GJNC Previews: Seattle Jrs 17

<p>What has been a shortened club volleyball season is coming to an end in Seattle but the best was arguably saved for the last with the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship set to take place at the Las Vegas Convention Center from June 26-July 5.</p> <p>The event is expected to attract more than 700 teams in the 15 divisions for clubs from 15s to 17s and the state of Washington will be among the participants with at least 17 teams entered to appear in the event.</p> <p>Between now the stating serve on June 26, we’ll take a look in each of those teams, recapping their club season and pointing out the players you would want to follow in the tournament.</p> <p><strong>Seattle Jrs 17</strong></p> <p>Part of the Seattle Jrs Club, this team is set to compete in the 17 Patriot division in Las Vegas. The squad led by head coach Marni Drechsel has had somewhat of an inconsistent season so far, winning 15 of 32 matches they played. The team triumphed at the PSR Power League and finished seventh in the area’s regional qualifier among other results.</p> <p><strong>Players to Watch</strong></p> <p><strong>Abby Nelson – Outside Hitter – HS: King’s – 2022</strong></p> <p>A well-rounded outside hitter, Abby Nelson is a key piece in Seattle Jrs 17’s playing system due to her ability to contribute in multiple areas of the game. At 5’9”, she has a strong offensive game and is very efficient even when she can’t make a full approach to hit in transition. Nelson is part of a strong high school program in King’s and has had a solid shortened season with them, averaging 1.3 kills, 1.4 digs and 2.3 passes per set.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/13414069/5e5c39b8688e3b16700d30c8" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97074" first="Taylor" last="Pederson"] – Setter – HS: Arlington – 2022</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="97074" first="Taylor" last="Pederson"] does a great job in running her team’s offense with great touch on the ball and intelligent distribution. She has a good size for the position at 5’8” and an excellent volleyball IQ, something extremely useful for setters. She uses all her options really well and is strongly reliable, having registered as many as 540 assists in two years of high school volleyball with King’s strong program.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/11711699/60a678824decb90ce894119f" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97225" first="Kennedy" last="Steen"] – Libero – HS: Lake Stevens – 2023</strong></p> <p>A 2023 prospect playing for a 17s team, [player_tooltip player_id="97225" first="Kennedy" last="Steen"] completely disregards the age difference between her teammates and her. A 5’4” libero, she’s extremely confident and solid on the ball, delivering a strong defensive game for Seattle Jrs 17. She’s part of one of the strongest high school programs in the entire state in Lake Stevens and has been able to make an impact there too despite still having limited playing time.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15731894/605e5b508cd5650c848897a7" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>