Key City Clash: New 16u Players Shine

Highly skilled players are not just at the big tournaments. I try to make it to some of the smaller tournaments a few times every club season as you can find some big time talent at these events. The Key City Clash in Dubuque was a new one for me. I spent some time watching the 16s division and discovered a range of new talent on these teams. The following are some "new to us" up and coming players that ruled the court and anticipate that we will see their names more and more as they continue to grow and develop their games.   Remember to follow me on Instagram @Prepdigamy and Facebook @PrepDig Amy for up to date event coverage, stories, and more.    Bauer was one of the most impressive surprises I found at this tournament. This girl can HIT. She is powerful, explosive and quick. She has the potential to be a big time player with her combined height, speed, and fast, heavy arm swing. She is also versatile and can attack from both pins, is solid on serve receive, and also has a good float serve.     Running a 5-1, Byom impressed with her good setting choices, excellent communication with her teammates, and her ability to incorporate all of her attackers into the offense. She moved her feet quickly in order to get behind the ball to deliver clean and consistent sets to her pins. She also did a good job finding her middles in transition.     [player_tooltip player_id='749788' first='Leah' last='Heller'] is a crafty, 6 rotation outside. She explodes to the pin and attacks with a ton of power. She also has a really good off-speed roll shot that scored numerous times. Teams became quickly frustrated with her varying shots between power and off speed. Heller was also solid in serve receive and took some big rips out of the backrow.     Riley was a 6 rotation outside that came through multiple times for her team as they battled through the tournament. Riley is a smart, versatile attacker who can put down an array of attacks all over the court. She transitioned quickly off the net and varied her shots going deep cross and line. She also was smart with her out of system shots, taking some power off when needed.     Droessler is a smart, attacker with a ton of potential. She has a solid vertical, good footwork and a fast arm swing. She frequently used her blockers to her advantage and generated kills by hitting off of their hands. She also read the court well and was able to vary up her shots to each side to gain maximum success.     Young dominated from the pin this past weekend as her xtreme team took home the gold at the Key City Clash. Young is explosive in her attack. She uses her vertical and power to put down numerous kills all over the court. Teams found out that they couldn't stop her by serving at her either as not only was she solid in serve receive, but she knows how to quickly transition to generate kills off the receive as well.     Freihoefer is a tall, quick middle with excellent court vision. She did a great job of finding and following her setter to keep herself in position for those quick sets. She also did an exceptional job reading the block in front of her to know when to place tips to the corners. She also moves efficiently and has good footwork to put up an effective block.

Highly skilled players are not just at the big tournaments. I try to make it to some of the smaller tournaments a few times every club season as you can find some big time talent at these events. The Key City Clash in Dubuque was a new one for me. I spent some time watching the 16s division and discovered a range of new talent on these teams. The following are some "new to us" up and coming players that ruled the court and anticipate that we will see their names more and more as they continue to grow and develop their games.