July 25, 2023

vballrecruiter.com’s Player of the Week: Emma Parks (FREE)

We’re proud to be a part of an ongoing partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, which is sponsoring our Player of the Week award. We’ll be releasing a featured vballrecruiter.com Player of the Week, sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, on Tuesdays. Below is this week’s Player of the Week: Emma Parks. *** When it comes to our recent featured Player of the Week highlights sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, we have encountered athletes who have grown up either immersed in volleyball or ones who started late in the game and have blossomed quickly. What those two dynamics share in common however are all were in love with volleyball from their introduction to the sport. Emma Parks has a different tale. She didn’t grow up loving volleyball or falling in love with it at first sight. She was focused on playing basketball and determined to continue on as long and as far as she could in that sport. It’s not that she was totally opposed to volleyball. She spent her first year playing on a regional team in fourth grade. “I was definitely super into basketball growing up before I started volleyball,” Parks said. “I didn’t want (volleyball) to interfere with basketball when I first started. I transitioned to only playing volleyball in eighth grade.” Growing up participating in multiple sports brought out Parks’ competitive spirit. Having older sisters helped too, as they were also competitive and she would naturally challenge herself against them. While giving up basketball wasn’t easy, she did find herself drawn more and more to volleyball. “I think volleyball is really different than everything else,” she said. “Especially having new sets where you can win one set and then the next set is anyone’s game. That’s what’s really cool about it. You have to have team work and work as a team.” Parks started out as a middle blocker before spending this past season with Rock City 16-1 playing outside. Her position change started in high school last fall when her coach moved her to the pin and she remained on the left during club. At 6-1 and touching 10-feet, Parks is a rising 4-star recruit who is planning on suiting up for AVC Cle next club season. “I loved playing six rotations and being part of the game the whole time,” Parks said. “The biggest adjustment for me was passing. I didn’t have to pass as a middle. I stayed in to serve but came out for serve receive. So I just didn’t do that as a middle and that’s been the hardest adjustment for me.” This recent club season ended on a high note. Parks and her Rock City teammates earned the silver medal in 16 Club at the AAU Girls National Championships in Orlando. The squad went 13-1, falling to MVVC 16 Red in the gold-medal match. Rock City was the only opponent to take a set off of MVVC as Parks was selected to the AAU All-Star team for the division. “We played at Bluegrass and won the Club division,” Parks said. “Winning the tournament was really good for our team and we really started playing at a higher level.” Up next for Parks is her junior year of high school playing for Meadville. The switch from club to high school offers a different experience, one she enjoys just as much. “I think it’s different going to high school from club,” Parks said. “It’s different but really exciting. We are hoping to have a good season. We only had one senior last year so we are getting the whole team back. I’m really looking forward to it and hopefully winning district.” As our featured Player of the Week sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, we recently spoke with Parks about volleyball and more. Who is your role model or icon you look up to? Parks: I would say I look up to my sisters (Maddie and Hannah) the most. I spent a lot of time watching them play when I was younger. They are the ones who got me interested in the game. I learned a lot from them how hard they worked, how they played and how they responded when things got hard. They are my biggest supporters and they are really important to me. What is your favorite food(s)? Parks: My favorite food is mac and cheese. Specifically, my grandma’s mac and cheese. I love cooking with her. It’s super important to spend time with her. I feel like we have a family recipe in that nobody else makes it the same way. What is your favorite tournament of the season? Parks: My favorite tournament was AAUs. Going into it we were really excited. We got a house all together as a team. That was super fun to be with everyone. Competing at a high level against teams which are really good was fun. We finished pretty well. It was also our last tournament so I think that was fun. What is your favorite team bonding event? Parks: My favorite was when we were in Florida at AAUs. We got ice cream and then we came back to the house and went swimming. It was really fun. The water was really warm. What is your favorite quote? Parks: My favorite quote is by Simone Biles. It’s ‘I’d rather risk that it didn’t work out than the chances that I didn’t take at all.’ What is your go to song to warm up to? Parks: I don’t usually listen to music before games. In high school, we play music before games from our team playlist. If you could have any super power what would it be and why? Parks: I would want telekinesis like in Stranger Things. The main character El (Eleven) has it and it’s useful. I would like to use it in volleyball I guess or really anything. Life would be simpler and it would be really cool. What do you like to do outside of volleyball? Parks: I’d say I

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vballrecruiter.com’s 17s Final Club National Rankings (2023)

Congrats to SCVC 17 Roxy! After earning the 17 Open gold medal at the USAV Girls Junior National Championships in Chicago, the So Cal club finishes the season on top of our Top 50 Club National Rankings. There are times when teams can take advantage of a break or a fortuitous schedule. However, that was not the case with SCVC, which flexed its muscle in powering through a loaded 17s field. There’s no denying SCVC was playing its best when it mattered most. If not one but two victories over the top-ranked team in the country in Dynasty 17 Black – including in the 17 Open championship match – weren’t convincing enough, then nothing will be. SCVC’s close to the season was both stunning and remarkable as the squad picked up victories over then-No. 4 NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami in challenge play followed by taking down then-No. 2 TAV 17 Black in the quarterfinals and then-No. 7 1st Alliance 17 Gold in the semis before topping then-No. 1 Dynasty for a second time to earn the gold medal. Both Dynasty and TAV slid down a spot in our final rankings, to No. 2 and 3 respectively. Metro 17 Travel was among the biggest movers, climbing from No. 32 to No. 4 in our final rankings after finishing tied for fifth in Chicago. Wave 17 Juliana and Hou Skyline 17 Royal also both jumped into the Top 10 after impressive performances. Wave lost just one match during the four-day stretch, with it coming against Metro in the challenge round. Hou Skyline finished tied for third and earned a bronze medal after upsetting OT 17 Aaron in challenge play and Drive Nation 17 Red in the quarterfinals before falling to Dynasty in the semis. Ultimately, there are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are subjective. There are power league results, qualifier results, national tournaments like Triple Crown and of course the USAV and AAU national championships. All these come into play. We put more weight on what happened at Junior Nationals than the rest of the season because the schedule is built toward peaking at JN’s. We also had one steadfast rule we didn’t break no matter the circumstances. That rule was if Team A defeated Team B in a gold challenge match or gold bracket match at JN’s, Team A is always going to be ranked ahead of Team B. That’s because everyone comes to JN’s to win a gold medal and if Team A eliminates