15s Making Waves at Jingle Bell Jam

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Finley Gehring</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='776295' first='Tulsa' last='Power'] 15-3 barely broke a sweat on their way to being crowned champions of the 15U division on Saturday.&nbsp; This team was able to start the season with instant chemistry with several of them having played together previously and under head coach Leah LeBlanc.&nbsp; Finley Gehring made a big impact from the outside hitter position.&nbsp; She passed well in serve receive and consistently transitioned, keeping herself available as part of the offense at all times. &nbsp;She showed a diverse bag of offensive tools, scoring points with both angle and line swings, and a variety of off-speed shots and tips.&nbsp; What was most impressive about Finley was that she was equally effective attacking the ball both in system and out of system.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='734804' first='Lillian' last='Crouch']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the best 15U performers this weekend could not be found in the 15s division.&nbsp; Lillian and her Virago 15 Elite teammates played up in the 16s division, along with several other top 15s teams.&nbsp; Lillian helped power them to a 3^rd place finish, narrowly falling to Charge 15 UA Tulsa 23-25, 22-25 in the semi-finals.&nbsp; The strength of Virago's team is their big explosive middle attack- which requires the setter to be pinpoint accurate and understand tempo.&nbsp; Lillian and her middles had great chemistry all day- dominating at the net.&nbsp; Lillian also gave her a team a huge boost as one of their most aggressive and consistent servers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='903629' first='Haeli' last='Rodgers']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another player looking for a challenge this weekend and playing up in the 16s division is [player_tooltip player_id='903629' first='Haeli' last='Rodgers'], libero for the aforementioned Charge 15 UA Tulsa.&nbsp; Even amongst her talented team, Haeli stood out as a difference maker.&nbsp; Not only did she pass well in serve receive, but she patrolled a huge area of court doing it- taking much of the passing pressure off her pin hitter teammates.&nbsp; She came up with several point saving digs, which were critically needed for her team to advance in to the finals.&nbsp; Charge 15 UA Tulsa ultimately fell in 2 sets to Charge 15 National (Central) in the finals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kennedie Wittig</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As the setter for Virago 15 National, Kennedie proves that big things do come in small packages.&nbsp; She kept the Virago offense flowing all day, spreading the ball around to her pins, running an effective up tempo middle attack, and even sprinkling in some timely setter dumps.&nbsp; What really stood out about Kennedie is her strength.&nbsp; She uses her legs well to help push the ball around the court, allowing make longer and more difficult sets that most setters wouldn't even attempt.&nbsp; She also played tough defensively, which is a bonus from the setter position.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Laura Wisdom</strong> Laura and her OK Premier 15P teammates traveled up to Tulsa from Norman on Saturday for an early season debut.  Few players put on a single skill display of dominance better than Laura- as she patrolled the net, racking up multiple stuff blocks in each set.  For her 3 rotations, she essentially eliminated the opposing teams' angle swing from the pin positions- forcing them to try to score points down the line.  Offensively Premier did not feature much of a middle attack- which Laura will need to round out her skillset.  If she is able to develop a consistent attack anywhere close to her blocking prowess- she will be a player to watch out for.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->