Player Spotlight: Rilynn Wingenbach

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I do rankings, but I'm not a huge fan of rankings (makes sense, right?). I believe they are subjective and can change every month. However, since I participate in rankings, I do my best to do my due diligence. I talk to people in club circles. I watch at events. I watch A LOT of matches that are streamed/recorded, along with highlight videos. With every new initial ranking drop, I spend probably way more time examining those who may fall into the top 30. I then move on to 31-60, and so on. With the 2028 group, I hovered in on those likely to be in the top 12. Last week, I went back and watched matches from nationals, along with some highlight reels. After doing this for the top twenty, I walked away thinking, for now, we got it right with [player_tooltip player_id='623081' first='Rilynn' last='Wingenbach']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["623081"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6872cb75c2dc8"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">I walked away with a lot of thoughts last week after going back through some previous matches on the season, then adding in the ones from Nationals. Listen, at her age, my opinion is that her play at the net defensively is elite. Her ability to track the ball is impressive. The way she can move laterally to take away an angle on the pin is a thing of beauty. Even though she is listed at 6'4", her technique and effort to press over the net, chef's kiss. One thing about her, she is not lazy, and when middles say they don't get enough touches, watch her work after a block attempt or touch to get off the net and make herself available for a set.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Offensively, she shows great promise on one foot on the slide. She swings with the same enthusiasm and power as directly in front of the setter on quick sets. You can see the work in progress on quick 2's in the gap, and they will continue to improve with timing with the setter. The thing that makes Wingenbach dangerous is her ability to read the defense and use her vision of the court. She maneuvers her way around the block consistently to find open spots on the floor. An area I see her continuing to work on is adding more shots to her package; tips, roll shots, throws, etc, as she starts playing against more teams with equally big frontlines. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>She has spent time training with the National Team Development Program and has the potential to be a special player, and she has demonstrated the work ethic to see it to fruition. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->