Team B from contention, it won at the absolute right time. It can make for some skewed overall rankings as a team might be too high or low overall but what’s the point if the biggest head-to-head matches of the season aren’t the most important ones? vballrecruiter.com’S FINAL TOP 50 NATIONAL RANKINGS 1. SCVC 17 Roxy (CA) (16 – previous ranking) 2. Dynasty 17 Black (KS) (1) 3. TAV 17 Black (TX) (2) 4. Metro 17 Travel (DC) (32) 5. 1st Alliance 17 Gold (7) 6. Wave 17 Juliana (CA) (15) 7. Triangle 17 Black (NC) (3) 8. Hou Skyline 17 Royal (TX) (17) 9. Drive Nation 17 Red (TX) (6) 10. NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami (KY) (4) *** 11. OT 17 Aaron (FL) (9) 12. Co Jrs 17 Kevin (CO) (8) 13. Momentous 17 Dan (CA) (14) 14. SG Elite 17 Rosh (CA) (19) 15. Coast 17-1 (CA) (18) 16. KC Power 17 Black (KS) (13) 17. Club V 17 Ren Matthew (UT) (21) 18. A5 17 Jing (GA) (5) 19. Tri-State Elite 17 Blue (OH) (22) 20. HJV 17 Elite (TX) (11) *** 21. Pohaku 17-1 (KS) (30) 22. Premier Nebraska 17 Gold (NE) (10) 23. Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite (MO) (12) 24. Top Select 17 Elite (FL) (39) 25. Miami Hype 17 Emilio (FL) (46) 26. Vision 17 Gold (CA) (20) 27. OT 17 Felix (FL) (23) 28. Academy 17 Tsunami (IN) (26) 29. Skyline 17 Royal (TX) (24) 30. Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar (CA) (29) *** 31. AVC Cle 17 Red (OH) (34) 32. Madfrog 17 Green (TX) (31) 33. City 17 Gold (CA) (37) 34. Seal Beach 17 Black (CA) (35) 35. NorCal 17-1 Black (CA) (36) 36. Boiler Jrs 17 Gold (IN) (27) 37. Six Pack 17 (IO) (41) 38. HPSTL 17 Royal (MO) (n/r) 39. MKE Sting 17 Gold (WI) (28) 40. MAVS KC 17-1 (KS) (n/r) *** 41. Rev 17-1 Raptors (IN) (n/r) 42. AJV 17 Adidas (TX) (36) 43. Elevation 17 Ulland (OH) (42) 44. Mintonette Sports m.71 (OH) (49) 45. VCNebraska 17 Elite (NE) (25) 46. Kairos 17 Alpha (SD) (n/r) 47. Northern Lights 17-1 (MN) (48) 48. FC Elite 17 Navy (WI) (n/r) 49. SASVBC 17-1 (HI) (n/r) 50. Rock City 17-1 (OH) (43) ON THE CUSP Ku’Ikahi 17 RSB Wahine (HI)Adidas KiVA 17 Red (KY)Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal (FL)Illini Elite 17 Cardinal (IL)Excel 17 National Red (TX)K2 17 Jota (TN)Legacy 17-1 Adidas (MI)MN Select 17-1 (MN)Maverick 17 Elite (OH)VC United 17 Elite (IL)Circle City 17 Purple (IN)Team Momentum 17 Navy (MO)TVA 17 Smack Megan (FL)NE Elite 17 Top Gun (NE)Team Indiana 17.1 Elite (IN)DaKine Warriors 17 Surf (WA)TIV 17 Black (TX)Absolute 17 Black (CA)TAV Houston 17 Adidas (TX)

