Salt Lake City Showcase: Some of the Best Individual Skills

Trying to get away from the usual categories and write ups, so I'm going to talk about some of the best individual traits I saw this weekend. There were some random parts of people's game that made me think, and i made some notes. Volleyball is so much more than just the best hitter, or the best setter, there are so many things that go into a player I thought I should highlight some. Besides, it gives me something different to talk about, so that's fun. Without further ado, here are some of the best individual skills on display at the showcase this weekend:   Best Serve:   This one was tricky. I saw a couple girls that had great serves. Generally you see a LOT of float serves, with a little bit of variation, but generally the things that separate serves are the amount of movement someone gets, and their accuracy/control. However, this happened:    To be fair, in these showcases, not a lot of girls actually get a chance to serve, so there could have been other things out there...maybe...but from what I actually got to see, Abryella blew me away. She's a DS with good skills, which is what I was watching at the time during scrimmage play. She's 5'4, which is pretty on brand for a DS/Lib. What is very much NOT typical is that she has a top spin serve, and a nasty, hard, dropping ball at that. Her serve was accurate, hard to read, and even harder to get in front of to play. When you're seeing a DS drop back to serve and waiting for that float serve, and all of a sudden the ball gets tossed 10 feet in the air and then drops over the net like a string was cut...it can be jarring. It was fun to watch, but that's because I wasn't in serve receive.    Best Hands:   This is one for setters. I talked about it a bit in my setting post earlier, but good hands can really change a game. Setters are all over the place, getting a pass to the right spot is tough, and often setters are on the run and trying to get the ball back for the pin wherever they need it, which is where having soft hands, and a good touch on the ball is important. For this one, it came down to two and the winner is...    She was actually in the running for best serve too, but since she got beat out there, and didn't make the top setter post last time, I'm going to give her this one, as one of the top setters was the other candidate. Ella has incredibly soft hands, especially when it comes to setting the middle and right side. Her outside sets have drastically improved this year, and the nice touch she has on the ball lets her set different speeds for different hitters. Whether running back towards the lib, or out towards the pin, she's great at taking that momentum off the ball and keeping it to the spot it needs to get delivered with the right speed.    Best Back Row Defense From a Pin:   Almost every team out there has an all-around 6 on it. A pin that plays all the way around and doesn't come out. For that to happen, you've gotta have a pin that really works on serve receive and back row defense. There are some that are passable, no pun intended, those are the majority, but the really excellent defensive pins are big time prospects. Coaches really want those kinds of players, you can't get stuck out there in a rotation because you have a pin that just can't pass the ball, and the server just starts targeting them over and over. Here's the best back row defender I saw from a pin at the showcase:    Kelsey was working on a hustle drill when I saw her, since I didn't have the hitters or DS this time. They had to be all over the court, reading, anticipating and making the play on balls that are out of system and all over the court. I got to see her getting down for balls all over, running balls down out of bounds, and diving and making one handed plays. That was great play for a DS, but as I looked at her she had a look that didn't scream DS to me, so I followed up with her a bit later in the scrimmages, and looked up her info, and sure enough she's listed as a 5'7 outside. Tweeners as I call them, hitters that are in that 5'6-5'10 range have to have a good vertical, and a long wing span can't hurt, and she did. But what was special to me was when the corner turned and she was in the back row getting down for balls, her range was exceptional, better than a lot of DS I've seen. She got quite a few balls up on pancakes, and her passes were accurate, moreso than some DS I saw this weekend. She's a great example if you want an all around 6.    Best Hitter:   This one is a bit of a cop out, but I was looking for a spot to put a certain player. There was one stand out pin hitter that every coach and scout agreed was the top player there, and this is a good way to slide her in to my post. That's weird for me, I know, I usually stay away from the obvious top players, they are already getting a ton of press from everyone else. But this one was interesting because she's still in 8th grade.    Kova is going to end up being one of the top recruits in the national 2030 group. She's 5'11 right now, but as an 8th grader, she still might have a couple inches left in her. What's scary is that she already touches 10'3, and if she still has a bit to go, she could in theory get into Kari Knotts territory, which is in the 10'8 range. Kova also has a large wing span which contributes to why she's touching 10'3, she's got a nice strong arm whip that creates a lot of power. I actually HEARD her hitting before I saw her, when someone hits that hard, they stand out. She plays for Club Sand, which is a top level club nationally, and when the 2030 rankings hit she's a contender for the top of the list.    Fastest Player:   It's a little tough to gauge the fastest players in volleyball because the courts are small, and there's no 40m dash to compare head to head. However, quickness side to side can show itself, mostly in DS or surprisingly in middles who you see going pin to pin for the block. For me, I'm going DS on this one:    Back to that hustle drill I was watching on a bunch of different courts, Hope was side to side, front to back, she was everywhere getting a hand on the ball. In drills designed to make them reach and stretch further than their range should go, she kept getting there, and finding another gear. I like to label 'bros as one of two styles, very fast, rangey players that make more flashy big plays, and then consistent, solid players that get to less balls, but make less errors. Hope has that first category speed, but I didn't get enough of a look at her platform or passing to tell you how close to the second she is. The ones that have both are usually the big time prospects.

Trying to get away from the usual categories and write ups, so I'm going to talk about some of the best individual traits I saw this weekend. There were some random parts of people's game that made me think, and i made some notes. Volleyball is so much more than just the best hitter, or the best setter, there are so many things that go into a player I thought I should highlight some. Besides, it gives me something different to talk about, so that's fun. Without further ado, here are some of the best individual skills on display at the showcase this weekend: