17U Standouts: MOCO’s Sister Team Scrimmage
A recent face-off between the 17U and 18U teams of Monmouth County Volleyball Club showed us that any team can win anytime, anywhere, and under any circumstances. With a game like volleyball, much like life itself, you can be as…
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Continue ReadingA recent face-off between the 17U and 18U teams of Monmouth County Volleyball Club showed us that any team can win anytime, anywhere, and under any circumstances. With a game like volleyball, much like life itself, you can be as prepared as humanly possible and still be surprised when the match finally comes.
That said, we can’t easily predict who will win a match or even a set in volleyball based on age, roster size, or other superficial factors. It often ends up being the squad better accustomed to playing out of system and managing trouble.
In their first match of the 2020 – 2021 season, MOCO’s 17U team fought hard against their sister team to show us that we can’t count a team out simply because they’re younger or less experienced. Here are four of the standout players from the scrimmage.
Dibjot Kaur, 5’7”, RS/OH, Monroe, 2022
Dibjot Kaur is a fearsome front row player for 17U. With her long arms and hunger for a kill, she makes aggressive plays at the net. Her niche is more so as the right side. With her long arms and tall reach, she has a great angle to the ball for a gnarly downward swing. She also has a whip-quick arm swing to seal the deal. Kaur plays without fear of the net and her confidence takes her the rest of the way. When it comes time to block, she buckles down, gets disciplined, and makes her move.
Victoria Wachowicz, 5’4”, OH/RS, Wall, 2022
It’s refreshing to see a solid athlete matched with a positive disposition. At the end of the play, regardless of the outcome, Victoria Wachowicz can be seen smiling and encouraging her teammates. Wachowicz is a small-but-mighty pin hitter with a ferocious back row.
A reliable option all the way around, Wachowicz is someone setters can look to for when the play gets out of control. She seems comfortable with out-of-system play and isn’t afraid to swing. This right-hander plays a stronger ball on the outside and is also dependable on the right side. Putting her consistent serve, defense, and serve receive in the mix and it’s clear to see that she checks off all the boxes.
Reece Jones, 5’7”, M/RS, Trinity, 2023
Despite her size, Reece Jones is a respectable force in the middle. She hops up quickly for a well-timed and often well-executed block. Especially when it comes time to block the pins, Jones is on it. She has a keen eye for following the flow of a game thus enabling her to read the pass and set early enough to set up a sturdy block.
She connects well with setter Juliana Esteban. They play off of each other with a level of trust that would indicate years of playing together, yet they have only shared a spot on this team for a short while. Notably, there were a few times that Jones followed her setter to the net on a too-tight pass and absolutely ate up the ball Esteban labored to save. Her ferocity mixed with the ability to quickly adapt to a setter is a valuable combination.
Sofia Hor, 5’4”, L/OH, Freehold Twp, 2023
This libero, much like her sister Noelle Hor, is a tank. Her defense is solid, and you can count on her to be in the right place at the right time. She has a keen eye for the play and can often back up her teammates in the face of a shank or delayed reaction. Just in the scrimmage against 18U, I watched her chase down a shanked pass way off the court and still manage to make a playable recovery.
Usually, Hor prevents it from even getting to that point with her consistent first touches. She is a clear choice to be the libero of this squad, or any squad, given her discipline on the first ball, her competent read, and her hustle. Her serve is varied and powerful. It often gave the 18U team some trouble in their recent scrimmage: even her older sister, the libero on the other side. For high school, she also plays as an outside hitter and a respectable one at that. When your dad’s a coach and your older sister is a stud, it makes sense that the youngest sister will also come out as a major all-around athlete.