Five Chattanooga Area Players to Watch

On a given day, someone near Scenic City rises up during the club or high school season. These five players have done that, hoping to inspire teammates to do the same.    Nicola (pictured) is a sound option for the Bruisers on the outside. Nicola has great court vision. She takes quick peaks across the net then rips the seams. Nicola sends hard balls to the side lines and back lines. Nicola can hit balls over blocks and off blocks for big points. Nicola also does a good job putting overpassed balls in open spots.     Owens has quick hands and has demonstrated the ability to set long and short balls. Owens can even execute back sets. Owens takes full advantage of the sound hitters around her. Owens mixes in deceptive set-overs. Owens makes the most of out of system sets sending balls back toward the net. Owens also backs up the net well against tips. Owens can send across sound line drive serves. Owens is not afraid to take swings when needed.     Mathis stays a good distance from the net so as to make blocking more difficult. Mathis takes balls and pounds them over and away from blocks. Mathis gets on top of balls and sends across powerful line and cross shots. Mathis is especially tough on go routes. Mathis can even make things happen when the team is out of system. Mathis also makes good passes defensively then quickly settles into her offensive stance.     Billington has a good combination of size with a nice vertical jump to consistently get up and beat blocks before they form at the net. Billington distributes hard ones to different spots on the court. She often finds different ways to hit over and around double blocks. Billington goes up and gets on top of balls from both the pins and the middle. Billington even takes quality gap shots. Billington is a sound six-rotation player. She makes sound passes from the back row to jumpstart the offense.     Harwood runs an efficient offense for Vortex. She's put a lot of time into hitting targets in practice with both front and back sets and it shows on the court. Harwood executes back sets with little lean. On defense, Harwood makes the simple passes. She steps back on balls to perform overhead passes then hustles forward even making pancake digs to keep plays alive.    Note from the Writer   Mike Graham has been writing for Prep Dig for two years and has enjoyed getting to know the volleyball scenes in Kentucky, Ohio and coming soon, Tennessee. 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 michaelgraham@prepdig.com. You may also follow him on X @GMCgrah or Instagram @g.michaelgraham. Subscriptions give you access to exclusive content. For a 30% discount, enter code graham30 at checkout.

On a given day, someone near Scenic City rises up during the club or high school season. These five players have done that, hoping to inspire teammates to do the same.