STL President’s Day: Class of 2026 Open/Premier All Stars

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The President's Day tournament held in St Louis this past weekend featured some of the top teams in the state. In this article I wanted to focus on the class of 2026 in both open and premier divisions. Each of these prospects were able to help their team compete and win this past weekend. They all bring something slightly different to the table for their teams, but I think could make an impact at the collegiate level. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='527282' first='Samantha' last='McHale'] (S): HPSTL Orange</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Samantha makes setting look easy whether its how the ball looks out of her hands or how her feet are always set. She does the small things that a setter needs to do like a splash step or contact point consistently. By getting her feet under herself and the ball with the contact point of the ball staying in front of her forehead she's able to manipulate the ball to her liking. She has the strength to set the ball cross court while still squaring up to her target. When you have the strength and footwork that Samantha does you have the ability to make the opposing defense guess and miss their reads which opens up the court for her hitters. Samantha is a great setter prospect that will make a big impact at the collegiate level. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='245321' first='Cate' last='McCulloch'] (OH): [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] White</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cate has an explosive arm swing creating a ton of speed and power into the ball. The first thing I noticed when I passed by her court is the speed she's able to bring her arm from open to close. She does a fantastic job of opening her shoulders and hips to the ball. This allows her to drive her entire body and use her core strength to create the speed her arm produces. Along with power and speed Cate also has the awareness and the accuracy to place the ball where it needs to go. Watching her play it seems like she always knows where her defenders are and how she can manipulate the ball to hit it away from them. When you combine her power and accuracy on her swings she's going to be a problem for opposing teams for years to come. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='490582' first='Courtney' last='Houston'] (L): HP South Premier</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Courtney may not be the flashiest libero but she gets her job done consistently. Watching her play she makes her side of the court stay calm, cool, and collected. She's able to read hitters very well when she's in left back understanding what types of swings and shots that she is responsible for taking. She may not be the most technically sound, but she makes the game look so easy. This comes from her discipline on positioning and spacing between her and the ball both defensively and when receiving. She does a great job making the small adjustments with her angle, platform, or with her feet to put herself in better position to play the ball. Courtney is going to be a great asset for a collegiate team both on and off the court with her play and overall IQ at the position. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='222071' first='Ginnie' last='Normile'] (L): HPSTL Orange</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When Ginnie is playing, don't be surprised if the ball doesn't fall on her side of the court. She does a fantastic job of getting stopped and staying in a low ready position to move her feet to the ball on defense. She rarely will let a ball pass her by unless it's someone elses ball. She's super aggressive about making moves to the ball on defense. Whether you want to tip/roll/push/swing at the ball Ginnie is able to read it and be in position to get a great dig up. She does a really good job controlling the court in receive as well. When you watch her play she makes these small subtle movements that really help her spacing for her angles and platform to work back to target. Ginnie makes the game look easy at the level she is playing at right now and is going to be able to make very similar plays for a collegiate team in the near future. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Emma Hlavsa (MB): [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] White</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The part about Emma's game I like the most is her versatility to hit both in the middle and on the right side. She understands her footwork and timing so that she can go fast and beat the block on a middle set or be able to wait and use the block to her advantage when on the right. She uses all of her size and strength to her advantage by driving her entire body through the ball. She uses that same size and athleticism when blocking opposing teams hitters. Being so versatile it gives her coaches the option to move her around the court to create mismatches for her own team offensively. Defensively you can use the same versatility to keep her in front of the dominant hitter across the net. She really has the ability to affect her team positively in so many ways that I could see her being a big impact for a collegiate program that could use her skill set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Hannah Jennings (OH): HP South Premier</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hannah is a true outside hitter prospect for college coaches for her ability to pass, hit, block, and defend at a high level. The first thing you notice when you watch Hannah play is her ability to drive her entire body through the ball. By doing that she's able to create a ton of speed on her arm swing and really make defenses get on their heels. Once Hannah is able to get them on her heels she is a dynamic enough hitter to take advantage of the space that the opposing defense gives. No matter what type of swing or shot she decides to do she's able to manipulate the ball and score in a plethora of ways. Her ability to transition from offense to defense and especially defense to offense is why I thought she was one of the better hitter prospects that I was able to watch at the President's Day tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Being in the top two divisions in the tournament these girls were competing with top teams across the country. The six players that I highlighted in this article stood out to me amongst the rest. The skill and play level of each of these prospects vary but would help a ton of collegiate programs in the near future. No matter what position these six were playing, they were able to showcase their skills and intangibles on the court this past weekend. I can't wait to see how each of these prospects grows through their next two years in high school and club. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->