USA Volleyball GJNC – Teams to Watch Vol 1

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the most difficult aspects of the club volleyball season is to earn the elusive bid to USA Volleyball's Girls Junior National Championship.&nbsp; This year, the prestigious event will be held at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas, Texas from June 25^th til July 3^rd.&nbsp; Prep Dig will be covering the event from start to finish.&nbsp; This article series will be highlighting those awesome squads who have earned their place for the chance to be crowned a national champion.&nbsp; Let's take a deep look at some of the individual stars for each of these teams.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Texas Legacy 15's</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Texas Legacy volleyball club is quietly rising in the Lone Star Region and has really established themselves as a strong player over the last few years.  They are sending not one but two solid teams to USAV Girls Junior National Championships in the 15's age group after earning their bid at the Regional tournament.  15 Elite and 15 Adidas will be both competing in the National division in Dallas this summer.  Let's get to know just a few of their players that have stood out to us when we have watched. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 Elite</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This squad showed up when it had to and was crowned champion of Lone Star Regionals in the bid division.&nbsp; They had solid showings all year long as they competed in the Open division of two national qualifiers.&nbsp; Let's start off with hard-swinging pin Harper Korenek.&nbsp; She gets up in a hurry and wakes everyone up with her vicious attacks.&nbsp; The way she swings, I can tell that she means business.&nbsp; Setter [player_tooltip player_id='570534' first='Payton' last='Tompkins'] feeds her early and often to get the offense running smooth.&nbsp; Payton also shows off her speed with great footwork as she tracks down passes from her back row with ease.&nbsp; I love how athletic she is and also how the ball flies off of her hands with each set.&nbsp; Her quick release is something to marvel at.&nbsp; Her counterpart in the 6-2 offense is Katie Shaffer and she also does a fantastic job at keeping her foot on the gas pedal of this prolific offense.&nbsp; Left side attacker [player_tooltip player_id='580651' first='Aubrey' last='Morrison'] is another threat to score each time that she gets set.&nbsp; She has immense power and can attack with it whether she is in system or out of system.&nbsp; &nbsp;Everyone on this squad serves the ball with aggressiveness and it pays off when they get teams out of system.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='580648' first='Amiya' last='Bryant'] has really made a name for herself out of the middle.&nbsp; This young phenom has great control over her body as she patrols the net and drives hard to attack.&nbsp; She has a lot of power, speed and natural athleticism.&nbsp; We think she has a very high ceiling to make some waves in the recruiting world.&nbsp; These are only a few of their studs and we will be following their journey at nationals and will report out on them some more soon.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 Adidas</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This squad proved at each tournament they entered this season that they are a force to be reckoned with.&nbsp; In almost every tourney they finished 5^th or better and proved that they belong with a second place finish at Lone Star Regionals.&nbsp; Their offense runs through the solid hands of [player_tooltip player_id='775223' first='Mary' last='George'] and Molly McClimans who both deliver the ball well to all of their hitters.&nbsp; Libero [player_tooltip player_id='621291' first='Mia' last='Sundbeck'] is a great floor general in the back row and makes sure that their offense stays in system as much as possible.&nbsp; She has solid fundamentals that contribute to her team's success.&nbsp; But the aspect that stands out the most is her exceptional digging skills.&nbsp; There is not a ball that she cannot handle with her platform or hands.&nbsp; Her emergency techniques are also elite.&nbsp; Outside hitter Skylan Johnson can thread the needle through splits in the block with authority as she swings on the pins.&nbsp; Raegan Odinga provides this team with some added firepower from her attacks.&nbsp; What I noticed about this team is they also score a lot of points due to their disciplined posture and ability to not reach above their responsibility zone on defense.&nbsp; They allow the opponent to make mistakes by hitting out of bounds and do not put themselves in precarious situations with playing balls that they are not supposed to play.&nbsp; This squad will be fun to watch this summer at nationals and we will be there to cover them and report on more of their roster.&nbsp; Stay tuned.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We are very proud of their efforts and are so elated that they accomplished one huge goal of theirs to earn the elusive bid to USA Nationals.&nbsp; There are many more amazing teams and players that will be written about.&nbsp; Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes.&nbsp; If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at <a href="mailto:Michael@prepdig.com">Michael@prepdig.com</a>.&nbsp; You can also DM me on Instagram or X by searching @CoachMikeDZ.&nbsp; Also don't forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends.&nbsp; Help us help them by simply reposting on X, Instagram or sharing on Facebook.&nbsp; Thanks for following Prep Dig Family!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->