Which Gateway League Teams Turned Heads in Week One?
The Missouri club season in got off to an exciting start over the weekend, with several leagues beginning play. As is often the case, some teams burst out of the gate and made their mark early. We will first look…
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Continue ReadingThe Missouri club season in got off to an exciting start over the weekend, with several leagues beginning play. As is often the case, some teams burst out of the gate and made their mark early. We will first look at some of the most interesting results from the Gateway League, which includes teams in the St. Louis area. If the first weekend is any indication, this season is going to be a fun one!
U16 – Elite VBC Gold
Elite VBC finished opening weekend with a 6-1 record, their only loss coming to High Performance St. Louis 16 Royal. After that loss in their second match of the day on Sunday, Elite rallied to beat Rockwood Thunder 16 White. They did so behind the strong swing of Paige Montgomery. The sophomore from Waterloo High School in Illinois was among the region’s kill leaders in 2019, averaging 3.15 per set. The second weekend in the Power Division is a bear for Elite as they face Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite, Rockwood Thunder 18 Navy and Rockwood Thunder 17 White. Rockwood Thunder’s 17 Elite finished last weekend 6-1, as well, losing a tight match to Thunder’s 18 Elite team.
Glastetter – courtesy Rockwood ThunderU16– Rockwood Thunder 16 Navy
It is probably not entirely fair to throw this team into a surprise category, considering it’s comprised mostly of players from a U15 Navy team who qualified for Nationals last season and did quite well. It is the manner by which they performed over the weekend – not dropping a set. In fact, the only team that even gave them a match was the aforementioned HPSTL 16 Royal, who is a very solid team in its own right. Thunder 16’s setter, Rachel Schipper, had a fantastic sophomore campaign for St. Dominic High School, averaging 9.3 assists per set. The roster also includes Caroline Glastetter, who had a nice sophomore season for St. Francis Borgia. The outside hitter had 113 kills, 62 digs and 23 blocks.
WeberU17 – HPSTL 17 Royal
Much like Rockwood Thunder 16 Navy, HPSTL 17 Royal simply mowed through the first weekend of competition with little issue. If they do the same this weekend, look out. This is a team with many players left from a U16 team that finished 11th at Nationals last season. Audrey Weber leads the Royals. The outside had 205 kills in 2019 for St. Dominic, as well as 67 blocks and 15 services aces, good enough to grab Class 3 All-State honors.
U18 – HP/SMVA South 18 Premier
High Performance South is an offshoot of the former Show Me Volleyball Academy. The 18 Premier Team of 2020 has many of the players from the 2019 Show Me 17 Rox Team that made an appearance at Nationals. It started the weekend 4-0 before running into the buzz saw that was HPSTL 17 Royal. It will begin this weekend facing Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite. The roster includes McKendree University commit Coleen Pruesser. The outside hitter/setter did a little bit of everything for the Cougars, finishing her high school career strong, averaging 5.7 assists per set, as well as 2.71 kills per set. She also had 207 digs and 38 aces.