USAV Junior Nationals: 17 Open Standouts

<p>The eldest age group of the USA Volleyball Junior National Championships was the 17s. This stacked class of talent was on full display, giving onlookers a chance to see some of the top NCAA freshman talent for the fall of 2019.</p> <p>Here’s a closer look at the standouts from the four semifinalist squads this past week in Detroit.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_18367" align="alignright" width="160"]<a href="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/3-Northern-Lights-Kyndra-Hansen.jpg"></a> Kyndra Hansen[/caption] <p><strong>Northern Lights 17-1: </strong>Northern Lights really had every aspect of the game clicking this week in Detroit. That was fully represented by Tournament MVP <strong>Kennedi Orr </strong>(Nebraska). Orr plays setter and also right side for Northern Lights and she was dominant on the floor. Her vision led to an offense that couldn’t be stopped for long stretches and her attacks were converting at a high rate. <strong>Kyndra Hansen</strong> was the go-to outside for Northern Lights during the tournament. Orr was finding her frequently during the key matches and giving Northern Lights strong options on the outside in a combination with fellow outside <strong>Peyton Suess. </strong>On the back end <strong>Marissa Hinkle</strong> led the defense and serve receive. The Northern Lights libero made it possible for the offense to get in sync. Hansen and Hinkle joined Orr on the All-Tournament team.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_18369" align="alignright" width="192"]<a href="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/6-Top-Select-Rajini-Fitzmaurice.jpg"></a> Rajini Fitzmaurice[/caption] <p><strong>Top Select 17 Elite: </strong>To play at the national level, a club team needs its reliable hitters. For Top Select, <strong>Rajini Fitzmaurice</strong> was that hitter. She was able to match up well against any team and provided Top Select with important points throughout the tournament. Her compliment was <strong>Rebekah Rath</strong>, another steady outside for Top Select. Rath gave her team another strong option on the outside to compete against the top opponents. Running the offense was setter <strong>Naomi Cabello</strong>. Cabello was precise with her sets, strong on the block and also showed some aggressive plays on the attack. Libero <strong>Mallory Downing </strong>was also vital to the team’s success. Downing had to face some tremendous attacks, but was up to the challenge and putting her body on the line. Fitzmaurice, Downing and Cabello were all named to the All-Tournament team.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_18368" align="alignright" width="246"]<a href="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/4-Sunshine-Zoe-Fleck.jpg"></a> Zoe Fleck[/caption] <p><strong>Sunshine 17 Westside: </strong>Captain <strong>Zoe Fleck </strong>was the team leader at libero this past week. Fleck was strong from the serve and pulling off important digs to lead Sunshine to a semifinal appearance in the 17 Open. There were a number of strong hitters in this division, but <strong>Alex Laita </strong>(Oregon) ranked up there with any of them. She showed tremendous all-around skill and could jump out of the building. The future Pac-12 star was a big headache for her opponents. She was supported by setter <strong>Grace Frohling </strong>(San Diego), who stands 6-foot-5. Frohling bring a different dynamic to the position and her size allows her to be a wall on defense while also being a successful attacker when she sees an opening. In the middle <strong>May Perfofsky</strong> (Michigan) was also a force and gave local fans a taste of what will be coming to Ann Arbor in 2019. Fleck and Laita were both part of the All-Tournament team.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_18370" align="alignright" width="169"]<a href="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/15-TIV-Audrey-Nalls.jpg"></a> Audrey Nalls[/caption] <p><strong>TIV 17 Mizuno: Molly Phillips </strong>was all over the net for TIV in Detroit. She could play outside and middle and was a big asset in serve receive as well. Phillips joined teammate <strong>Audrey Nalls </strong>as the two All-Tournament team selections for TIV. Nails was another strong hitter for TIV that played the outside and assisted in the back row as well. <strong>Azhani Tealer</strong> was the anchor in the middle for TIV. Her length allowed her to get a hand on a lot of opposing attacks and made TIV a difficult team to score consistently on. Libero <strong>Jillian Dits</strong> was also important to the defensive effort. Dits was great in the back row and serving for TIV this week. She led a number of rallies with her pin-point serving.</p>