East Kentucky Junior Volleyball 17U National Team Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Paintsville Tigers have found ways to stay in the 15th Region hunt ever since Dawn Kinner took over the program in 2010.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tigers are even tougher to defend when they return a lot of experience, especially coming off a 28-11 57th District and 15th Region runner-up season in 2025. Paintsville graduates two seniors in the spring with one being one of the two setters, but Paintsville added a huge addition recently when 6-0 outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='603814' first='Chloe' last='Reed'] transferred there from in-town rival Johnson Central. Pairing Reed with the defending 15th Region Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Year in 5-11 versatile outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='253875' first='Kylie' last='Kinner'] will be a tough matchup for the rest of the region.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Reed will soon get the chance to start getting used to playing with Kinner and six returning Paintsville players on the [program_tooltip program_id='747806' first='East' last='Kentucky Junior Volleyball'] 17U National squad that's split between four juniors and four freshmen. Junior middle blocker [player_tooltip player_id='742476' first='Annabelle' last='Blankenship'] will earn swings in the middle ad senior [player_tooltip player_id='816699' first='Mallory' last='May'] from the middle and pins as teams will have to focus on Reed and Kinner.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coach Kinner sung a lot of praise on the freshman class in the spring and a number contributed in the fall. [player_tooltip player_id='890171' first='Addison' last='Helton'] stepped into a setter role nicely and [player_tooltip player_id='898049' first='Kendall' last='Short'] did the same thing at the libero spot. [player_tooltip player_id='925231' first='Bentley' last='Smith'] mainly contributes at defensive specialist but could take outside swings this year with middle/opposite hitter [player_tooltip player_id='785507' first='Kate' last='Lauffer'] taking big rips at the middle and opposite hitter spots.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first time to see this team is Saturday and Sunday in the Commonwealth Grand Prix at the Central Bank Center.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Players to Watch</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["742476"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-69840b0dc2d82"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Blankenship has great speed and placement on her swings. She can smack balls to the corners and if defenders are playing back, Blankenship can tip it over blockers to the shallow front court. Blankenship should receive plenty of one-on-one opportunities with Paintsville's size in the front row during club and high school ball. Blankenship's blocking is also impressive with her ability to form double blocks with teammates and close on them. Blankenship had 156 kills, 22 solo blocks, 41 assisted blocks, 110 digs and 44 aces for Paintsville in the fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["816699"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-69840b0dc2e95"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">May (pictured) may not have the size as some of her teammates, but she more than makes up for it with her vertical. She takes ones and deposits balls to the sides with an outstanding cut shot. She adds in shoves to the shallow middle catching defenses by surprise. May makes crisp first touches then quickly transitions to offense. She can pound crosses to different parts of the court. May had 350 kills and 131 digs in the fall for Paintsville.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["890171"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-69840b0dc2f6c"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Helton will record a lot of assists in the fall if she puts balls at the peaks of her hitters' swings like she consistently did last fall. Coach Kinner has said she'd like to see Paintsville run the fast-paced offense similar to 2022 when Paintsville won the in-season All "A" State Championship and Helton is making strides to do that. Helton does a good job reading defenses and finding the right matchup for Paintsville to succeed. Helton has outstanding footwork stopping in her tracks to make sound passes. Helton had 616 assists and 205 digs for the Tigers in the fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["925231"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-69840b0dc3047"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Smith helped the Tigers form a solid defense setting up nicely behind the size then making smooth first touches. Smith stops her feet and follows through on the bump and overhead passes. Smith does a great job tracking down shoves to the corners using good range. Smith only leans or dives out of necessity. She was one of eight Tigers to hit triple-digits in digs with 104 in the fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Note from the Writer</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mike Graham has been writing for Prep Dig for two years and has enjoyed getting to know the volleyball scenes in both Kentucky and Ohio. If you liked the story, please copy and paste to X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. You may also follow us at @prepdigkentucky or @prepdigoh on Instagram in addition to @PrepDigKy or @PrepDigOH on X. If you feel someone in Kentucky or Ohio needs coverage or even have feedback on the Kentucky rankings, please email Mike at pnmikeg@yahoo.com. You may also follow him on X @GMCgrah or Instagram @g.michaelgraham. Subscriptions give you access to exclusive content. 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