Tournament of the Week: Week 4

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Each week we are going to take a look at a big time tournament with a ton of top tier players and programs. Let's take a look at week 2. Season is officially here and all games going forward begin to pave each team's destiny. Lots of teams have already played in a tournament and some are playing back to back weekends to help their case just in time for the first official rankings. Those will open this Friday evening and be posted on Monday afternoon. We will definitely be keeping an eye out for those!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Claremore Classic:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is a round robin style tournament. Each team will play all others teams one time and a winner will be determined by most wins or a tiebreaker. The teams attending this weekend: Claremore, Altus, Sapulpa, Classen SAS, Lawton Mac, Muskogee and Shawnee. It is full of ranked 5A teams looking to snag key wins over each other to help their playoff chances.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Players:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let's start with the setters. [player_tooltip player_id='285769' first='Grace' last='Baughman'] and [player_tooltip player_id='776021' first='Madyson' last='Greenfeather'] are both 6 rotation players that do a solid job while setting. Both were voted to the Sapulpa Inv. All Tournament team. Madyson is left handed which can really be an upside for this position, while Grace is 5'10 and has the capability to run a 5-1 offense. [player_tooltip player_id='746899' first='Danika' last='Bridges'] from Lawton Mac, Molly Megehee from Shawnee, [player_tooltip player_id='774418' first='Maise' last='Stagner-Speer'] from Claremore who are setters you shouldn't sleep on. They are all very athletic, cover a ton of ground and put up a very consistent ball to help keep the offense humming.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We have some ELITE middle level play this weekend. [player_tooltip player_id='828228' first='Faith' last='Caffey'] and [player_tooltip player_id='666302' first='Addison' last='Doyle'] for Claremore have combined for 67 blocks and 142 kills. [player_tooltip player_id='737518' first='Brianni' last='Kimbro'] is a big time player who plays a really good backrow when needed. [player_tooltip player_id='757039' first='Kyanah' last='Taylor'] has also been a key part of the offense for the Highlanders. Coffeyville commit, [player_tooltip player_id='810001' first='Hayden' last='Humphrey'] leads the Sapulpa Chieftans in kills. She is a danger in a variety of ways when she is attacking. She also has a serve that is tough to handle. [player_tooltip player_id='874955' first='Abby' last='Admire'] has been a swiss army knife of a player for them as well. Dont count out [player_tooltip player_id='757040' first='Kaprie' last='Craddock'], Hayden Castillo and company out. They are a scrappy group that never gives up a play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pin play has no shortage of talent either. [player_tooltip player_id='832703' first='Haylee' last='Stockham'], Evyn Bull, Ellan Burk, [player_tooltip player_id='740047' first='Bethany' last='WhiteEagle'], [player_tooltip player_id='754632' first='Amelia' last='Brunkhorst'] and [player_tooltip player_id='741599' first='Ava' last='Tanner'] have all had their moments of brillance throughout the season. Asia Ianes is a foreign exchange player from Italy and plays for the Zebras. She is a handful when she is out of system attacking and REALLY a handful when she is in system. She also has a top spin serve that has some mustard on it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Defensive Specialists can really make a team go to the next level. [player_tooltip player_id='774413' first='Adrian' last='Hawley'], [player_tooltip player_id='736675' first='Madison' last='Godding'], [player_tooltip player_id='800278' first='Alivia' last='Payne'], [player_tooltip player_id='874977' first='Rycki' last='Johnson'], [player_tooltip player_id='807722' first='Allie' last='Gordon'], and [player_tooltip player_id='794437' first='Hayden' last='Kessler'] are players to watch. They have the ability to make a massive difference when they are playign well for their respective teams.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Good luck to all those teams playing this weekend. Lots of great volleyball has already been played here in Oklahoma. Yet, the best is still on the horizon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->