High School Preview - Lucas Lovejoy – Three-Peat?

This week is the week that will bring so much joy to many volleyball coaches and players across the great State of Texas. Day 1. Last year the preseason was cut short due to “It That Shall Not Be Named”. This year we are able to have a full tryout and pre/regular volleyball school season. We are looking forward to seeing everyone back in action on the court. We will be highlighting a few teams that have a chance to do something very special this year if it all works out. Today we bring our attention to Lucas Lovejoy Leopards from district 10-5A. They are the back-to-back Defending 5A State Champions and they have a target on their backs this year. They are trying to make history by going to four straight Texas UIL State Championship matches in a row. We have written about these players before and here is a little from our recent articles about them if you need to remember who they are:   [player_tooltip player_id="87389" first="Averi" last="Carlson"] [2022] 6-0 Setter(HS: Lovejoy/Club: Dallas Skyline/ Verbal: Oklahoma) Averi needs no introduction to anyone who follows high school volleyball. This young lady is currently ranked as the best high school prospect in the state of Texas according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. “Former national sophomore of the year is no stranger to success. Her lengthy frame allows her to be extremely deceptive when deciding to push the ball in front or behind her. She is such a gifted setter with extremely soft hands that led her high school team to a state title as only a Sophomore last year. This year she has her Dallas Skyline team running at a great pace against some great Texas Club competition. If you want to see a ball come off of a player’s hands smoothly, check this one out. She moves on the court as if she was born there. While it has taken a great deal of work to get to this level, she still makes everything look so easy. Oklahoma is getting one of the best setters they have ever recruited in this young lady. She will lead this program to greatness over the next few years since she is only a junior.” Watching her in action in person this summer at the Girls Junior National Championships really puts everything into perspective. She deserves every accolade she gets as she will likely have every opportunity to start her Freshman year at Oklahoma. In the meantime, she has some history to make during her senior season. Stay tuned to see what she does. [player_tooltip player_id="87496" first="Ava" last="Camacho"] [2022] 5-8 Libero(HS: Lovejoy/Club: Dallas Skyline/ Verbal: UT San Antonio) Ava is currently ranked as the 30th best prospect in the state according to our State Rankings. She is a phenomenal talent in the back row. “Having played with two of the best clubs in the state of Texas over the years, Ava has definitely been tested amongst the best in the Nation. And she has not disappointed one bit. This showcases her abilities as a very well rounded volleyball player. She always seems to find herself in the right place at the right time when watching her play. This can be directly correlated to all of her experience throughout her years of playing. Serve-receive is her strong suit and she should bring that to the table while at UTSA in the coming years. Ava is a great libero who has amazing range on the court. She is able to stop on a dime and change her direction quickly to respond to an emergency. She is able to handle hard driven attacks with ease and will bring that to the table for them as the road gets tough in the playoffs.” We covered her club team in Vegas and Ava did not disappoint with her solid play both in serve receive and defense. Miss Camacho is going to lead the back row for the Leopards during her senior season and have them back marching forward in this year’s title chase.   [player_tooltip player_id="99506" first="Rosemary" last="Archer"] [2022] 6-0 Setter/Right Side (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Texas Advantage/Verbal: Pepperdine) Rosemary is ranked as the 46th best player in the 2022 class according to our State Rankings. Rosemary is a very gifted setter from two highly touted volleyball programs in north Texas. “She plays at powerhouse high school Lovejoy and the prestigious TAV club out of Dallas. She has trained under some amazing technical trainers in her career and it shows. She has been blessed with a body frame that is tailor made for a setter. At six foot tall and having very lengthy arms, she is a coach’s dream to have as a floor general. If you mix her height with her ability to jump set her hitters, you are left with a recipe for offensive dominance. She has great location on her pin sets both in system and out of system. She is able to hit her target very consistently. While setting out of system, she loves to go against flow to keep the other team off-balance and put her hitters in a one on one situation. She is the type of setter that makes an average hitter look great because of her quick footwork getting to the ball and being in a great position to set the ball. She will be scooped up very quickly. Rosemary and Averi are an amazing tandem to have in order to control the ball for the offense. When you add her ability to swing in to the mix it makes for one very interesting option to have of offense for an already gifted team.” The Pepperdine commit is going to shine this year as she was stellar for TAV this past club season. She just showcased her offense by tallying 8 kills against Prosper and 8 kills against Rockwall this week. The bombs she was unleashing were mixed with a few key well placed shots to help her team score. We will be watching very closely to see how she builds on these performances during her senior season.   [player_tooltip player_id="140418" first="Grace" last="Milliken"] [2022] 6-1 Middle (HS: LoveJoy/Club: Excel/Verbal: Uncommitted) We have her listed as the 79th best prospect in the state. Miss Milliken plays at Lovejoy High School and also club for Excel out of the North Texas Region. “In two years on varsity, she has amassed 170 kills, a super impressive .437 hitting percentage, 85 blocks. She is a member of the famed ten-foot club meaning she can touch ten feet high with her approach touch. Grace is a very lengthy middle who drives her feet extremely hard into the ground during her approach to attack. She is able to cut the ball to both sides of the court in order to score efficiently out of the middle. We like the way she turns on the ball when hitting the 31 set. Most players stay hitting cross for the 31 but she turns on it well and crushes the seam. She will do well if she continues to utilize that torque in her upper body while attacking. We are excited to have her in our rankings and we will be watching her career closely. Please congratulate Miss Milliken on her achievement of being one of the top players in the state of Texas.” We watched as her Excel team competed in the GJNC in Vegas and she proved that she was hard to stop. What will help the Leopards this season is how efficient Grace and the other middles are on offense.   Experience is one of the key factors that every championship program has and Lucas Lovejoy definitely has that. These seniors have been to the State Championship in each of their high school seasons. It is very difficult to repeat a title run and even more difficult to do it three times in a row. The departing of some key seniors and their coach makes this season a little different than in years past, but the players know what it takes. Players like Senior Megan Diercks (committed to McKendree University) and 6-3 Junior Middle Hannah Gonzalez are two more players that will star for the Leopards this season. New coach Natalie Puckett has all of the players that she needs in order to go on another deep run. We will be watching very closely and wish them luck.   Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following Texas Family!