Check it out! Here’s a throwback article from 2020 posted on the NVA’s main page back when Team Freedom won the first-ever Spotlight Showdown. During the event, fans voted for the best highlight clips leading up to the Showcase Event in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The NVA held its first-ever ‘NVA Spotlight Showdown’ last month, which gave fans a chance to vote for their favorite team clips in a tournament-style competition on Instagram. Team Freedom took home the gold as Mikheil Anthony Hoyte (aka The Zebra) won 53.2% of the online votes in the championship matchup against Northeast Force. This comes after almost a month of online voting from fans against 63 other team highlights, which shows how fascinating and impressive this viral volleyball clip is. This spotlight video shows the cohesion that Team Freedom has as a unit with solid three-point passing and deceptive one-hand setting while demonstrating the power and athleticism of the Zebra spike. Despite the current hold on competition with current COVID-19 guidelines, Team Freedom has still shown that they are among the league’s top teams.
Mikheil Hoyte, The Zebra, exclaimed, “I am immensely grateful to my family, friends, and loyal supporters who generously contributed their time and effort to our campaign during this NVA spotlight showdown showcase. This win is for them, honestly, but also many thanks to my team freedom teammates. I am grateful to be a part of that crazy family – Let Freedom Ring!”
Hailing from Trinidad and Tobago, Mikheil is a current member of their Men’s National Team. He also just completed an impressive season with Mjølnir Volleyball Club, located in the Faroe Islands (a Danish Island territory between Iceland and Norway). There they took first place in the 2020 season of the Flogbóltssamband Føroya (Faroese Volleyball Association). As one of the first international players to play in the league, along with Australian outside hitter Phil Freere, Mikheil’s time with Mjolnir is genuinely a testament to professional volleyball’s growth around the world. We are more than excited to have international players such as Mikheil with the NVA! Make sure to follow the links below to see what Team Freedom has in store for us in the upcoming 20-21 season.
Head on over to the NVA’s (@nvausa) on Instagram and find the archived IG story called ‘Spotlight Show’ to catch see all the top submitted highlights!
– NVA Staff Writer