Countdown City Classic Coverage Vol 1

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2024-2025 club season is now underway and there are a few big tournaments that teams will be competing in to try different lineups and see how their season will shape up.&nbsp; A big tournament that happens in San Antonio in December and always draws a good lineup of squads is the Countdown City Classic.&nbsp; It is a two day event that brings in a lot of talented teams from the central and south Texas areas.&nbsp; Let's take a look at a few teams and players to watch in different age groups.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>San Antonio Elite 161 Navy</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This squad has some serious players who need to get noticed now.&nbsp; The strong right arms of left sides Marina Mercado and [player_tooltip player_id='693887' first='Mia' last='Nunez'] put a lot of pressure on the opposing team from both their offense and their serves.&nbsp; Mia has a super aggressive jump top-spin serve that routinely either scores a point or gets the opposition out of system.&nbsp; She is also a true threat to score out of the back row and this team is not afraid to run her in any rotation.&nbsp; Solid play from libero [player_tooltip player_id='443030' first='Leena' last='Gonzales'] helped to keep this squad in contention in every match.&nbsp; She was all over the court covering and taking the second ball to set it up to her hitters during out of system plays.&nbsp; Middle [player_tooltip player_id='524830' first='Olivia' last='Theis'] played very big at the net for the entire tournament and also scored a few aces from the service line.&nbsp; She can also turn on the ball with some thunder on offense.&nbsp; This squad had a great run and we will be watching them very closely moving forward this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>STVA 16 Mizuno</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One bright star that shined every time we watched was right side Khadija Blue.  This young lady has a great future ahead of her and we loved how versatile she is.  There were many times during serve receive that she ran quick sets from the middle and then transitioned to the opposite position to run higher tempo sets.  Not many players can do this so well but Miss Blue is able to make it look simple.  Middle Abigail Wells is a shut down blocker and I will add her to my players to watch for the rest of the season.  I loved how she was able to keep her hands high and press over right at the point of contact from the opposing hitter.  Outside hitter Brielle Boothe is a threat to score anytime the ball goes to her zone.  She has a cannon and can thread the needle through the block or tool it out of bounds.  Opposite Shaylie Schaefer has a lot of length in her frame and uses it well both on offense and defense.  She is definitely someone who I will add to my watch list this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes.&nbsp; If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at <a href="mailto:Michael@prepdig.com">Michael@prepdig.com</a>.&nbsp; Also don't forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends.&nbsp; Help us help them by simply reposting on X or Instagram or sharing on Facebook.&nbsp; Thanks for following Prep Dig Family!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->