Line Shot's Mid-East Qualifier Hot Shots in 17 Open

<p><em><strong>Be sure to follow @lshotvb on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lshotvb/">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lshotvb?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc">Tik Tok </a>and <a href="https://x.com/LineShotVBall">Twitter</a> for all things volleyball!</strong></em></p>   <p><strong><em><strong><em><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lshotvb/video/7621354388061179167?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7621309005139035661">IS THIS THE BEST TEAM IN THE COUNTRY RIGHT NOW!?</a></em></strong></em></strong></p>   <p><strong><em>--</em></strong></p>   <p>It's one of the biggest tournaments of the season for a lot of reasons. The Mid-East Qualifier brings in the talent from every corner of the country. From the midwest to the south, to Texas and the PNW, we had representatives from just about everywhere you could imagine. All on the hunt for their bid to return back to the Circle City this summer.</p>   <p>Not only does MEQ bring the heat in terms of talent, but its the half way mark of the regular season in the club season. Qualifier season is nearing its end and we're just 6 weeks away from the quiet period that May brings. From there, its the almighty race for national championships in June and July. We're seeing teams hit their stride and playing some of their best volleyball yet.</p>   <p>The 17 Open remains to be one of the most sought after division in the country. These players have sometime to prove and for many, it is their last go around before hitting the early grad trend next winter. TAV, once again, dominated the field, winning in a dominated 10-0 fashion. OTVA came up short in challenging the clear front runners for the 17 Open title come Summer time. We also saw the emergence of teams like [program_tooltip program_id='428892' first='PVA' last=''] and 1st Alliance bring themselves within the conversation with big weekends.</p>   <p>There is a LOT of volleyball to break down here from the 2026 Mid-East Qualifier, let's take a look at the Hot Shots in the 17 Open.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='453086' first='Ellery' last='DeBoer'] - MN Select</h2>   <p>This Michigan State bound setter gets me more and more excited for the Spartans with every view. [player_tooltip player_id='453086' first='Ellery' last='DeBoer'] runs a real spread out offense for her MN Select team. She's able to put her hitters in the best positions possible to score while maintaining the balance needed to keep opposing defenses honest. She also has no problem calling her own number from time to time.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='391765' first='McKinley' last='Hardle'] - MN Select</h2>   <p>This was a big weekend for the MN Select DS/L. Not only did [player_tooltip player_id='391765' first='McKinley' last='Hardle'] shine on the court, but she also announced her commitment to Northern Michigan. It was evident in her play the relief of the recruiting process. Hardle was defensively on top of things and was tough as nails in her reception game.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='544666' first='Giselle' last='Stoeva'] - [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder']</h2>   <p>It's been a minute since I have seen this [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] team in action and one of the biggest impressions from it was the play of [player_tooltip player_id='544666' first='Giselle' last='Stoeva'] on the right side. While she's not her typical size for an opposite, Stoeva remains an incredibly efficient attacker. In many of the games I watched, it was Stoeva who was getting the ball more times than not because of how easy of a time she was having putting the ball away. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='828251' first='Jayla' last='Williams'] - [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] </h2>   <p>Another big impression at the net from [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] was in the middle with [player_tooltip player_id='828251' first='Jayla' last='Williams']. This player was a blocking machine! If she wasn't shutting down the play, she sure as heck was slowing things down. This all allowed her team to operate at very controlled level and opened herself up to be a scoring option in transition as well.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Audrey Shaeffer - [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] </h2>   <p>We have to give the littles some love and this one is very deserving of it. Audrey Shaeffer really did a job putting on a show in the back court. While the 'normal jobs' of a libero was good and all, It her out of system setting that really had me sat! Shaeffer is one of those liberos taking notes from the likes of Molly Tuozzo from Kentucky. Her first line of action is to get her hands on the ball and she's pushing tempo! It makes a whole new layer for Rockwood to really surpass the competition.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='828205' first='Dorothy' last='Durrill'] - HPSTL</h2>   <p>This was a huge weekend for the future Carolina Tar Heel. Not only did she continue as business per usual on the courts in Indianapolis but she cleaned up some honors as well. Before MEQ even began, Dorothy Durill was owning the courts at UA Next All-America. From there, she was named one of five MVPs and an automatic consideration to be invited to the UA All-America game later this year. </p>

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