February 5, 2024

The Central Zone Invitational wrapped up on Sunday at the Indianapolis Convention Center. The tournament was just two days but it contained enough energy and excitement that it felt much longer. You can catch up on how the event played out here. Below, we note the players who stood out the most to us with our Day 2 Show Stoppers. DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS Stella Hamood L/DS Circle City 14 Purple: Hamood played a key role in Circle City taking home the 14 Open gold medal. Her passing was smooth and sharp and she kept plenty of rallies going with her strong digging. Audrey Utterback OH Circle City 14 Purple: Utterback adds an explosive element to the attack. She’s a legit threat anywhere on the court with her power and ability to unload. Blaine Adams RS Circle City 14 Purple: Adams is a wirey right side who helps balance out the attack. She’s a quick jumper and can beat blockers before they are squared up. Kaylie Liepins S AVC Cle 14 Red: One of Liepins’ strength is she sets a really clean ball. She rarely puts up a bad ball for her hitters. Lola Loncar L/DS AVC Cle 14 Red: Loncar was another standout defender. She was solid out of serve receive and displayed the tools to keep her side in the rally. Grace Regula OH AVC Cle 14 Red: When it comes to providing punch to the offense, Regula checks that box and then some. She has a fast arm swing and hits with lots of pace. Ja’maria Jackson MB Munciana 14 Chipmunks: Part of Munciana’s success is being able to utilize its middle attack effectively. Jackson is one half of the equation. She gets off the ground in a hurry and it causes timing problems for the blockers. Abbie Powell MB Munciana 14 Chipmunks: Powell fills outs the middle attack for Munciana. She brings a strong arm to the front row and sends down big kills. Taylor McKenzie OH Adidas KiVA 14 Red: KiVA looks to its outside to deliver a large share of the offense and both fill their roles well. McKenzie is a quicker attack and uses her speed to her advantage. Kayleigh Rogers OH Adidas KiVA 14 Red: Rogers balances out the left side attack. She extends nicely and does well taking aggressive swings and challenging the block. *** Sadie Ellis MB Elevation 14 Molly: Ellis was another effective middle. She’s strong offensively with the variety of ways she can beat defenses, including taking swings from the right side. Lauren Sheldon OH Legacy 14-1 Adidas: Sheldon has a lively arm and can really connect when the opportunity presents itself. She puts a lot of pressure on the defense to defend her. Payton Woodruff S Legacy 14-1 Adidas: Woodruff does a nice job locating and moving the ball around when in system. Ariana Hueter MB Boss Cle 14-1: Boss had a great run to the semifinals. Hueter showed her scoring prowess and she delivered time and time again when her number was called. Kenadi Sieg L/DS NKYVC 14-1 Tsunami: Sieg is a really active libero. She flies around the court and was making plays all over. Lucy Waleskowski S/RS NKYVC 14-1 Tsunami: Waleskowski was a Day 1 Show Stopper as well. She’s a difference maker with her two-way contributions and using her size to her advantage. Alexis Steinhauser RS NKYVC 14-1 Tsunami: A lefty right side, Steinhauser has a solid arm and did well exploiting the gaps in the block in front of her. Lyndsey Robinson L/DS Munciana 15 Blue: Munciana pushed its way through to the semifinals in part because of the defensive edge supplied by Robinson. She’s a quick defender who doesn’t back down. Carsyn Comer MB Munciana 15 Blue: Comer’s power arm supplies a different level of offense. She’s a physical hitter who can overpower blockers and crush winners consistent. Makenna Meibers OH Tri-State Elite 15 Blue: Meibers showed up well in her role. She’s an aggressive attacker who was taking big swings and going for it when she could. *** Maisie Jones OH Tri-State Elite 15 Blue: Jones is another strong outside for Tri-State who contributes as a six-rotation. She’s a smart attacker who can hurt defenses in multiple ways. Addison Knapke L/DS Mintonette Sports m.51: Knapke showcased her defensive prowess, making plays in the back row and passing well in serve receive. Lola Waleskowski OH NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami: Waleskowski is an integral part of the attack. She’s a strong hitter who is adept at tooling blocks or hitting around them. Macy Armstrong MB NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami: Armstrong made an impact in the middle with her knack for scoring and being able to get touches on balls. Ali Strange L/DS Elevation 15 Tony: Strange showed up strong in the back row. She reacts and covers well in addition to extending rallies. Morgan Meiring OH Elevation 15 Tony: Meiring is a six-rotation workhorse. She can swing it from the front or back row and helped hold down the offense. Cynthia Ockerman MB Legacy 15-1 Adidas: Ockerman is a play-maker on both sides of the ball. She’s a physical presence who can