KANSAS CITY, MO -- One of the most anticipated tournaments at the beginning of each club season is the Triple Crown NIT because of all of the talent that will be under one roof. It is being held in Kansas City, MO this weekend, February 15-17th. It brings together the toughest competition from all over the country. There are many storylines coming out of day one and we were front and center for one of them.
One matchup that we were on hand to see was between Tstreet16 Andy and Houston Skyline 16 Royal due to their style of play. Both of these teams have some serious stars and there were tons of college coaches on hand to witness this awesome battle. Both teams deploy an opposite led attack that is rarely seen at the Open level. Since Tstreet has moved 6-foot-5 Megan Hodges over to the right side, she has wreaked havoc on opposing left sides at the net Not only does she provide a wall while blocking, but she puts so much pressure on the defense whether she is in the front row or the back row.
The same can be said for Houston Skyline and their athletically gifted right side, Aspen Brown. The only difference is she is a lefty who can attack more naturally with the ball not having to cross over her shoulder in order to get a solid swing on the ball. Normally in the junior volleyball scene, most of the offensive attacks come from the left side of the court. However, both of these teams have a stud on the right that plays all the way around in six rotations and use them early and often in their scheme.
Set 1 went to Tstreet as talented setter Royal Banducci had her offense firing on all cylinders early and they never took their foot off of the gas pedal. Although both teams traded points very early, it was Tstreet, led by thunderous swings from outside hitter Ella Olsen and line drive serves from fellow outside Kate Jackson who took control of set one and went on a run. Miss Jackson was masterful in keeping Houston Skyline out of system with her hyper-aggressive and low to the tape serves. Although Skyline had some great individual efforts in set one that scored and stopped a few runs, it was not enough to overcome the barrage of Tstreet as they took the first set 25-13.
Houston Skyline came out of the break between sets looking very serious and they were ready for a battle. Set two saw neither team go on long runs as both traded big swings with each other. Skyline’s bouncy middle Gracie Hobin had her motor revved up as she was on time for every fast tempo quick attack. It didn’t matter if there was a double block or not as Miss Hobin turned on the ball in mid-air to throttle the ball to an open space. It almost felt as though her kills were worth multiple points as they seemed to give her squad more life and momentum. Timely blocking on the right side and stellar defense from libero Pearson Noon had Houston Skyline reeling off points to take a 13-8 lead midway through the set.
Tstreet came back with solid attacks from middle Whitney Port that scored against the block. After a Megan Hodges kill down the line and an ace serve made it game point, it looked like they would win in two. Houston Skyline then said, “wait hold my water.” Big time players make big time plays in big time games and that is exactly what happened next. Jordan Morrow tied the game up at 24 all and then Houston Skyline took control. Aspen Brown had a key stuff block and a solid swing as she came around for a second tempo set out of the middle to give Skyline the lead for set point. She then ended the set with another kill as she tooled the block from the right side.
All tied up at one set a piece, we entered the third set wondering who would step up to earn the match win. Set three started off at a blistering pace with both teams’ left side hitters scoring down the line against the block. Both teams also showed some amazing defense during long rallies with each other. After trading some missed serves and costly serve receive errors, we saw the score all tied up at 10. Then Houston Skyline forced a time out once they were up 13-10 with some stellar play. Another kill by Aspen Brown eventually gave Skyline match point. At this point, Tstreet called their final time out of the set. Directly after the timeout, it was MVP of the match, Aspen Brown who reeled off another kill to win the set 15-13. It was a thrilling match to say the least and we fully expect both teams to continue to flex their muscles throughout the tourney.
