Finding Diamonds at the Shamrock

Saint James hosted a tournament the weekend of March 19/20 called the Shamrock Showdown. It may not be the Triple Crown and many of the top local clubs such as Metro, Virginia Juniors and Paramount did not participate in the older age groups, but there was still a lot of talent on display. It was broken out into 16-18, 14-16 and 13-14 age groups. Liberty Elite dominated the 16-18 age group and that is where my eyes were fixed. Blue Ridge 15 won the 14-16 group and I was lucky to watch that championship match, while Blue Ridge 14 took the 13-14 age group. I will break down the winners in the two older age groupings and then identify a team that surprised me in the 16-18 grouping. Since I only focused on the 16-18 grouping the "other players to watch" are from that group. Liberty Elite 18 This team was the class of this grouping. They only lost one set (25-12 to MVSA Storm) and it is a mystery what happened there. The girls clearly enjoy playing with each other, laughing at their most egregious errors and never falling into a panic when the opponents get on a run. Their coach has so much confidence in them that I don't recall her using one timeout in the tournament. Liberty Elite qualified for a 18 National bid by finishing second in the Chesapeake Regional bid tournament. They also beat their 16 and 17 team to eliminate them from the gold. The MVP of the tournament was clearly the West Virginia 2020-2021 Gatorade Player of the Year Skylar Yates. On Saturday she played some six rotation middle and her 5’9" height did not prevent her from getting a number of stuff blocks. Her passing platform had a little jerk to it but she may not have been familiar with the passing lanes from the middle position. On Sunday, when she was playing outside her passing was perfect. In addition to her stellar passing Skylar showed great range on defense. She was also the player the team set when it needed a kill. In the lone game three they played the first trio of sets went to her and it was quickly 3-0 after three straight kills. Skylar added a stuff block to make it 4-0, moving the team to an easy 15-8 victory. When the defense was on its heels Skylar finessed three straight untouched roll shots to the center of the court. As an added note the Charleston Southern commit shows off her athletic versatility by holding her school record in the pole vault. The other outside is the 6’0" MacKenzie Pryor. She has more length than Yates and at this tournament was a more consistent hitter in the back row. She also played six rotations and was effective hitting from the right side. MacKenzie is committed to Nicholls State. I liked the 6’1" middle Jaidan O’Donoghue. She has great arm extension on her swing, burying to the floor most of the quick sets sent her way. She also puts up a good block, moving quickly from pin to pin because of good reads. Liberty ran a 6’2’, rotating out the setters in the front row. Berkley Simmons caught my eye for her hustle and relaxed demeanor on the court, even when things were not going well. She is only 5’8" but showed her hitting ability when she began a game in the front row and hammered a ball on a tight pass. She does deep dish a bit, especially when she has to push a long back row set, but her placement and tempo are good. Blue Ridge 15 Blue They won the 14-16 age group losing only one set to the third place team Liberty Elite 15. Mehdi has written a lot about their players. The two outsides [player_tooltip player_id="181302" first="Kennedy" last="Spaid"] and [player_tooltip player_id="181299" first="Ada" last="McCoy"] get the majority of sets. It doesn’t matter if it is out of system, too far outside, these girls are swinging and putting some serious velocity on the ball. Mehdi named both as top 2025 players to watch but Kennedy is actually still in middle school and is part of the 2026 class. The libero [player_tooltip player_id="181280" first="Brenna" last="Corbin"] was also named as a top 2025 player to watch, but according to the Blue Ridge website she is part of the 2026 class. She has quick feet, moves to the ball well which allows her to play some incredible defense. Saint James 16 Navy They were my surprise team of the tournament, finishing Saturday without a loss, but losing two of three on Sunday when facing stiffer competition. They were 2-1 against 18 teams and even beat their Saint James 17 Navy counterpart in three, winning the last set 15-3. The player that really impressed was 5’7" outside Saige Thibodeaux. Even if she was my worst player I would find a spot on the court for her because of her constant communication and encouragement. You knew when there was a free ball or a tip because she was yelling it out. She is the captain on the court and most coaches don’t expect their captain to say much to the officials when they want to question a call. It is mostly a perfunctory position, especially at the younger ages. Not so with Saige. She put on an impressive debate with an official to support her coach on a play she wanted to question. Saige plays an excellent back row and hits the ball hard to all spots on the court. She even showed some decent hands when forced to set the ball. The one issue she needs to correct is to eliminate the two handed set shot over the net and replace it with a roll shot or tip. Seliz Aktuglu was the other outside. She stands only 5’9" but she puts some mustard on the ball. When she got her sets the balls hit the floor. She has a nice arm swing that can get kills from both the left and right side. Other Players That Shined Gabrielle Grantham-Medley (Liberty Elite 17) OH - Just watching her attitude on the court identified her as a player to watch. She did not disappoint. The 5'10" outside might have been the hardest hitter in the tournament. Gabby did not play the back row but maybe that is because of... Jillian Fedor (Liberty Elite 17) DS - Don’t know why she was not playing libero. In the championship match she got four consecutive digs in one rally, all of them hitting the floor to defend a hard driven spike. One dig she did not make she appeared to communicate to the blockers that they set the block too outside. [player_tooltip player_id="180302" first="Emma" last="White"] (Blue Ridge 16) Libero - She makes passing look easy, almost bored by the serve as she places it right where the setter is stationed. She also is a leader on the court. Emma can also put some juice on the ball when given a set in the back row. [player_tooltip player_id="181108" first="Jordan" last="Pryor"] (Blue Ridge 18) outside - She has a powerful right arm that gives her good velocity for a jump spin serve. It also works for her deep arsenal of attacks that doesn’t ignore any area of the court. Jordan plays a strong back row with a quiet platform for passing and quick moves on defense.