Legacy 18-Elite has earned the right to be called the top club team in the nation
If there is a better club team in the nation than Legacy 18-Elite, they need to show themselves. Legacy put its stamp on the top spot nationally this past weekend when it won the 18 Open of the Triple Crown…
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Continue ReadingIf there is a better club team in the nation than Legacy 18-Elite, they need to show themselves.
Legacy put its stamp on the top spot nationally this past weekend when it won the 18 Open of the Triple Crown NIT in Kansas City, which featured nine of the top 10 teams in the country.
“We were confident going in. We had been playing really well and overcome some tough teams and situations early in the season. We also have been able to stay relatively healthy, which is important,” Legacy 18-Elite coach Ricky Cottrill said. “I think for the girls it was just about staying focused and confident. We knew there would be some challenges along the way, but the girls never doubted themselves.”
Heading into Triple Crown, Legacy had already won the Music City Qualifier, the Central Zone Invitational and the OVR National Qualifier with a perfect match record of 28-0.
On the opening day of play, Legacy would suffer its first loss of 2019 to Arizona Storm 18 Thunder in three sets (19-25, 25-19, 15-11), but the loss turned out to be a positive for the remainder of the weekend.
“Losing that first match ended up being a good thing I believe because it just gets that monkey off your back,” Cottrill said. “We were playing some of the best teams nationally each week and managing to win, which is always the goal, but you are carrying added pressure which each win when you start undefeated like that. I think the loss just helped the girls move on and focus on the goals we needed to focus on.”
Legacy would win its next six matches, including a 21-25, 25-23, 15-7 win over Asics KIVA 18 Red in the semifinal on Monday and then a 25-21, 16-25, 15-12 win over TIV 18 Asics Black in the championship match.
A stacked roster makes up this 18-Elite squad. Filled with plenty of hitting, it’s easy to lose track of the tremendous defensive effort Legacy has shown this year. Leading that charge is Hannah Grant (Michigan State) a libero out of Northville High School. Grant has been up to the challenge of facing the nation’s top 18 hitters.
“To me, Hannah is the best libero in the country,” Cottrill said. “She doesn’t always get the credit she deserves because people always want to talk about the big hitters, and we have tons of those, but Hannah is really the unsung hero for our team. She has all the intangibles to be a great collegiate player and she does all the things that nobody sees to really help this team win. She is facing some of the best hitters in the country for her age and has been consistent throughout. She’s a really special player.”
Jess Mruzik (Michigan) is a 17 year old that has moved up to play for the team and she is their leading attacker. Mruzik has been able to finish from the front and back rows and has one of the most powerful serves in the country. Paige Briggs (Western Kentucky), Allyson Severance (Miami University) and Morgan Verheyen (Buffalo) also play the outside while Jessica Robinson (Michigan), Taylor Venuto (Loyola-Chicago) and Desiree Becker (Northwestern) handle the middle. Celia Cullen (Michigan State) and Madison Dowd are the setting options for Legacy while Ciara Livingway joins Grant in the back row on defense.
“All 11 players make up this team. Without any one of them, we wouldn’t be nearly as successful,” Cottrill said. “They are a great group of motivated and focused individuals and they have been a lot of fun to be around.”
Legacy 18-Elite will be back in action on March 9-10 when it takes part in the Bluegrass Pre-Qualifier in Louisville, Ky.