Spotlight Players From AAU National Championships Day 2

Another player from a talented Athena team, Abbey is a good shooter. I mean that she plays a good all around OH, and offensively was a force that consistently got the ball down, vs hitting in the net or into the block. She showed good IQ hitting where the blockers didn't have hands and used a good wing span to get the ball down. In that dodging the block skill she showed deft touch with the ball dropping tips when she saw them open. Dropping a tip for a hitter is a lot like a setter dump, in that it's usually on the fly and a reaction to reading the court. That skill is very underrated because you see a lot of hitters tip when timing is off and they are going to put the ball in the net or block, and lets face it, that's the game, it happens, better to tip the ball to an easy free ball than to put it in the net and give them a guaranteed point. Adaptability is a trait almost every coach wants in a hitter but doesn't get around to asking for because they put things like vertical, height, swing strength, passing etc. before it, but that adaptability can really change games, especially when you're going against physically strong blocking teams, and Abbey is that kind of hitter.     Even though this Athena 17-2 team didn't finish extremely high in their bracket, they are a more talented team than those results show. I run into a lot of teams like this in our area as well, and they are fun for recruiters and scouts because the teams with the wins and high finishes get the attention, but when it comes to individual skilled players looking at colleges, that doesn't matter much. Margo is something that seems to be in HUGE demand in college right now, a MB. There are dozens of schools still looking for 2026 MB, let alone the ones looking for 2027. Height will get a lot of players offers even when the athleticism and skill isn't at that level. That's not an issue for Margo, she's got good height crossing the 6 foot line, and she showed some great blocking skills in the game I got to see. With the strength some of these OH are hitting the ball these days, more and more blocking front line players are needed to combat that. For a hitter, the two way player is the 6 rotation hitter, whereas almost all Middles are 3 rotation players, so you can be a one dimensional offensive MH, or a defensive minded MB and still have a role on a team. I didn't get a lot of chances to see Margo's offensive game, it just didn't work out for her to get set when I was watching, but I did get to see her display college level blocking, and there's demand for that in college right now.     1st Alliance is a good club. I got to see two of their top 17 teams up close this past week, and that's not even including their TOP team which is in open. Leah falls into the upper end of my "tweener" category of hitters, which means they may have the height, but vertical is lacking a bit, or vice versa, it just means that they have less margin for error and plays need to be perfect timing wise. She was getting up and putting balls down with authority when I saw her play this week, no issues from me calling her a legit threat. Some girls go more technique than brute force, others just hit the ball so hard there's not much you can do against it, she was leaning towards the latter when I watched her, but don't take that as a negative, she was a force when she hit the ball. She's committed to Illinois State, and that seems like a match for me after watching her. She should be a lesson to hundreds of girls out there that need to put the work in to fine tune their game, or overcome another part of their game, she's clearly worked hard to get where she is, and now she's showing what that hard work gets you, an OH you should be afraid of.     This one is tricky because when you watch their team you immediately see the OH D1 commit and you get distracted. However, you'll find that these big commits aren't doing things alone and without a great setter, you're going to be hard pressed to show off what makes you really sing. Teuila is great setting. Her roster height is 5'9, and although she may look a little smaller in person, that doesn't hold her back. Generally when I see a smaller tiered setter running a 5-1 it's like there's a necessity there. She's one of the few I've seen that can run every aspect well. Her touch approach is nearly 10 feet which led to her getting up with good timing to get blocks. She had a few good kills playing as the OPP, her sets were good, on target and she showed a couple different tempos to the offense. She was a legit one that is probably not getting the love she deserves. One of the few all around setters that I feel really deserve the spot. As far as I know, currently uncommitted, and someone should probably remedy that as soon as possible.     Yep, number two hitter in her class, it was fairly clear from warm ups she was a weapon out there. She has plenty of vertical which allowed her to constantly boom balls from the back row. Her front row hitting was consistently a nightmare with hard shots rocketing in. She's committed D1 and it's just obvious as soon as you get to the court, the hitting is the star, but her back row defense isn't bad either. Power is the name of her game, which she gets through arm speed and technique. Tune in to watch her play in CA in Fall of 2027, you'll be entertained.    There were a lot of West Coast players on my radar this week, we don't get to see them as much out East, so not as familiar with them, but it stood out to me that there is still real talent out there unsigned in the 2027 class. All the noise about the June 15 2028s is out there, but there are a lot of 2027s looking for a home still. I'm going to scour the notebook and see if I've got one more list worth from AAU but if I close out on this note, I'll be switching gears to the DMV Showcases on July 18th, and next up from there, it's time to preview HS season. Just seems like it never actually takes a break.