Furuta (pictured) won the game’s most valuable player honors for a great reason. St. Henry attacks with balance from many different angles. Furuta stood her ground on a number of those balls and used a great platform to keep them alive. She dug up several hard Main crosses that led to key Ryle points. Furuta said she tries to clear her head when she’s on the court, noting players often mess up trying to overthink. She said her mindset is read, track, track, trying to keep plays alive.

One can not say enough about the hustle play of Furuta. She has amazing instincts and it continues to show on the court. Furuta has a way of chasing down balls, yet staying under control. That helped the 16-1 Tsunami finish fourth in the 16 Open Division.

I guess NKYVC has someone training their defensive players who certainly knows what they’re doing and knows how to get the best out of each of them. Ria brings that same hardnosed, never say die approach to defense that Sieg brings. Alongside her absolute all out defense, Furuta had the best serve and pass game that I saw out of all the defensive players at the tournament. She was solid on serve receive (most opponents avoided her) and her serving was straight LETHAL. When I tell you that she was an ace machine, I 100% mean it. It seemed like she went on service runs of 3+ points every time she stepped back to serve and she was getting inside of the opponent’s passers heads for sure. Ria’s line-drive, jump float serve is not just a way to start the play, it is clearly offensive, and I am here for it! This young lady has a bright future ahead of her and should help this open level squad see great success this club season.

Furuta showed a lot of promise on the lower levels in previous years and has stepped into an important role for the Raiders this year. Furuta works well covering the back row with the other defensive specialists. She lines her arms up with balls to make solid passes to setter Morgan Heater Morgan Heater 6'0" | S/OH Ryle | 2026 State KY . Furuta had 375 digs and 37 aces on the season entering Friday.

Furuta (pictured) has made a nice contribution stepping into Ryle’s libero role. Furuta constantly moves her feet to make solid passes setting up the Ryle attack. She’ll continue to improve on the two and three-ball passes.