Players Championship Southern, Pioneer Region Takeaways

These two regions saw eight teams come away with crowns in the 14 through 17U divisions in the tournament that took place at the Louisville Exposition Center over the weekend.   The Alliance 16 REN club won its third tournament of the season taking the 16 Open crown out of 20 teams. That 16 REN team went 1-2 in power pool action on Saturday but came back to win the gold challenge then knock off Elevation 16 Renfro, 2-0 (25-18, 25-10) in the title game to go 4-0 on the second day. KIVA 16 Red, [program_tooltip program_id='431028' first='Memphis' last='Volleyball Academy'] 16 Red and Tri-State Elite 16 Blue finished tied for fifth out of 20 teams. KIVA 16 Red and [program_tooltip program_id='431028' first='Memphis' last='Volleyball Academy'] 16 Red finished 4-1 and Tri-State Elite 16 Blue finished 3-2.   The 16s Divisions also saw KIVA 16 Black win the Premier White crown with a 6-0 run and the Tri-State Elite Gray team go 6-1 to win the 16 Club Division. The Ethos 16 Elite Pam team went 4-1 to tie for third in the 16 Premier White. The Alpha A.61 and Freedom Elite 16 Elite Futures teams both finished 3-2 and tied for fifth out of 16 teams.   The Tri-State Elite 17 White team won the 17 Premier Division going 6-1. Alpha A.71 tied for third with Memphis Metro 17 Elite Black finishing tied for fifth. The Tri-State Elite 17 Blue team tied for third in the 17 Open Division with KIVA 17 Red and MAVA 17 Select tying for seventh out of 30 teams. The KIVA 17 Black and Tri-Star Navy teams finished tied for fifth in the 17 Club Division.   In the 15s Division, KIVA 15 Black won the 15 Premier Division with a 7-0 run and KIVA 15 Grey won the 15 Club White Divison with a 6-0 run. The Tri-State Elite 15 White finished runner-up in 15 Premier with Alliance 15 Molton tying for third and K2 15-2 Elite tying for fifth. Also in 15 Club White, MAVA 15 Great White and Union 15 Gold finished tied for third out of 16 teams with Legacy KY 15 Black and Southern Kentucky Premier 15-1 tying for fifth with 3-2 records. The Tri-State Elite 15 Blue team finished tied for third with a 5-1 record with Alliance 15 REN and KIVA 15 White tying for fifth.   The 14 Club Red team saw the Elizabethtown Volleyball Academy 14 Blue team go 6-0 to win that division and the KIVA 14 White team go 7-0 to win the 14 Premier Division. The Memphis Metro 14 Elite Black and Tri-State Elite 14 White teams both finished 4-1 to tie for fifth in the 14 Premier Division with M1 Blue tying for third in the 14 Club Red Division and bothe the MAVA 14 Elite and Tri-State Elite 14 Gray teams tying for fifth. The Kentucky One Volleyball 14U and Union 14 Blue teams tied fof third in the 14 Club White Division with the KIVA 14 Red and Tri-State Elite 14 Blue teams both going 4-1 for fifth in the 14 Open Division.   Notable Performers    Cassel (pictured) can make simple passes then get into her attack position quickly. Cassel attacks holes in double blocks and seams relentlessly. Cassel has such a good volleyball IQ that she can adjust in mid-air and hit down lines if they open up. Cassel generates such good power that balls carom far out of bounds off the arms of strong defensive specialists. She also pounds down overpassed balls with authority. Cassel is very smooth and consistent with her approaches and follow-throughs from both the front row and the back row. Cassel even angles balls off blocks for big points and takes quality out of system swings. Cassel is not afraid to mix in tips and off shots if defensive specialists are playing back. On defense, Cassel swings her arms out if needed and keeps her feet faced toward the target if needed. Cassel displays great versatility with a nice vertical jump on her blocks and uses her hands to set balls on out of system second touches. Cassel has good range and quick feet. She heads toward the net in attack mode when in the front row, giving opponents something to consider even if balls are not set her way. Cassel also brings great energy and communication to the court.     Hansel continues to play hard nearing the end of club season. She makes sound first touches then goes toward hitters to provide protection against blocks. Her range lets her fall back on hard shots and come up quickly to dig up tipped shots. Described as caring, bubbly and encouraging by teammates and close ones, Hansel also serves hard. She kept MAVA 17 Select out of system mixing up targets unless she found a weakness.     Forsthoefel is displaying nice leadership skills on the court. She is a great communicator and makes the simple passes. Forsthoefel squares her arms up to balls and follows through for crisp passes. Forsthoefel makes quality out of system passes and sends free balls over the net with a purpose. Forsthoefel said her coaches emphasize communication as a huge key to success and she takes that seriously. Forsthoefel said she loves helping her team get through tough games.     Spencer is turning into a sound six-rotation player for 14 Zulu. Spencer hits off blocks for big points and takes solid swings from both the front and back rows. Spencer adjusts in mid-air to send balls to the corners and hits off blocks for big points. She makes quality out of system passes. Spencer moves well in the back row to get to balls and is an aggressive server. Spencer records sound double blocks to at least slow balls down for back row players and is not afraid to reach to her right or left to bat balls down.    Note from 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 Tennessee. If you liked the story, please copy and paste to X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. 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These two regions saw eight teams come away with crowns in the 14 through 17U divisions in the tournament that took place at the Louisville Exposition Center over the weekend.