Midwest JVA Challenge

JVA Midwest Challenge 17 Open Players To Watch

JVA Midwest Challenge 17 Open Players To Watch

The JVA Midwest Challenge is only two days away. Many of the top players in the Midwest will flock to Des Moines this weekend to duke it out inside the Iowa

May 5, 2016 by Megan Kaplon
JVA Midwest Challenge 17 Open Players To Watch
The JVA Midwest Challenge is only two days away. Many of the top players in the Midwest will flock to Des Moines this weekend to duke it out inside the Iowa Events Center, and you can watch all the action LIVE on FloVolleyball.

Tuning in? You'll want to know who to watch. What follows is our list of the top 10 players competing in the 17 Open division:

10. Isabelle Banez, Wildcat Juniors 17 Black

Scrappy libero Banez captained her Northside Prep squad and has been the starting libero for that team since she was a freshman. Banez has verbally committed to DePaul.

9. Brooke Gostomski, Club Fusion 17 Black

South Carolina recruit and 6-0 Club Fusion outside hitter Gostomski led her high school team with 2.6 kills/set and earned a spot on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel all-area team.

8. Kinsley Tingelhoff, Nebraska Juniors 171

Setter Tingelhoff broke two Nebraska High School Class C1 records as a freshman. Still only a sophomore, Tingelhoff plays up on the Nebraska Jrs. top 17s team.

7. Emma Norris, Adrenaline 17 Rox

A 5-9 athletic and versatile outside hitter, Norris is a member of the Iowa and USA High Performance pipeline and a Western Illinois recruit. Norris is a fun player to watch, with big hops and an arsenal of swings.

6. Paige Franck, Iowa Rockets 17R

A Kennedy High School junior, Franck does it all, playing right side, defensive specialist and setter. The second-team All-Mississippi Valley Conference selection committed to attend Iowa as a DS and back-up setter.

5. Alexia Byrnes-Hosey, Club Fusion 17 Red

Byrnes-Hosey, a member of the storied St. Francis High School team, was named to the 2015 USA Girls’ Youth Continental Team Program and has verbally committed to the University of Louisville.

4. Isabel Potter, Adrenaline 17 Rox

Setter and opposite hitter Potter has the game sense to run a fast and smart offense and the physicality to take big swings at the net. The 5-9 Cal recruit is an all-around top talent.

3. Zoe Nunez, Club Fusion 17 Black

Nunez was courted by UCLA, Pepperdine and Cal, among others, but ultimately chose to take her talents to Notre Dame. Last summer the 5-10 setter, who is still only a sophomore, helped lead her Fusion 16 Black team to a second-place finish at AAU nationals.

2. Grace Loberg, Club Fusion 17 Red

A star volleyball and basketball player since her freshman year at Geneva High School in Illinois, Loberg committed to Wisconsin as a sophomore. The 6-3 outside hitter totaled 276 kills in her junior high school season, despite sitting out the first month of the season with mono.

1. MacKenzie May, Adrenaline 17 Rox

A member of the 2014 USAV Girls’ Youth National Team and a 2017 UCLA recruit, May was a First Team All-State selection for Wahlert High School in Dubuque, Iowa. The 6-3 outside hitter is also a talented sand volleyball player and plans to play for UCLA’s beach team.

See our list of the top 10 players in the 18 Open division at the JVA Midwest Challenge here.