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vballrecruiter.com’s Player of the Week: Emma Parks (FREE)

We’re proud to be a part of an ongoing partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, which is sponsoring our Player of the Week award. We’ll be releasing a featured vballrecruiter.com Player of the Week, sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, on Tuesdays. Below is this week’s Player of the Week: Emma Parks. *** When it comes to our recent featured Player of the Week highlights sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, we have encountered athletes who have grown up either immersed in volleyball or ones who started late in the game and have blossomed quickly. What those two dynamics share in common however are all were in love with volleyball from their introduction to the sport. Emma Parks has a different tale. She didn’t grow up loving volleyball or falling in love with it at first sight. She was focused on playing basketball and determined to continue on as long and as far as she could in that sport. It’s not that she was totally opposed to volleyball. She spent her first year playing on a regional team in fourth grade. “I was definitely super into basketball growing up before I started volleyball,” Parks said. “I didn’t want (volleyball) to interfere with basketball when I first started. I transitioned to only playing volleyball in eighth grade.” Growing up participating in multiple sports brought out Parks’ competitive spirit. Having older sisters helped too, as they were also competitive and she would naturally challenge herself against them. While giving up basketball wasn’t easy, she did find herself drawn more and more to volleyball. “I think volleyball is really different than everything else,” she said. “Especially having new sets where you can win one set and then the next set is anyone’s game. That’s what’s really cool about it. You have to have team work and work as a team.” Parks started out as a middle blocker before spending this past season with Rock City 16-1 playing outside. Her position change started in high school last fall when her coach moved her to the pin and she remained on the left during club. At 6-1 and touching 10-feet, Parks is a rising 4-star recruit who is planning on suiting up for AVC Cle next club season. “I loved playing six rotations and being part of the game the whole time,” Parks said. “The biggest adjustment for me was passing. I didn’t have to pass as a middle. I stayed in to serve but came out for serve receive. So I just didn’t do that as a middle and that’s been the hardest adjustment for me.” This recent club season ended on a high note. Parks and her Rock City teammates earned the silver medal in 16 Club at the AAU Girls National Championships in Orlando. The squad went 13-1, falling to MVVC 16 Red in the gold-medal match. Rock City was the only opponent to take a set off of MVVC as Parks was selected to the AAU All-Star team for the division. “We played at Bluegrass and won the Club division,” Parks said. “Winning the tournament was really good for our team and we really started playing at a higher level.” Up next for Parks is her junior year of high school playing for Meadville. The switch from club to high school offers a different experience, one she enjoys just as much. “I think it’s different going to high school from club,” Parks said. “It’s different but really exciting. We are hoping to have a good season. We only had one senior last year so we are getting the whole team back. I’m really looking forward to it and hopefully winning district.” As our featured Player of the Week sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, we recently spoke with Parks about volleyball and more. Who is your role model or icon you look up to? Parks: I would say I look up to my sisters (Maddie and Hannah) the most. I spent a lot of time watching them play when I was younger. They are the ones who got me interested in the game. I learned a lot from them how hard they worked, how they played and how they responded when things got hard. They are my biggest supporters and they are really important to me. What is your favorite food(s)? Parks: My favorite food is mac and cheese. Specifically, my grandma’s mac and cheese. I love cooking with her. It’s super important to spend time with her. I feel like we have a family recipe in that nobody else makes it the same way. What is your favorite tournament of the season? Parks: My favorite tournament was AAUs. Going into it we were really excited. We got a house all together as a team. That was super fun to be with everyone. Competing at a high level against teams which are really good was fun. We finished pretty well. It was also our last tournament so I think that was fun. What is your favorite team bonding event? Parks: My favorite was when we were in Florida at AAUs. We got ice cream and then we came back to the house and went swimming. It was really fun. The water was really warm. What is your favorite quote? Parks: My favorite quote is by Simone Biles. It’s ‘I’d rather risk that it didn’t work out than the chances that I didn’t take at all.’ What is your go to song to warm up to? Parks: I don’t usually listen to music before games. In high school, we play music before games from our team playlist. If you could have any super power what would it be and why? Parks: I would want telekinesis like in Stranger Things. The main character El (Eleven) has it and it’s useful. I would like to use it in volleyball I guess or really anything. Life would be simpler and it would be really cool. What do you like to do outside of volleyball? Parks: I’d say I

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vballrecruiter.com’s 17s Final Club National Rankings (2023)

