FaR Out 15 Gold each won their respective Open/Premier divisions to give the club a great overall showing.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There were plenty of players that stepped up in these championship efforts to help FaR Out increase its already strong reputation in the state.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>18 Gold</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>FaR Out went a perfect 5-0 this weekend, dropping the first set of the event, then winning 10 straight. As was a theme for the program, middles played well for 18 Gold this weekend. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='156300' first='Sadie' last='Haase']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='156342' first='Abby' last='Leffring']</strong> led the offensive effort with their diverse skills and athletic ability. The two have been looking sharp all club season and can really dial up the aggression at the net. Each looks really comfortable in the offense and make the most of each time the ball comes their way. Setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='487153' first='Jessica' last='Maier'] </strong>has a great connection with both and is able to mix up the tempo well with them. Maier also played very well defensively to help lead 18 Gold to the dominant weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>17 Black</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>FaR Out's 17U squad ran through the competition this past weekend, going 6-0 without dropping a set. Only one team was able to get to 20+ points in a set on them and that was FaR Out 17 Gold in the semifinal. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='446694' first='Amelia' last='Gagnon'] </strong>was unstoppable over the weekend. Despite the quick sets, she still tallied double-digit kills in over half the matches. She got in a real groove early and never stopped. Gagnon was playing the ball all over the opponent's side, hitting some sharp angles with a lot of power and velocity. Setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='226890' first='Emma' last='Duffy'] </strong>was locked in as well, giving Gagnon plenty of great balls to attack. She was hitting all her spots this weekend. With FaR Out not giving up many points, it was a credit to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='490369' first='Rylee' last='Stanley-Eldred'] </strong>at libero. She was doing a great job of keeping the ball off the floor and playing a calm and collected game. She also had a serve that was a handful for opponents.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>15 Gold</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This team went 5-0 on the weekend, dropping just one set, to HVVC 15 Blue in the final before rallying to take the final two sets. Throughout the weekend, 15 Gold had great play from middles <strong>Molly Briggs </strong>and <strong>Lydia Bell</strong>. Both are worth keeping an eye on in this class. The 6'1” Briggs really comes down hard over the ball and her arm angle makes it really tough for defenders to react. Bell got on some nice hot streaks. She was finishing consistently from the middle and the right side. She showed a lot of good footwork throughout the weekend. Both hitters' play was amplified by steady and accurate setting from <strong>Kendall Kwantes </strong>and <strong>Sofie Sanders</strong>. Libero <strong>Meg Schreur </strong>also deserved as nod. She was picking up major dig numbers, approaching 20 in some matches as she covered a ton of ground and had incredible footwork.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->