High School Spotlight: Katy Tigers

<p>The high school volleyball season is underway in Texas and talented young players have been showcasing their skills in every corner of the Lone Star state.</p> <p>One of our missions at Prep Dig is to highlight as many teams and prospects as possible around the state, from State Championship contenders and household names to underdogs and special talents who might be flying under-the-radar.</p> <p>We spend a lot of time at the gyms gathering information and watching matches and will use this space to highlight some of the teams and players we got to watch in person. This time we’ll analyze the Katy Tigers.</p> <p><strong>Katy Tigers</strong></p> <p>The Tigers from Katy compete in the 6A Class, Region III – District 19 and are typically a force in it. The team is up to a solid start of the season, having won 16 and lost 13 matches, but seems to be figuring things out after the graduation of several seniors. Head coach Karen Paxton has an excellent group of players, though, and will certainly have the team where it needs to be when time comes.</p> <p>https://x.com/katyvball21/status/1426674056548470786?s=20</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Players to Watch:</strong></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="87470" first="Maddie" last="Waak"] – Setter – Club: Houston Skyline – 2022</strong></p> <p>There’s a reason why [player_tooltip player_id="87470" first="Maddie" last="Waak"] is considered one of the best setters in the entire state and ranks third on our 2022 Prep Dig State Rankings. Well, there’s actually a number of them, starting, of course, with her tremendous ability to run Katy’s and her club team Houston Skyline’s offense with her perfect touch on the ball and impeccable distribution. Standing at 5’11”, Waak is also a threat on offense, turning into a lethal hitter, who’s able to find unlikely angles with her left hand, when she’s at the net. Also a great server and defender, Waak has an interesting and uncommon ability to creatively find ways to get her team out of difficult situations, be it with an unexpected serve, a dump on two or a surprising play call. Starting next summer, she’ll be doing all that at Louisiana State.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/7070236/60a5540b4decb90ce8938424" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="99527" first="Izzy" last="Denton"] – Libero – Club: Katy United – 2022</strong></p> <p>Passing and digging are the main attributions of any libero but the best in the position have gained notoriety for doing way more than that. [player_tooltip player_id="99527" first="Izzy" last="Denton"] is one of them as the 5’3”, Southeastern Louisiana commit, play a central role in the Tigers’ playing system in a variety of ways, being one of the team’s emotional leaders. Ranked 101^st on our 2022 Prep Dig State Rankings, Denton controls absolutely everything that happens on the team’s backcourt, covering nearly half of the court in serve receiving and touching more balls on defense that any other player. That’s because of her high volleyball IQ, which more often than not makes her move to the right spot, and her willingness to chase loose balls. Watching Denton’s frustration in the few times the ball hits the floor near her, it’s easy to notice that what drives her to be so effective is her perfectionism.</p> <p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nS9lFe1t89c" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="99507" first="Jordan" last="Gamble"] – Middle Blocker – Club: Houston Skyline – 2022</strong></p> <p>Another senior that plays a huge part in the Tigers’ success is [player_tooltip player_id="99507" first="Jordan" last="Gamble"], a 6’3” middle blocker who dominates the net like not many others. Her size gives her a massive advantage on offense, which she unceremoniously uses to score points at will – there have been 177 already just this season. Gamble is a powerful hitter but also does a great job with the placements of her tips. She does a great job with her blocking too – 61 this season and counting -, not only when it comes to scoring points but also in making opposing hitters uncomfortable. Also a very efficient server, she has the full package for a middle blocker and Northwestern State was the first to recognize it and secure a commitment of the 37^th-best ranked player in our 2022 Prep Dig State Rankings.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/12914349/60c2d454e97a920ca849325c" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>