Liberos Who Dug Everything at Houston Stock Up Showcase

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coming from a remarkable first stop in Dallas one week ago, the Prep Dig Showcase series landed in Houston this weekend, marking the event's second stop in the Lone Star State this summer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Saturday, over 100 prospects from the Houston area and beyond reunited for two hours of fast-paced and exciting action during our Stock Up Showcase at the <a href="https://prepdig.com/program/tav-houston/"><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='462263' first='TAV' last='Houston']</strong></a>&nbsp;facility in Spring. It was another great opportunity for us to see first-hand some of the most intriguing talent in Texas just a couple of weeks before the start of the high school season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I was assigned to follow the liberos and defensive specialists during the day and got to watch a phenomenal group of talented, hard-working young women give it all and do some amazing things as the drills were thrown at them in the event.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are many aspects to the game of a libero nowadays, and we'll try to highlight the players who stood out in each of them in the event over the week. This time, we feature the ones who had the strongest performances when playing defense:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1008061"],"_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-6a6527ac8dd4d"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Mendez stood out as one of the best pure defenders in the event. The libero was very dynamic with her movement on the back row and got a bunch of touches in the scrimmage-like drills, also making a strong impression with her positioning. Mendez showed great control to handle hard-driven swings and performed some really impressive overhead digs at the left back position. Her strong performance went beyond her defensive skills, as she was also very solid in serve-receive and showed great discipline to track plays and cover her hitters. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["777353"],"_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-6a6528604c910"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Rodriguez's defensive skills were in full display since the very first drills of the event. Extremely quick and dynamic, she was excellent at keeping the ball off the floor, combining remarkable effort and excellent technical skills. Rodriguez seemed to be everywhere on the back row, as not many balls would go down on her side of the net without her getting a touch on it. The libero also acted as a true back row general, constantly communicating with her teammates. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1006796"],"_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-6a6528604c990"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Paysse was among the most efficient and reliable defenders on Saturday. Her positioning was arguably the most interesting aspect of her game, as she not only read plays extremely well and was always covering the right zones, but also managed to make excellent last-second adjustments, giving her a better chance to get to balls that would initially be outside of her range. Very quick with her movement, Paysse also displayed impressive accuracy with her diving digs, avoiding tips and shots from going down in her zone. The libero also showed quality at the service line, firing aggressive floaters across the net.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1001525"],"_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-6a6528604c9e4"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Hernandez had one of the best defensive techniques among the players in the event and was among the most productive defenders. She did everything right before making contact with the ball and during it, resulting in accurate deliveries to her setter. Hernandez's movement was textbook, as she remained low and focused when looking for the ball in the back row. Her ball control was excellent, too, mainly because of how disciplined she is when it comes to keeping her body behind the ball and facing her target when making contact with it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->