2025 Middles and Liberos to Watch in May

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><br><strong>Brianna Reyna</strong> | 5'5” | L | Empower of Eastvale<br>Brianna Reyn will always be active during a rally to position herself in a place to make a play. That activity can be seen a preparation. Her excellent preparation leads to reading a player well and great vision. Combine that with court awareness and suddenly the amazing extension of diving plays happen for Reyna. She also serves a standing float with a firm wrist.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='371436' first='Hannah' last='Hass']</strong> | 6'1” | MB | Empower of Eastvale<br>What [player_tooltip player_id='371436' first='Hannah' last='Hass'] does on every attack is stay open to the setter. Her well angled approach opens up the entire backcourt which she delivers the ball to often. Therefore, her attack range is usually 25 feet deep and 30 feet wide. This all comes together as she really uses all of her arm behind the ball to keep it in play. After a blocking move, she finds and tracks her teammates dig very well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Amiekal Looney</strong> | 5'11” | MB | Los Angeles Volleyball Club<br>Amiekal Looney consistently has her elbow back low and ready to hit the ball. That preparation with her arm leads her to make a block-attacking swing. This low to net attack is very productive. She will continue to frustrate opponent blocks by the way she extends her elbow back and brings it forward with force. Additionally, she stays low to the net when blocking. As she moves to the backcourt, she does great work making an angle to target when diving.<br><br><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='453021' first='Paige' last='Schmalle']</strong> | 5'7” | L/DS | Surfside Legends<br>Slowing down the game is tough and [player_tooltip player_id='453021' first='Paige' last='Schmalle'] does that well. This happens most on contact during the serve receive phase. Regardless of the pace of the serve, Schmalle slows her arms when pushing the ball up to target. She reads and reacts very well too. Most noticeably, her coordination to move and then perform an emergency move is really great. After contact, she follows through and holds her platform even while moving on to cover a hitter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='469858' first='Makenzie' last='Holden'] </strong> | 5'10” | OH/MB | Reef<br>[player_tooltip player_id='469858' first='Makenzie' last='Holden'] makes a split step before every approach. This move, made by almost all elite athletes, is excellent preparation to be up and available for any setter. She shows her hitting window early during situations like a quicker tempo set. On the other side, she has a very present inside hand when blocking. Her hands go straight up and are ready for a ball to hit off of them. Watch for her to open up her game as she continues to develop.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='295471' first='Ariel' last='Chime']</strong> | 6'2” | MB | Storm<br>[player_tooltip player_id='295471' first='Ariel' last='Chime'] sports a jump float serve and produces defense in the backcourt. Her skills open up a confidence to occupy space allowing for her team to have maximum court coverage. Her movement in the frontcourt starts out as casual and then, with a blink of an eye, she is there. She pushes the ball back into the court when it contacts her on the block. When hitting, she places the ball with hard driven and offspeed hits.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->