lift her team with a big kill or monster block. Marlie Smith S Legacy 15-1 Adidas: Smith is a quick setter who does a nice job getting her feet to the ball and mixing up her sets and location. Kate Kalczynski OH Legacy 15-1 Adidas: Kalczynski is developing at a sharp rate. After an impressive high school campaign, she’s carried it over to club where she’s showing off her whip for an arm. Legacy moves her around too, keeping defenses guessing as to where she might take her next swing from. Calli LeFevre OH Legacy 15-1 Adidas: LeFevre is a solid all-around outside who brings a ton of energy and spirit to the lineup. She’s a heady attacker who can hurt defenses with well-placed shots. *** Audrey Dyas MB NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami: Dyas is more than a handful. She brings size

Representing an early-season test, the Central Zone Invitational brought many of the Midwest powerhouse clubs together for two days of competition at the Indiana Convention Center. The host club – Circle City – found success in 14 Open, capturing the gold medal after sweeping AVC Cle 14 Red in the championship match and finishing the weekend 8-0. There is sure to be plenty of fluxation in our 14s National Rankings when we update them next. For the time being, Circle City entered Central Zone sitting at No. 17. There were five teams ranked ahead, including AVC at No. 11. For the most part, all fared relatively well. NKYVC 14-1 Tsunami held the highest ranking at No. 6 and finished tied for fifth after going 5-1. NKYVC fell to Munciana 14 Chipmunks in gold pool play, as Muncie went on to tie for third with Boss Cle 14-1. Boss was the only team not ranked to finish in the Top 8. Muncie, meanwhile, entered weekend play at No. 21. Both No. 13 Elevation 14 Molly and No. 15 Legacy 14-1 Adidas tied for fifth as well, with each going 5-1 over the two days. Mintonette Sports m.41, ranked No. 14, also went 5-1 but tied for ninth. Elevation, Mintonette and AVC shared an all-Ohio gold pool Sunday morning and finished in a three-way tie at 1-1. Mintonette lost to AVC for its only tournament setback. Mintonette managed to hand Elevation its only loss while Legacy lost a three-setter to Boss to miss out on the semis. Rounding at the top eight was No. 25 KiVA 14 Red, which went 3-3 overall. All but Circle City and Boss will be back together in a couple weeks at the Triple Crown NIT in Kansas City, along with No. 26 MKE Sting 14 Gold which tied for ninth at Central Zone. The most topsy-turvy division proved to be 16 Open. While the field featured highly-ranked teams in No. 4 Mintonette Sports m.61, No. 5 Legacy 16-1 Adidas and No. 8 Boiler Jrs 16 Gold, none were around for the championship clash. That meeting came down to No. 12 Elevation 16 Goller and No. 16 NKYVC 16-1 Tsnunami, with NKYVC prevailing in three sets. One of the biggest surprises was unranked TVC 16 Black tying for third with Mintonette. On an interesting side note, Mintonette hosted a 16s training day the Sunday before Central Zone at its facility in Columbus. Other clubs to participate beyond Mintonette included NKYVC, Elevation and TVC, the top four finishers this weekend coincidentally. Boiler Jrs wound up tied for fifth, along with No. 30 MKE Sting 16 Gold, No. 43 SPVB 16 Elite and unranked Team Indiana 16 Elite, which upset No. 21 Team Pineapple 16 Black in the Round of 16. TVC’s run was propelled by its upset over Legacy in the Round of 16. It was Adidas KiVA 17 Red coming out on top in 17 Open. KiVA lost to Legacy 17-1 Adidas during power pool play on Day 1 and the two sides found themselves on opposites sides of the net once more in the championship match. KiVA earned payback by pulling out a tight sweep, 25-23, 25-23, to end the weekend 7-1. Legacy, which lost to Mich Elite 17 Mizuno on Day 1, finished 6-2. Mich Elite and MKE Sting 17 Gold tied for third, both going 6-1. Once more, our Top 50 rankings held up decent. KiVA came in ranked No. 15 overall, behind both No. 6 MKE Sting and No. 7 Mich Elite. AVC Cle 17 Red, which is ranked No. 11, tied for fifth after going 3-3. Legacy sits at No. 24 overall, behind No. 18 Circle City 17 Purple, which tied for fifth. Tri-State Elite 17 Blue, ranked No. 45, also tied for fifth, along with unranked Academy 17 Tsunami. Mintonette Sports m.71, at No. 46, was the only ranked team to miss out on the Top 8 after going 3-3 and tying for ninth. As for 15 Open, Legacy 15-1 Adidas swept its way past Elevation 15 Tony in the championship match. It just so happened those were the two highest ranked teams in our Top 50, with Legacy at No. 7 and Elevation at No. 3. Munciana 15 Blue and Tri-State Elite 15 Blue tied for third. Munciana was the third-highest ranked team in the field, coming in at No. 26. Tri-State wasn’t far behind at No. 31. Two teams in between at No. 29 KiVA 15 Red and No. 30 Mintonette Sports m.51 tied for fifth, along No. 39 NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami and unranked MKE Sting 15 Gold.