2022 Presidential Stand-Outs in Detroit: 17s

<p>Presidents’ Day Weekend may be a holiday to celebrate past presidents, but it has also become a holiday to celebrate volleyball!</p> <p>Just about every volleyball player in the country was in contest this weekend and the competition was red HOT! Whether you were in Kansas City, St. Louis, or in Detroit, high level volleyball was in abundance this past weekend.</p> <p>Here are some presidential standouts from Detroit this Presidents’ Day Weekend. </p> <p><strong>Skylar Zaranka</strong> (2023) <span style="font-size: 1rem;">| 5’9 OH | Michigan Elite West</span></p> <p>Michigan Elite West is well equipped with some pretty high level outside attackers. Of this duo, <strong>Skylar Zaranka</strong> had a very good outing for the squad. A very defensive minded player, Zaranka had great block coverage and back court defense. At the net, she was taking some impressive rips at the ball.</p> <p><strong>Arianna Karl</strong> (2023) <span style="font-size: 1rem;">| 5’10 OH | Michigan Elite West</span></p> <p>Rounding out the West’s duo of pin hitters, <strong>Arianna Karl</strong> was just as impressive as her teammate. Another left side attacker that ripped a lot of great angles at the net, she boasts some muscle at the net and behind the service line. Karl was putting her team into a lot of point scoring opportunities with her powerful serving.</p> <p><strong>Lilla Nicholas</strong> (2023) <span style="font-size: 1rem;">| 6’0 OH | Monsters</span></p> <p>This Monsters squad has a lot of potential and a large part is due to <strong>Lilla Nicholas</strong>’ play. Nicholas takes up the bulk of the load for Monsters. She has a booming swing that can score at an efficient rate but with passing woes left Nicholas taking a lot of swings off the net, </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="173616" first="Alexis" last="Brown"] (2023) <span style="font-size: 1rem;">| 5’9 OH | Michigan Elite East</span></p> <p>A lefty on the left side and undersized, the cards don’t seem to deal in your favor. For [player_tooltip player_id="173616" first="Alexis" last="Brown"], this challenge works to her advantage. Brown has great footwork to the ball and it presents her with many scoring opportunities. She’s fearless to take a crack at the ball. Her muscle at the net was prevalent behind the service line too, with a nasty float serve.</p> <p><strong>Faith Sibert</strong> (2023) <span style="font-size: 1rem;">| 6’2 MB | Passion</span></p> <p>This player has a lot of upside to her game. A dynamic, raw athlete in the middle, <strong>Faith Sibert</strong> was a blast to watch throughout the weekend. Her approach, to her swing and her blocking movements were very reminiscent of a young Rhamat Alhassan. Sibert <span style="font-size: 1rem;">is already so solid in her play but she </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">shows a lot of potential to be tapped into yet.</span></p> <p><strong>Margaret Jones</strong> (2023) <span style="font-size: 1rem;">| 5’11 MB | Michigan Elite East</span></p> <p>I was very impressed with what I saw out of this Michigan Elite East squad. What was most striking to me was the tempo in which they ran the middles. <strong>Margaret Jones</strong> was making the most of her opportunities all weekend long. Jones is quick off the ground and able to top the ball quite well. Her block was pretty solid as well.</p> <p><strong>Ella Berecz</strong> (2023) <span style="font-size: 1rem;">| 5’8 S | Michigan Elite West</span></p> <p>Both of these Michigan Elite squads are full of good setters. <strong>Ella Berecz</strong> holds it down for the West and did so quite well. Berecz showed great consistency all weekend with her location to her hitters. As a lefty, Berecz was throwing in some swings on two which showed signs of excellence and a dangerous play in the tournaments to come. </p> <p><strong>Madelynn Rottman</strong> (2023) <span style="font-size: 1rem;">| 5’10 S | Michigan Elite East</span></p> <p>Holding it down for Michigan Elite’s other squad, <strong>Madelynn Rottman</strong> was fun to watch. She was one of the taller setters and one of the more physical of the group. Rottman moves very well around the court and is very fluid. Great decision making, Rottman can be very deceptive with her sets and follows it up with great tempo and location.</p>