Triple Crown NIT: 18’s All-Tournament Team from Florida

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Triple Cown NIT tournament is an invite only tournament that features some of the top club teams in the country for 12's-18's. This tournament gives teams the opportunity to play against top level competition to get ready for the bid season upcoming in March and April. I was able to watch some film of the tournament, and thought that these five prospects really stood out to me in the 18's division. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='490509' first='Quinn' last='Morrissey']: OT 18 T Tony (S)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Quinn lead her OTVA team to a 27th place finish in this past NIT in Kansas City. I was able to coach Quinn for a short stint when she was very young, and even back then you could see the potential for her to be a great player. She was able to show it this past weekend, setting a 5-1 for her team. The one thing that stands out to me the most is her ability to keep her hands high and release the ball quickly. Lots of setters are able to do that, but it is the way she's able to hide what position she's going to set until the last moment. Having a solid base from good footwork and strong hands and wrists give Quinn the opportunity to direct the ball where she pleases. You can see the growth of her not just in her technique but also her decision making and setting IQ. While watching on film it was rare for me to see her set a ball to the "wrong" person or even have her setting height and location off. This level of consistency is one of the big reasons why she was able to make such an impact for her team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ana Tobar: Miami Hype 18N Emilio (OH)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ana may not be the biggest hitter you'll find on this list, but she is definitely one of the hardest working and very dynamic. She is one of the few 6 rotation players on her team and watching her film really shows why. She has all of the skills you look from an outside hitter and does them all at a high level. The first thing that caught my eye was her vision when hitting. She's able to see the block in front and understand what the defense is trying to take away. There were multiple times on film you'd see the block be set up on time and in good position and Ana was still able to find space to get her swing around the block. In the backrow she rarely got served, which shows how much respect she was garnered from her passing. Even on the defensive end it seemed like the ball would always find her, which is a testament to good and disciplined moves when reading the opposing hitter. Ana really impressed me and wouldn't be surprised if she moves up into the rankings on the next update. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='206277' first='Emma' last='Greenier']: Top Select 18 Elite (S)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Emma has the confidence and demeanor that all colleges look for in a setter. You can tell she really has control of the court on the offensive end whether it's who she sets or even how she sets them. She has great options for hitters to go to, and did a great job creating spaces in the block from her setting technique. Her setting technique really forces the opposing blockers to be a lot more reactive versus proactive because of Emma's ability to set the ball to all hitters as long as she gets a decent pass. She's able to better the ball in out of system situations while still putting her hitters in positions to score. When she's in system that's when she does a great job of spreading the ball out to run her hitters on different routes to create space for her hitters to work with. Defensively Emma is constantly attacking the ball in the backrow as if she was another defensive specialist back there. Emma really impressed me in the film I was able to watch and I can't wait to see what her and her team do throughout the season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='444410' first='Emma' last='Ortiz']: OT 18 O Roberto (L)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Emma is one of the most tenacious libero's I have seen in the class of 2024. She never gives up and it seems like she never stops moving. She's always moving along with the play whether she's covering another passer, covering her hitters, or being in the correct spots on defense. Although it may seem like it may be too much movement, she has the discipline to stay calm and sit under hard driven balls just as well as she can run through or dive for a ball. When it comes to her overall passing technique, you can tell she has been taught well and have been playing on high level teams for a long time. She makes most of her passes look way easier than it is, and still stays within herself when serves or swings go where she's in compromised positions. The combination of good technique with that attacking mentality that so many college coaches look for from the position is why she's one of my top liberos in the rankings list.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Hailee Mack: [program_tooltip program_id='491326' first='IMG' last='Academy'] 18 (L)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was the first time being able to watch Hailee and her IMG team play and I was eagerly impressed with their team overall. I thought that Hailee was a huge factor for her team at the Triple Crown NIT. She was the consistency that the team needed from their main passer and defender. She creates so many opportunities for her offense because of the range she's able to play with both in receive and defense. Hailee does all the things right that coaches harp on players about, the main one being her positioning. She's so disciplined about how she plays the game and where she works to position herself on the court on defense. She does a fantastic job of playing within her designated areas of the court while still being able to make an impact or take balls away from her hitters to allow them to transition into their offense. That combination of skill and IQ at the position is why she's going to be ranked fairly high on my next updated rankings list for the class of 2024. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Although Florida didn't finish with the best placement in the tournament, you could just see the competitiveness of the teams that were able to represent our state. These are just a few of the fantastic players that had a great weekend at NIT. Some of these prospects are already represented on our rankings list, but if they aren't on the list now they will definitely make it onto the next update. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->