STL President’s Day: 16 Club All Stars

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The President's Day tournament held in St Louis this past weekend was a competitive environment for Missouri club teams. As I was walking around the convention center the one division that I thought had a lot of "hidden" talent was the 16 club division. Each of the six prospects that I will be highlighting showed their ability to impact the game. Although they play different positions and have different skill sets each of the players displayed their skills against other high level competition. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Candice G'Sell (L): [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] Carolina</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Candice is the type of libero or defensive specialist that can play in any back row position against any position. Left, middle, and right back defense all have their own defensive reads and adjustments that are unique to that area. Candice has a great understanding of the reads and adjustments that need to be made and makes great plays on the ball. One of the first things that caught my eye watching Candice play is the range she has with her platform outside her body. She can rotate her shoulders and get her platform out on almost a 360 degree radius. Having such a long passing radius and her understanding of defenses makes her one of the best defenders in 16 club this past weekend. Defensively alone Candice was very impressive and could have a roll on a collegiate program. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='713663' first='Heidi' last='Sparks'] (M): HPSTL White</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Heidi's calling card at the middle position is her length, size, and athleticism. Her vertical jump is higher than most in 16 club which helps with both her offense and defense. The first thing you notice when watching Heidi play is her dominance at the net. She's able to close the block, grab the ball low over the net, or reach high and get a great touch off of the opposing hitter. She has the whole athletic package when you are recruiting for a middle blocker at the collegiate level. When you watch her offensively she has some technical things to work on but her length and athleticism alone puts opposing defenses in a bind. Heidi is no where near a finished product and has all of the potential to be an impact player at the next level. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Alexis Blomberg (OH): HP South Diamond</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alexis is a versatile hitter that can hit anywhere on the court. Whether you want to run her on outside, middle, or right side sets Alexis is able execute all of them. Her mentality and aggressiveness on the court is one of the first things that caught my eye. Technique and IQ can be taught or learned, but having a mindset of a high level athlete is hard to come by. Alexis may not be the most polished player, but she consistently puts in the work to execute both offensively and defensively for her team. She's willing to put her body on the line for her team and do whatever it takes to win. True winners are hard to find in the sport and I think that aspect alone can put Alexis in a great position to keep growing and learning. She's the type of athlete that any coach would love to have in their program based off of the play I was able to watch this past weekend. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Kiley Johnson (OH): [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] Carolina</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kiley has the body and the attitude of a volleyball player. Tall, long and athletic with the attitude to be aggressive no matter what the score or the situation of the game is. Kiley is fairly similar to Alexis when it comes to her versatility as a hitter being able to hit from all three front row positions. When you watch her offensively the first thing that catches your eye is how high her contact point is. By reaching to her highest point she makes it very difficult for opposing blockers to read and get their block in front of the ball. She takes advantage of the block consistently whether she works around the block or uses the block to tool and score. Defensively the one thing that stands out is her blocking. With her length and athleticism she's an impact player at the net. I can't wait to see the growth on both sides of the ball for Kiley because she has the intangibles to go far. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Caroline Van Hook (L): HPSTL White</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Caroline is one of the most impactful players on this list. Her reading of opposing hitters and moves to close to the ball are up there with some of the best in her class. If there is a closed double block in front of her she has the IQ to understand where to be and what type of attack and where that attack could score. Once she determines where the direction and speed of the attack she makes a quick and controlled move to the ball. Her platform is nice and straight and out early in front of her. By getting her platform out early she gives herself the chance to set up a great angle back to her target. Her defense is top notch while doing a great job of using the same reads and IQ in receive. The one thing that really stuck out to me watching Caroline play is her balance and the ease at which she plays the position. Caroline has a ton of potential while already producing for her team at a high level. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Hailey Yeager (L): HP South Diamond</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Where Caroline makes things look easy, Hailey makes the big impact plays to keep rallies alive. One of the first plays I saw from her was a diving dig to her side off of her blocker. That's generally one of the harder digs to make because of the speed and directional change of the ball from the opposing attacker. She's more than willing to put her body on the line for her team to extend the rally. She's the type of libero that coaches love to have because not only will she take care of the easy plays but she expands her range defensively to pick up more balls. The thing that impresses me the most isn't just her range but it's the combination of range while keeping her digs accurate. Defensively speaking she is exactly the type of libero that college teams look for. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Presidents Day tournament in St Louis was a great opportunity for these prospects to show off their skills to college programs. Each of these prospects were major impacts for their respective teams. No matter if they play middle, outside, or libero they all showed their ability to positively affect their teams and push them to high finishes in the tournament. I can't wait to see how each of these Class of 2027 prospects shape their games throughout the rest of the season and their last couple years of club ball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->