Club Preview: ’21s at Team Pineapple and Ignite Elite
The two clubs remaining on our “open level” list involve two from the northern half of the state. Each have committed athletes, and each have kids that still need a home in ’21. Team Pineapple 18 Black A solid open-level…
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Continue ReadingThe two clubs remaining on our “open level” list involve two from the northern half of the state. Each have committed athletes, and each have kids that still need a home in ’21.
Team Pineapple 18 Black
A solid open-level team, this Lloy Ball-coached roster features kids from an array of backgrounds and talent levels. Headlining the squad are a pair of Evansville signees in Taya Haffner Taya Haffner 5'11" | S Angola | 2021 State IN and Madisyn Steele Madisyn Steele 6'2" | MB Fairfield | 2021 State IN . Taya brings immediate legitimacy to UE’s setting corps, while Madisyn brings size and strength to the middles in an ever-bigger Missouri Valley Conference. Ava Doster Ava Doster 5'4" | DS/L New Haven | 2021 State IN (Findlay) receives serve and defends with ease. Emma Hirchak Emma Hirchak 5'11" | OH Garrett | 2021 State IN (Marian) comes to the defending NAIA National Champions with six-rotation outside hitting potential and will bring size to an undersized outside hitting group. Kendal Brager Kendal Brager 6'0" | MB Fort Wayne Northrup | 2021 State IN (Indiana Tech) brings speed and versatility to the middle hitting group for her hometown squad, as she can attack in front of and behind the setter well. Unsigned players for this roster include Techiya Jackson Techiya Jackson 6'0" | MB New Haven | 2021 State IN , Jen Springer, Lauren Baker Lauren Baker 5'11" | OH Penn | 2021 State IN and Gabby Fish Gabby Fish 5'9" | RS Fort Wayne Carroll | 2021 State IN . Techiya uses her athleticism and raw talent to go faster and jump higher than her opponents. Jen is another DS for 18 Black that can play any of the DS spots and receives serve well. Lauren comes all the way from Penn High School, easily over an hour away, to train with the best. She looks to be a hammer from the pin and can also develop into a six-rotation stud. Finally, Gabby is a dynamic lefty right side that has a whip of an arm and jumps well.
Team Pineapple 18 Green
Although this looks more like a feature of one individual player, Mak Thompson Mak Thompson 5'6" | DS/L Angola | 2021 State IN is the lone unsigned senior with aspirations of the next level on this roster. She will most likely don the special jersey for 18 Green this spring, and can play any of the DS positions.
Ignite Elite 18 E
In the northwest corner of the state lies a little club that seems to always produce teams that get USAV bids every year. The highest profile player for this squad is Samantha Warren Samantha Warren 5'10" | MB South Newton | 2021 State IN (Valparaiso), a springy hybrid of an attacker that can be placed anywhere in the front row and succeed. Mackenzie Winicky (Indiana-Northwest) also stays closer to home by bringing her setting talents to Gary. A pair of unsigned players dot this roster, which are Kylie Gurgevich and Allie Dockins. Kylie’s passing and defense have earned her a shot at the libero position, while Allie can play as a six-rotation outside or a three rotation DS at the next level.