Speaking of big and physical, Elena is a strong and heavy-hitting lefty for a NewPal squad that’s looking to equal (or best) their 28-win season from a year ago. Size does matter, and her presence against any team’s best outside will make them pause before attacking. Miss Cook attacks high and hard herself, and has every angle in her shot selection as a point-scoring option.

With size and physicality, Elena has had a meteoric rise in her skill set improvement over the past year-plus, and she’s only getting better. Her attack touch is close to ten feet, she can hit any angle with her left arm, and has the size to give opposing attackers pause when she’s blocking. Even her transition foot speed has improved, which proves the diligence she has in the training gym during the most important year of her recruitment.

Still big, still physical, and still a daunting force on the right side, Elena showed once again why she’s a prime example of a next-level right side in her play yesterday. I’m more impressed with her ability to add to her already solid arsenal of angles and ways she can score points. It seems that every time I see her, she’s doing something else that I haven’t seen before. Having this ability to be coached AND actually build on her skill set is indispensable.

The left-handed hammer from NewPal has grown into a big and solid recruiting choice for the class of ‘28. Her upper body strength has developed the most over the past year, as evidenced by her quick arm swing on the attack and strong shoulders when setting a block. I like this kid a lot, as her work ethic and determination earned her the mentions she received this past calendar year.

I’ve enjoyed watching this kid literally grow up on the volleyball court in the last 2+ years, and this past weekend emphasized one of the reasons the Dragons were so successful this fall. Her size, strength and left-handed hammer of an arm swing will carry her far this fall in the recruiting process.

Elena is a big and physical lefty that has been nothing short of a revelation this past fall, and has come so far from a year ago when she was just cracking the surface of what she could become. Her broad shoulders, high attack point and ability to hit all angles—-not to mention being 6’2”—-makes her one of the better recruits in this class to attend our Exposure Tour.

As the starting right side for the 3A top-ten ranked Dragons, we’ve watched Elena’s stock meteorically rise in the last 12+ months. Her size is her main trait, but that heavy armswing with the ability to hit any angle has come along quite nicely this past season. She’ll be fun to have on an attacking court.

A strong lefty from New Pal, Elena has really grown into her own type of player for the Red Dragons. Just over a year ago, she was still trying to figure this game out. Now, she’s a complete player on the right pin, with the ability to give fits to opposing defenses and offenses equally. I’ve said it before as well—-it’s one thing to be 6’2”, but it’s completely another to play within yourself and make it look good in the process.

On Sunday, Elena was the lefty banger from the right side that colleges don’t get to see enough of. A year ago at this time, Miss Cook was figuring out footwork, armswing speed and overall volleyball acuity. Now, she can hit from anywhere, block anyone because of her impressive size, and looks the part of an everyday right side at the next level. Yes, the size sets her apart from others. It’s what you do with that size that counts, and Elena has clearly put the work in to be this good in just one short calendar year.

I cannot overstate how proud I am of this young lady. At about this time last year, she was shy(er) and more conservative in her approach to the game. Fast forward to this summer, where her right side play in the summer league has advanced and her showcase play was exceptional for a lefty right side. Yes, it helps that she’s 6’2″. But there are a ton of over-six-foot kids that aren’t quite ready for the big time. Elena is, and will showcase her terminal attacks and tougher-than-nails block on Academy’s top 16s team next spring.