VISAA VMAC All Conference Team

The Virginia Metro Athletic Conference completed their 2020 Fall season with a great conference tournament and had a successful campaign despite all the challenges this year had to offer. The teams in the conference played in almost 70 matches during their traditional season despite the VISAA cancellation of the state championship tournament. The conference had five schools this season with Guardian Christian Academy, Grace Christian School, The Carmel School, Grove Christian School and Williamsburg Christian Academy. The Carmel School will be eligible for post season next year and the Williamsburg Christian Academy didn't have enough matches to qualify in 2020. The All Conference and All Tournament teams were announced following the championship match between #1 seeded Guardian Christian Academy and #2 seeded Grace Christian School. There were players from three schools were named to the All Conference Team and All Tournament Team. The VMAC All Conference and All Tournament Teams: All Conference Team: Grove Christian: Lara Santata (Sr, OH), Kathryn Morgan (Fr, S); Guardian Christian: [player_tooltip player_id="111467" first="Megan" last="James"] (Jr, OH), Jessie Rager (Jr, S); Gra<img class="size-medium wp-image-116161 alignright" style="font-size: 1rem;" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/11/image000000-1-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />ce Christian: Allie Beddard (Sr, S/H), and Kyla Taylor (Sr, OH). Conference Player of the Year: Guardian Christian OH [player_tooltip player_id="111467" first="Megan" last="James"] All Tournament Team: Grove Christian: Elizabeth Lloyd (So, MH/OH); Guardian Christian: [player_tooltip player_id="111467" first="Megan" last="James"] (Jr, OH), Jessie Rager (Jr, S); Grace Christian: Kelsey Boltz (So, S), Allie Beddard (Sr, S/H), and Kyla Taylor (Sr, OH). VMAC Tournament MVP: Kyla Taylor, Senior Outside Hitter, Grace Christian. <img class="alignnone wp-image-116162" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/11/image000000-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="401" height="263" /> A little about our excellent collection of young women: Elizabeth Lloyd, Grove Christian: The 5'5 Sophomore Middle and Outside Hitter grew continuously throughout the season, culminating in a career and team high 14 kills in the semifinal loss to Grace Christian, ending their 2020 campaign. She added 3 aces and 7 digs. For the season, Elizabeth had 53 kills, 26 aces and 32 digs. <img class="size-medium wp-image-116166 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/11/IMG_9783-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" />Kelsey Boltz, Grace Christian: The 5'3 Sophomore setter was named to the all tournament team with a gritty performance for the Conference Champions. She had a great match setting and was strong from the service line as well. She has a great jump float and good arm speed. Setting, she has very good footwork and release on her sets. She is very fundamentally solid as a setter for her age. She can learn to run tempo and is a relentless defender. She also has strong serve receive footwork and tracks the ball well. Kathryn Morgan, Grove Christian: The Falcon's Freshman Setter led the team's offensive attack, distributing to a variety of hitters for the team. Kathryn led the state in aces (73) and was 5th in assists (179). She added 39 digs and 29 kills on the season. Kathryn is has good fundamentals and a good release and has the potential to develop into a solid level setter at the next level with additional training. <img class="alignleft" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/rms-rmfiles-production/client_photos/athlete_2753395_profile.jpg" alt="Lara Santana's Women's Volleyball Recruiting Profile" /> Lara Santana, Grove Christian: The 5'2 Senior Outside Hitter is a dynamic defender and strong passer for the Falcons. Despite her modest size, she has a strong arm swing and attacks with intelligence. She is incredibly competitive and always tries to help her team however she can. She was second on the team in kills (44), 3rd in aces (34) and led the team in digs (107). She plays libero for Xzone 18 Red this club season and hopes to play in college. She could grow into a NCAA DIvision II/NAIA level libero during club season. Jessie Rager, Guardian Christian: The Royal Knights setter had a stellar junior campaign for the top seeded team in the conference and first year running the offense. Jessie had career highs in every category with 36 aces and 87 digs. As the primary setter, she was the primary on most of the assists to fellow All Conference teammate [player_tooltip player_id="111467" first="Megan" last="James"]. The 5'3 Junior is a wo sport standout, also playing soccer. She is very fast and athletic. She is immensely competitive, has good fundamentals and could play NJCAA, NCAA Division III or NAIA for many programs. Jessie was also selected to the All Tournament Team for the VMAC as well. <img class="size-medium wp-image-116164 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/11/IMG_9913-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> Allie Beddard, Grace Christian: Allie is also a three sport athlete and a team captain. The 5'8 Setter is the emotional glue that holds the team together in tough times and her relentless positivity makes playing with her a great experience for her teammates. She has good fundamentals and a good release. Her passion for the sport shows in the joy she has when she plays. She reads the pass well and puts up a solid hittable ball. She's a consistent server and can develop a solid jump float with some practice. She would be a great addition to many NCAA Division III programs. Allie was also selected to the All Tournament Team. Kyla Taylor, Grace Christian: Kyla is a a three sport standout for the Kings of Grace Christian and a team captain<img class="size-medium wp-image-116165 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/11/IMG_9857-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> for volleyball. The top Outside Hitter and point scorer for the team also is their top passer and a premiere defender in the league. The 5'7 Senior led a potent attack all season, despite the team being plagued with injuries, helped lead the team to the conference championship in an epic comeback in the 5 set thriller. She has a fast arm and will generate more power with learning to torque. She has a good platform and can handle harder float and spin serves. She reads will defensively and is greatly improving her hitting toolbox to make for higher hitting efficiency. She also was named to the All tournament team for soccer in her sophomore season. Kyla was also named the VMAC Tournament MVP. [player_tooltip player_id="111467" first="Megan" last="James"], Guardian Christian: The 5'7 powerhouse continues to showcase her competitiveness and skills for the Royal Knights and was selected to the All Conference team as well as the VMAC Player of the Year. The Junior <img class="wp-image-112976 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/10/megan-1-264x300.png" alt="" width="128" height="145" />Outside Hitter is armed with a powerful arm, a high volleyball IQ and her jump serve is a weapon from the service line. She is continually improving and adding to her skills set. She is the premier hitter and defender in the conference and among the elite players in the VISAA in the state. She surpassed 1,000 career kills and 500 career digs this season. Megan is among the state leaders in Kills (239), Digs (222) and Aces (55). In 2019, she was also selected to First Team All State.