Congrats to SCVC 17 Roxy! After earning the 17 Open gold medal at the USAV Girls Junior National Championships in Chicago, the So Cal club finishes the season on top of our Top 50 Club National Rankings. There are times when teams can take advantage of a break or a fortuitous schedule. However, that was not the case with SCVC, which flexed its muscle in powering through a loaded 17s field. There’s no denying SCVC was playing its best when it mattered most. If not one but two victories over the top-ranked team in the country in Dynasty 17 Black – including in the 17 Open championship match – weren’t convincing enough, then nothing will be. SCVC’s close to the season was both stunning and remarkable as the squad picked up victories over then-No. 4 NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami in challenge play followed by taking down then-No. 2 TAV 17 Black in the quarterfinals and then-No. 7 1st Alliance 17 Gold in the semis before topping then-No. 1 Dynasty for a second time to earn the gold medal. Both Dynasty and TAV slid down a spot in our final rankings, to No. 2 and 3 respectively. Metro 17 Travel was among the biggest movers, climbing from No. 32 to No. 4 in our final rankings after finishing tied for fifth in Chicago. Wave 17 Juliana and Hou Skyline 17 Royal also both jumped into the Top 10 after impressive performances. Wave lost just one match during the four-day stretch, with it coming against Metro in the challenge round. Hou Skyline finished tied for third and earned a bronze medal after upsetting OT 17 Aaron in challenge play and Drive Nation 17 Red in the quarterfinals before falling to Dynasty in the semis. Ultimately, there are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are subjective. There are power league results, qualifier results, national tournaments like Triple Crown and of course the USAV and AAU national championships. All these come into play. We put more weight on what happened at Junior Nationals than the rest of the season because the schedule is built toward peaking at JN’s. We also had one steadfast rule we didn’t break no matter the circumstances. That rule was if Team A defeated Team B in a gold challenge match or gold bracket match at JN’s, Team A is always going to be ranked ahead of Team B. That’s because everyone comes to JN’s to win a gold medal and if Team A eliminates Team B from contention, it won at the absolute right time. It can make for some skewed overall rankings as a team might be too high or low overall but what’s the point if the biggest head-to-head matches of the season aren’t the most important ones? vballrecruiter.com’S FINAL TOP 50 NATIONAL RANKINGS 1. SCVC 17 Roxy (CA) (16 – previous ranking) 2. Dynasty 17 Black (KS) (1) 3. TAV 17 Black (TX) (2) 4. Metro 17 Travel (DC) (32) 5. 1st Alliance 17 Gold (7) 6. Wave 17 Juliana (CA) (15) 7. Triangle 17 Black (NC) (3) 8. Hou Skyline 17 Royal (TX) (17) 9. Drive Nation 17 Red (TX) (6) 10. NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami (KY) (4) *** 11. OT 17 Aaron (FL) (9) 12. Co Jrs 17 Kevin (CO) (8) 13. Momentous 17 Dan (CA) (14) 14. SG Elite 17 Rosh (CA) (19) 15. Coast 17-1 (CA) (18) 16. KC Power 17 Black (KS) (13) 17. Club V 17 Ren Matthew (UT) (21) 18. A5 17 Jing (GA) (5) 19. Tri-State Elite 17 Blue (OH) (22) 20. HJV 17 Elite (TX) (11) *** 21. Pohaku 17-1 (KS) (30) 22. Premier Nebraska 17 Gold (NE) (10) 23. Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite (MO) (12) 24. Top Select 17 Elite (FL) (39) 25. Miami Hype 17 Emilio (FL) (46) 26. Vision 17 Gold (CA) (20) 27. OT 17 Felix (FL) (23) 28. Academy 17 Tsunami (IN) (26) 29. Skyline 17 Royal (TX) (24) 30. Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar (CA) (29) *** 31. AVC Cle 17 Red (OH) (34) 32. Madfrog 17 Green (TX) (31) 33. City 17 Gold (CA) (37) 34. Seal Beach 17 Black (CA) (35) 35. NorCal 17-1 Black (CA) (36) 36. Boiler Jrs 17 Gold (IN) (27) 37. Six Pack 17 (IO) (41) 38. HPSTL 17 Royal (MO) (n/r) 39. MKE Sting 17 Gold (WI) (28) 40. MAVS KC 17-1 (KS) (n/r) *** 41. Rev 17-1 Raptors (IN) (n/r) 42. AJV 17 Adidas (TX) (36) 43. Elevation 17 Ulland (OH) (42) 44. Mintonette Sports m.71 (OH) (49) 45. VCNebraska 17 Elite (NE) (25) 46. Kairos 17 Alpha (SD) (n/r) 47. Northern Lights 17-1 (MN) (48) 48. FC Elite 17 Navy (WI) (n/r) 49. SASVBC 17-1 (HI) (n/r) 50. Rock City 17-1 (OH) (43) ON THE CUSP Ku’Ikahi 17 RSB Wahine (HI)Adidas KiVA 17 Red (KY)Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal (FL)Illini Elite 17 Cardinal (IL)Excel 17 National Red (TX)K2 17 Jota (TN)Legacy 17-1 Adidas (MI)MN Select 17-1 (MN)Maverick 17 Elite (OH)VC United 17 Elite (IL)Circle City 17 Purple (IN)Team Momentum 17 Navy (MO)TVA 17 Smack Megan (FL)NE Elite 17 Top Gun (NE)Team Indiana 17.1 Elite (IN)DaKine Warriors 17 Surf (WA)TIV 17 Black (TX)Absolute 17 Black (CA)TAV Houston 17 Adidas (TX)

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