Houston Top250 Expo - Gamechangers

The Houston Top250 Session 2 Expo was an event filled with high energy, crazy hustles, and every player came in ready to play. These are some players that brought their A game and were ready to leave their mark.   [player_tooltip player_id='490856' first='Sydney' last='Crowder'] [2027] 6'1" Middle (HS: Patricia E. Paetow/Club: Houston Skyline Juniors/ Verbal: Uncommitted)   As a young middle, Sydney has a strong skill set that will be amazing to watch develop and grow over the years. During the Expo, Sydney came in ready to show off her skills and she was someone I enjoyed stopping to watch when it came to scrimmaging. Sydney not only brought contagious energy to every court she touched, but her approach to swing was just as powerful. During positional drills, Crowder was taking away her court coaches breath as she approaches in with a huge reach to her set, held her hang time, and came down with such power that led her to hitting the 10 ft line with almost every ball she came into contact with. When being mixed in with other/new teammates, Sydney brought the energy to whom ever, no matter what. This is someone who has earned the title of "Gamechanger" as she will definitely be making statements for coming years, I am excited to see where her skills and competitiveness take her.   [player_tooltip player_id='409082' first='Ariana' last='Williams'] [2026] 5'4" DS/L (HS: Tomball Memorial/Club: North Houston Elite Premier/Verbal: Uncommitted)   Ariana is currently on our watchlist for both state and position in our Prep Dig State Rankings. As for our Expo, she was a player that all the coaches had their eyes on. Ariana carries her skills highly as she was someone constantly moving, communicating, cheering, and taking full control of her back row. Fundamentally, she locks in a very strong platform on her receiving, followed every ball to the in-line, and provides a lot of strength for her defense. It was fun to watch Williams as she is a player that didn't let small things get to her. During drills, she is a fast hustler and did her best to make sure nothing touched the ground without a body with it. Ariana was also someone who is someone that would be constantly talking to her back row about her coverage, supporting them through lost points, and was consistently talking about what was going on on the other side of the net as they were in play. Williams was given the title of "Gamechanger" as she was someone that constantly had me stopping to watch her, she brought a lot of structure to her back row and had us enjoying watching her skills.   [player_tooltip player_id='459664' first='Tamarria' last='Mitchell'] [2027] 5'10" OH (HS: Shadow Creek/Club: AVA of Texas/Verbal: Uncommitted)   Tamarria is a player that had some heads turning during the Expo. As a freshman, she has already developed such a strong and powerful attack on the front row that we enjoyed watching. When watching her in positional drills for pin hitters, Williams was someone that was constantly bringing the heat. She has such a defined approach that I liked trying to pin point how she worked through her transitions to get to the ball. As someone who slowly creeps to the ball and explodes to her attack, she is someone that I will enjoy keeping up with over the years. On her court, Tamarria not only brought some powerful attacks, but she also provides a wall of a block against her opponents. Making it challenging to get around her block, she did a great job of pressing into her block and getting a few touches for her back row. She has this title of "Gamechanger" as it will be fun to continue watching her develop over the years, as a young hitter, she is someone to keep your eyes out for.   [player_tooltip player_id='487043' first='Rachel' last='Ryan'] [2027] 5'5" DS/L (HS: Creekside Park/Club: Houston Skyline TW 14 Royal/Verbal: Uncommitted)   Rachel is someone who came to our Expo and made sure she gave it her all. As a DS, Rachel was constantly hustling and not a moment went by without her providing coverage to her teammates, telling hitters where to hit, and diving out to save a ball. I enjoyed watching her through positional drills because of her constant hustle, and she did a great job locking in her platform to make positive plays. Coaches were intrigued by how she brought so much energy and kept it our entire showcase. Constant communication, high energy, and always pushing her teammates, these are only a few things that she did that earned her the title of being a "Gamechanger", she made her statement by making sure she could be her strongest defender but also by supporting her teams through the drills.   [player_tooltip player_id='486951' first='Lily' last='Singletary'] [2027] 5'7" Setter (HS: Klein Oak/Club: Houston Skyline 15 Black/Verbal: Uncommitted)   As a setter, Lily brought so much control to the game and I enjoyed stopping to watch her courts. Lily has amazing control when she makes contact and could truly set the tone of the rally just by one touch. One thing I loved watching was her form, she could take an out of system ball and switch up completely by sending a ball to the opposite pin, and during setter positional I remember stopping to watch her play and saw this exact contact happen and it immediately had me cheering. She creates strong connections between her and the hitters that she comes into contact with, and always made she they knew where she was sending her sets. It was awesome to see her in action as she is constantly moving her feet to make sure she is available to receive or run for any ball. During her play, she flows smoothly around her back row and has a quick release from her zone as she is talking through the play along her back row. Lily was definitely one to watch and is known as a "Gamechanger" as she had such smooth, strong, and precise sets that set the tone for her teammates.   [player_tooltip player_id='438347' first='Kenli' last='Irwin'] [2027] 5'10" Middle (HS: Barbers Hill/Club: Xcel Adidas/Verbal: Uncommitted)   Kenli is a middle that came into our Expo ready to bring it. While watching her, she does a great job of communicating to her setters about what she wants, where she is, and even how to adjust a set to make stronger connections. During play, Kenli did a great job of always making sure she was available for her setter as an option and is fully aware of everything on her court. Bringing the energy to her teams, she always made sure everyone was hyped up after every point. I enjoyed watching Kenli play as she is very quick and smart to make a decision on her contacts. She brings a fast, powerful, and aggressive swings to any play and makes it challenging for her opponents to read her next move. Even if Kenli was not the hitter receiving the set, she approached into all sets just to help sike out the other team, it was nice to see this being done as is provides more structure to the game! Being quick and powerful, she was fast to also read her opponents sets and kick out to her blocks. Getting good blocks and lots of touches, Kenli is quick to pivot off the net to see where the ball is to make her next move. She earned the title of "Gamechanger" as she does her best to be available and is a strong and positive addition to her teams.   [player_tooltip player_id='246323' first='Kristina' last='Cote'] [2024] 5'11" Outside (HS: Klein Collins/Club: Texas Legacy/Verbal: Uncommitted)   Kristina is currently on our watchlist for state and position within our Prep Dig Ranking. At the Expo, Kristina was a player on the net that made a difference with every ball. As an outside, her attacks were amazing to watch as she has great control on where she wants her ball to go. Deciding and switching so quickly down to line or taking a cross shot, Kristina has a very quick and powerful swing no matter where she puts her ball. Also able to set a big and intimidating block, she has a strong hold and press on her blocks that made is difficult for the other team to get around. Kristina was very quick to call in her middle for the block, set up a wall, and then land to turn in and prepare for whatever was coming next. She made a statement at this Expo and earned being a "Gamechanger" as she brought the heat to every rally and made it difficult for her opponents to get past her.   [player_tooltip player_id='437714' first='Ava' last='Martinez'] [2027] 5'4" Setter (HS: Goose Creek Memorial/Club: Houston Stellar/Verbal: Uncommitted)   As a setter, Ava was very quick and very efficient when it came to game play. She moves very quick and floats well across the court to always be available near her setting zone and be open to the ball. Her setting is very clean, and she had no problem switching up her sets to make sure her front row hitters were getting different contacts but also to switch up the game. She brought a lot of power to the courts she was on as she brings fast hustle, strong communication to her teammates, but also wasn't afraid to take a swing or dump on her front row. Ava deserves this title of a "Gamechanger" as I enjoyed stopping at her court to watch her switch up plays. Rather it be a setters dump, back row attack, a shoot to the outside hitter, or a back one to the right side, Ava did a very good job at changing things up and I enjoyed watching her play.

The Houston Top250 Session 2 Expo was an event filled with high energy, crazy hustles, and every player came in ready to play. These are some players that brought their A game and were ready to leave their mark.