I have been covering Texas tournaments this past month so it was great to be given the opportunity to travel to Florida to cover this tournament here in Tampa Bay! vballrecruiter.com wrote a preview of the Nike TOC Southeast tournament that highlighted the athletes and programs that would be in attendance.
Let’s take a quick look at the top headlines from Friday, followed by team spotlights and under the radar players.
Pool A in the National Division was definitely a fun one to watch. Lafayette (MO) ended up winning the pool by upsetting the top seed Ponte Vedra (FL). Pool F in National had an upset with Venice (FL) winning the pool.
Pool H in the National Division had another upset with Tampa Prep (FL) beating Bishop Gorman (NV) to capture the top seed.
TEAM SPOTLIGHTS
Cornerstone Christian (TX) is just so deep. It’s fun to watch them work together out there. And with a outside hitter like Nayeli Gonzalez doubling as a middle blocker sometimes it definitely changes the offense in a pinch.
Lafayette was the team that prevailed in an incredibly talented pool of teams. Outside Maya Witherspoon and Allison Risley were hitting some heavy balls consistently throughout the day. Layne Witherspoon and Ellie Emms helped balance the attack in the middle.
Bishop Gorman is a team to reckon with. Their physicality and energy are fun to watch. Names to remember are Lellia Talloa and Ayanna Watson.
UNDER THE RADAR PLAYERS
We’ve watched many of the top tier players during club season and are very likely to see the top teams in action on Days 2, so instead of highlighting those girls as part of our normal Show Stoppers, let’s mix it up a bit and present a few players who fly under the radar but caught our attention on Day 1 nevertheless.
Emily Ortiz, SR L, Winter Park
Bree Rivas, SR OH, Seacrest Country Day
Sarah Gooch, SR OH, Lake Brantley (West Virginia)
Morgan Burke, SR OH, Skutt Catholic (Michigan)
Madison Smith, SR OH, West Orange
Abigayle Dickinson, SR OH, Olympia (Texas Tech)
Reese Burry, SR L, Windermere Prep
Madi Hartman, SR L, Lafayette (Arkansas Tech)
Anna Grace Sparks, SR OH, McGill Toolen (Queens Univ of Charlotte)
Rylee Busse, SR OH, Cornerstone Christian (Memphis)
Devereaux Hoxsie, JR OH, Kings Academy
Mae Mae Lacey, JR MB, Mountain Brook
Raegan Richardson, JR S, Jensen Beach
Tatum Thompson, JR L, Bishop Gorman
Hannah Hankerson, SO OH, Berkeley Prep
Ada McCoy, SO OH, Musselman
Rylee Tanner, SO OH, Winter Haven
Isabella Medeiros, SO S, Pine Crest
Anna Cathcart, SO OH, Oviedo
Meme Davis, JR OH, Gainesville
Audryana Colon, SO OH, Niceville
Morgen Talley, SO MB, Calvary Christian
Aracelys Sanchez, SO OH, Vero Beach
Eva Goodson, FR OH, Florida High
Leilani Lawrence, FR OH, Tampa Prep
