Nets Over Texas #1 – 16s – Liberos

<p>More than 80 club volleyball teams were active this past weekend in Houston with the first stop of the Nets Over Texas event taking place in three different venues in the area.</p> <p>The tournament had two divisions, with 17s and 18s paired in a single event and the 16s playing in one of their own. We followed the 16s tournament and spent most of the Saturday in the Asics Willowbrook facility, where 24 of the 41 entered teams competed.</p> <p>It was a great opportunity to spot young talent in the state of Texas and over the course of the week, we’ll present our findings here. Today we’ll focus on the liberos who did a fantastic job in the backcourt.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Liberos</strong></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="178811" first="Kristen" last="Kuehn"] - Woodlands Revolution 16 Premier – HS: Brenham – 2024</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="178811" first="Kristen" last="Kuehn"] took great care of Woodlands Revolution 16 Premier’s backcourt in the tournament as the 5’7” libero proved to be one of the best in the position last weekend. Kuehn plays a high-energy style of volleyball that’s exciting to watch and certainly positively impacts her teammates as well. She’s a very complete defender who excels in every aspect of the game, something she developed while playing beach volleyball and at the beginning of her career, when she used to play as a setter. Kuehn was a stud for Brenham during the last high school season, leading the team in digs (505) and aces (84) and ranking second in passes (629).</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/15024196/619fe10abee1200af8371ff0" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="192486" first="Lillian" last="Holcomb"] – Asics Willowbrook 16 Red – HS: Klein – 2024</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="192486" first="Lillian" last="Holcomb"] forms an excellent libero duo at Asics Willowbrook 16 Red with Sofia Landry. The 5’4” has great technique and takes responsibility in leading the team’s backcourt, getting on the ball whenever possible. Holcomb covers a lot of court in serve receiving and is also a very good server. Another interesting aspect of her game is her unwavering focus, which allows her to track plays non-stop and eventually recover lose balls.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CYhfsnTvRwx/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CYhfsnTvRwx/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by [player_tooltip player_id="192486" first="Lillian" last="Holcomb"] (@lholcomb2024)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Gabriella Celestino – HOU Stellar 16 Navy – HS: Deer Park – 2024</strong></p> <p>Gabriella Celestino might be another hidden gem playing for the junior varsity team of her high school. If the 5’4” defender keeps up the level of play she showed this past weekend with HOU Stellar 16 Navy, she should have more chances with Deer Park in the next high school season. She has excellent ball control and is nearly flawless when it comes to serve receiving. Celestino also does a great job in anticipating plays and leading her team’s backcourt efforts with excellent communication. She’s also a dangerous server.</p>