The American libero went from seventh to third after successful performances
Published 03:15, 22 Oct 2024
American libero Morgan Hentz was one of the top players of the week (Photo: Jade Hewitt/Athletes Unlimited)
American national team libero Morgan Hentz is in contention for the title of the fourth season of the American Athletes Unlimited women’s volleyball league after she produced strong performances in the third week of action in Mesa, Arizona.
A part of the league for a third-straight season, the 26-year-old defender enjoyed a perfect week as part of Team Abercrombie, helping her side secure three victories from Friday to Monday and moving four spots up in the league’s leaderboard.
The Athletes Unlimited volleyball league has a unique format, unlike any other tournament, as players earn points individually for every action they make on the court and accumulate them over the five weeks of the season. At the end of the fifth week, the one with the most points will be crowned as the champion.
The league has a 44-player roster, which is used to form four different teams every week – four players are designated as captains each week and get to draft their teammates a few days before the start of the matches of that week.
This week, the team captained by Puerto Rican opposite Brittany Abercrombie, which also counted on Olympic medalist American setter Alisha Childress, was the most successful one, triumphing in all three matches. The squad led by Dominican legend Bethania De La Cruz won a pair of matches, the team that had American outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh as a captain prevailed in one and the roster picked by captain Dani Drews dropped all three matches.
The perfect week helped Hentz amass 781 points, which elevated her total to 2,021, the third-best in the league now. She ranks below Abercrombie, who won the week with 827 points and leads the league with 2,902, and De La Cruz, who is second with 2,709, 788 of which earned this past weekend.
Member-Meneh was passed by Hentz this week, but the 566 points she earned this week were still enough to keep her in the top five – she’s now fourth, with 1,996. Japanese libero Manami Kojima, who was part of Team De La Cruz, managed to continue in fifth place, collecting 612 points to elevate her total to 1,923.
This week, Abercrombie, De La Cruz, Hentz and Member-Meneh will be the team captains. The draft will be held on Tuesday, with matches scheduled to take place on Friday, Sunday and Monday – two on each day.
VBTV subscribers will be able to watch Friday’s match between Team Hentz and Team De La Cruz, at 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT) and Sunday’s encounter involving Team Member-Meneh and Team De La Cruz, at 15:00 local time (20:00 GMT).
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