Tour of Texas Qualified – Austin Juniors 18 Adidas & 18 Molten
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Over the last couple of weeks we have had the Tour of Texas Qualifier and seeding tournament for Pre-Qualified teams from last years top teams. We had some great Texas teams come together to compete in what is considered one…
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Continue ReadingOver the last couple of weeks we have had the Tour of Texas Qualifier and seeding tournament for Pre-Qualified teams from last years top teams. We had some great Texas teams come together to compete in what is considered one of the most competitive series of tournaments in the nation.
For the past three decades, one of the most important barometers of where your club team ranks has been if your team can qualify for the prestigious series of tourneys held in three stops all around the state. While most teams have only had one to two warm up tournaments prior to the qualifier, it makes for a very unnerving weekend of how your team will stack up. A vast majority of the teams that play in the series have gone on to compete at USA and/or AAU National Championships in the postseason. If your team qualifies for this ultra competitive series, it will guarantee them three more tournaments to paly against some amazing competition to get ready for both National Qualifiers and the postseason.
We are going to profile clubs/teams and their players that had great showings in the qualifier and follow them as they compete in the rest of the series. First we will start with some of the older teams of Austin Juniors as they had the most teams qualify than any other team in the state of Texas this year. We will start with their two 18’s teams who are now Tour of Texas Qualified thanks to their efforts on the court.
Austin Juniors Volleyball 18 Adidas
They were already pre-qualified due to their final standings in the series last season. So they competed in the pre-qualified tournament. They went 3-2 on the weekend against some amazing competition and finished tied for 5th. We will start with the floor generals who make this team run like a finely tuned high-powered machine. McKenzie Beckham (Westwood HS) and Lauren Lietzke (St. Andrews Episcopal HS/Marist College) move the ball around extremely well to their super efficient hitters. Every set in every match was closely contested as three of their matches went to three sets and were all hard fought. Middles Maya Johnson Maya Johnson 6'1" | MB Bowie | 2021 State TX (Prep Dig 48, Bowie HS) and DeAndra Pierce DeAndra Pierce 6'0" | MB Austin | 2021 State TX (Prep Dig 53, Austin HS) steadied their defense while Outside hitters like Maggie Walsh Maggie Walsh 5'10" | OH San Marcos | 2022 State TX (Prep Dig 53 – 2022, San Marcos HS), Shanti Ramdeen Shanti Ramdeen 5'11" | MB Akins | 2021 State TX (Prep Dig 58 Akins HS/Coppin St) and Right Side Trista Strasser (Hays HS/Missouri) scored very well for them. They battled the best that Texas had to offer and showed just how strong they are amongst the best. We will see what happens in the next stop. We saw some really great things on the court from more of their players and will be adding quite a few of these players to our State Rankings List soon. They still have a few players who have not made their college decision and should definitely be looked at by schools that are still looking to add some great players.
Austin Juniors Volleyball 18 Molten
They had to attend the qualifier in order to win their way in. They ended up 4-1 on the weekend and breezed through the four wins very easily with only one set where their opponent scored more than 20 points against them. They finished tied for fifth place and are ready to move up to the next level in the next stop of the series. Jump setting Callie Carrejo (Leander HS) and super consistent Setter/RS Sophia Miksch (St. Dominic Savio HS) run this team and are fantastic at spreading the ball around. Liberos Julia Antu (San Marcos HS/Western St Colorado) and Ryan Naumann (Westlake HS/Fordham University) are the reason for this team staying in system with their pinpoint passing and exceptional defense. Middle Alison Fagan (Westlake HS) and her long arms solidify a great block. The offense comes from all around and scrappy outside hitters Georgia Brown (St. Dominic Savio HS), Kindsee Escamilla (Liberty Hills HS) and Audrey Green (Vandegrift HS). We will dive into this team more later on this season as they compete in the Tour. We will be profiling more of their players with some more in depth coverage in a follow up article soon.
If you know of any other players or clubs that we need to cover, please email me at nov8vb@yahoo.com. We would also love if you can spread the word about our program here at Prep Dig Texas. We love what we do and if you like our articles, please share them with your friends. Help us help the players get recruited by sharing these highlight stories with the world. Thanks so much for following us!