High School Preview – Alyssa Manitzas 2023 Libero

This month I will be rolling out some articles that are a little different than we have been writing for the past couple of months. I will still be doing our regular highlight articles on multiple athletes for exposure, however I wanted to do some special articles on a few special athletes that we are getting to know quite well with Prep Dig TX. These young ladies volunteered to discuss their upcoming high school season and how they are planning on getting ready for it. In the spring, I have written about her school Reagan High School out of San Antonio and I’m sure you will see many articles about her in the future. Alyssa was picked because of her being a sophomore on an extremely talented team with a big target on their backs. I thought it would be a good idea for our readers to get some insight into what a sophomore on a great team in this position thinks about in regards to her upcoming high school season. Without further ado, here is our article on Miss [player_tooltip player_id="99495" first="Alyssa" last="Manitzas"]   [player_tooltip player_id="99495" first="Alyssa" last="Manitzas"] [2023] 5-1 Libero (HS: Reagan/Club: Alamo/Verbal: Uncommitted) [caption id="attachment_104913" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-104913" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/08/IMG_7080.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /> Photo: Parent Photo[/caption] Alyssa is currently ranked as the 29th best prospect in the 2023 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. I also have her as the top libero in the class. I wrote about this young lady and her club teammates earlier this spring where I said, “This young lady is the heart of her club team. She is the reason they can play with any team in the nation. Her serve receive passing form is picturesque and keeps her team in system and deadly with their strong attackers. The key to her ability lies in her core strength. You can see it in action as she is in total control of both her lower and upper body before and during contact. However my favorite part of her game has to do with her feet. She has so much balance on each contact. I would use her body control and footwork in any demonstration for a camp or clinic. She plays the game calmly and never seems to get rattled. Hitters usually get all of the “oohs and aahs” but any true coach would love to watch this young lady be a show stopper. College coaches please take notice of this phenom.” This still holds true. I love the way she holds her arms away from her body as the served ball is on its way to her. The spacing from her arms allows her to create such great angles with her platform. You rarely see this type of form in such a young player, but Alyssa understands the position well.   According to Head Coach Rachel Torvik, Alyssa is a true student of the game. With her high volleyball IQ and solid footwork/base she is only going to continue to turn heads. This Reagan High School program has reached the Regional Finals nine times in the last twenty years and they are looking to add more trophies to their case in the coming years. Miss Manitzas is one big reason why their future is so bright. We were able to sit down with Alyssa and here is a little from the conversation:   Prep Dig TX: Why Volleyball? Why is it so important to you? What do you love about it? Alyssa: When I’m at volleyball it allows me the opportunity to be competitive while still having so much fun with my teammates. The game itself can’t be won by an individual, so it forces me to play for something bigger than myself. I love having the ability to help others that are younger than me. Volleyball over the years has made me learn that not everything will come easy and be given to me, I have to push myself harder everyday to succeed.   Prep Dig TX: What do you love about your position on the court the most? Alyssa: As a libero I’m given the role to control the whole backcourt. Communication is such an important part of the position along with being able to move and cover a lot of court. Being driven to be the best has helped me and given me so much motivation! There’s a lot of hours spent in the gyms and at home working on footwork and my strength. I love the fact that the position isn’t easy and there’s not a single practice or game where I don’t come out with floor burns and bruises.   Prep Dig TX: What are you looking forward to most this season? Alyssa: This school season I’m really looking forward to having the opportunity to play with such amazing players. I’m really excited to play one last season with this year’s seniors. All of them have given me so many things to laugh about and have pushed me to be my best at one point or another. I’m ready to get back into the gym with our program to start practicing as a team again. We’ve been doing zoom workout calls and let me tell you they have not been easy. Coach Torvik is really pushing us to be our best physically and mentally with the situation we’re given. I’m sure I’m not the only one in our program ready to win games this year and practice harder than ever to make it further in playoffs!   Prep Dig TX: What do you think your biggest obstacle this year compared to last year’s school season? How do you plan to overcome it? Alyssa: For this season or even last season I personally don’t think I’ve had/have any true “obstacles” that impact me greatly. I would say the biggest obstacles are mental for me and I’m so excited to be able to work through situations and make myself stronger to perform better for my team. We have goals that we’re trying to accomplish and it’s going to take everyone’s effort! The only aspect that could be considered an obstacle would be that there is a strong upperclassman in my position ahead of me, but I will work hard to earn my spot.   Prep Dig TX: What are three individual goals that you have for this high school season? Alyssa: Three individual goals I have for myself this season are to work and compete for my spot every practice and game while achieving high stats. I plan on getting selected as an All-District player and earning a spot on the All-Academic team. I hope to make an impact on our team and help lead us to success through positivity and grit.   Prep Dig TX: Finish this Sentence…this high school volleyball season I’m going to _____ Alyssa: This high school season I am going to work through any adversity thrown my way and make myself stronger to be better for my team and program.   Prep Dig TX: What did Covid-19 do to you mentally during this long shutdown? How have you coped with it? Alyssa: Honestly at first when COVID-19 made everything shut down and I was in quarantine for such a long period of time, I became so impatient. After a few days I came to the realization that things weren’t going to go back to normal anytime soon so might as well get in the best shape I can and become more efficient at my skills. I spent hours a day either on zoom calls with our high school team and working out or working on my speed, technique, footwork, etc... I’ve done a lot of things for myself over this time of being away and not being able to be in the gym with my high school team. I go to lessons in every once in a while to keep the feeling of the court fresh!   You can tell from Alyssa’s answers that she is very mature for her age when it comes to the game of volleyball. It is easy to see how she has absorbed a lot from her parents, older siblings, and of course her amazing coaches that she has had in her school and club programs. She speaks as if she could be a coach in the future. I decided to write a few articles on players such as her so that our readers can get a true understanding of what these athletes go through and how volleyball is a passion for them like it is for many of us. These players deserve all of the recognition that they can get. I will be rolling these out throughout the month along with our regular highlight articles that contain multiple athletes.   We will be publishing more articles daily to give the recognition to each athlete that has earned the right to be called a top 100 Texas Volleyball Player. Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for or that you think have what it takes to be added to our database, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com