Under the Radar Athletes Who Rocked the Fall Tournament Series

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Running around tournaments can always be a blur. But one of the best parts besides taking pictures and watching great volleyball is finding those under the radar athletes who are consistent, valuable, and on the rise. Having a fall tournament series which included a lot of the same teams each week (and some new ones) allowed us to get some very deep and detailed notes about athletes. I felt every time I looked at a team I saw someone new. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are some under the radar athletes who rocked the fall tournament series:</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Clare Rettler </span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Clare is a lefty with a lot of potential. She has a good high contact on the ball and a powerful snap. Clare is an efficient hitter who plays smart and is consistent. She does a great job staying active in plays and putting up a block. </span></p> <h3><img class="size-medium wp-image-113439 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/10/IMG_2702-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></h3> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emerson Van Lannen </span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emerson is a dependable athlete. She played on both the JV and varsity teams at the Pumpkin Spice Slam and did a great job at both levels. During the JV tournament, she was a setter and hitter; however, on the varsity roster, she played defensive specialist out of the back row. Emerson is clearly a very dynamic athlete who can play well no matter where she is. </span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Andi Speis </span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Andi is a class of 2024 athlete who is insanely dynamic. Andi plays with the speed and accuracy of setters years older than her. She has great hands, moves the ball around well, and is solid on defense. Andi also has a very nice swing out of the front row. She is a dynamic player who should definitely be on everyone’s radar during the next few years. </span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">[player_tooltip player_id="91919" first="Carly" last="Stamm"] </span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Carly is an aggressive middle who always wants the ball. She finds a way to stay involved in every play which is one of the hardest things to learn as a middle. Carly is fun to watch because she puts up a great block and is always giving full effort on every play. She is already an impressive middle and will only continue to grow!</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ashton Birr</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ashton has a lot of speed on the court. She is a libero who has all of the great attributes and leadership skills being a libero requires. Ashton talks a lot on the court and is a huge energizer. She goes for every ball and gets touches if not passes on a lot of them. Her speed is a huge asset to her as a passer and her team. She is only a sophomore and is already having huge impacts on her team. </span></p> <p><img class="size-medium wp-image-113440 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/10/IMG_3581-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emily Mickelson</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Emily is typically a libero/ds, and a very good one at that. But during the fall tournament series, she has been setting. This is a new role for her and no one would be able to tell the difference. She is confident, brushes off mistakes, and continues moving the ball around. Emily is a very smart player and is efficient with the ball. She is clearly very dynamic and can fill in missing positions as needed. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These athletes were very impressive throughout the fall tournament series. All of them work hard and have proven themselves to be dynamic across the court. Don’t let these athletes slip through your radar!</span></p>