Paramount Dominates 17 Chesapeake

<p>The Chesapeake Region ran their local qualifier bid last weekend and Paramount and Metro dominated the 17 field.  Paramount breezed through the competition without giving up more than 20 points, defeating Loudoun Elite, American, Vienna Elite and Liberty Elite, which had finished second in the Shamrock last week.  Metro ran through their four opponents but with some struggles giving up 22 points to Vienna Elite and 20 points to Loudoun Elite.</p> <p>The final between the two was emotional.  In game one Paramount played incredible defense and seemed to dig every attempted kill their way, until Metro committed a hitting error to end a rally.  Paramount was good at tooling the block and finding it hit the floor.  Metro also could not get their passes in front of the ten foot line, forcing the set outside where two blocks were greeting the attacker.  Paramount won game one 25-20.</p> <p>Game two got a little heated when the Metro coach grew upset at what he perceived to be one sided double contacts called against his team.  He was ultimately issued a red card and if his intent was to motivate his team it failed.  Paramount finished them easily 25-19. </p> <p><strong>Paramount</strong> - This team may not be as athletic as their 16s but they have some strong hitters who get the job done and play an excellent defense. <strong> [player_tooltip player_id="181201" first="Hannah" last="Howard"]</strong> won the West Virginia Gatorade player of the year award last year.  She stands only 5’7" but has a nice vertical that allows her to hit around or through the block.  She also played a terrific defense, digging as many balls as she put down.  Her serve is also hard and with lots of movement resulting in a number of large point runs that mounted a come back or put the game away for Paramount.</p> <p>I like the middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="181188" first="Jade" last="Brooks"].</strong>  She has a quick, long arm swing and does a nice job of finding the setter for quick sets up the middle.  Jade and the other middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="181187" first="Tiffany" last="Moore"]</strong> did a good job of neutralizing the hitters, which may be why the defenders played such stellar defense.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="181102" first="Rylah" last="Robinson"]</strong> is not afraid to put an out of system set down.  The 5’10" outside plays all six rotations and combines with Hannah to give them two all around outsides who can hit the floor on defense.</p> <p><strong>Metro</strong> - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="181185" first="Brielle" last="Kemavor"]</strong> is one of the more intimidating players at the net.  She stands 6’4" with a reach of close to 11 feet.  In one stretch against Paramount she had five straight blocks and powered a one handed quick set straight to the floor to give Metro some momentum.  She likes to dunk quick sets to the left side of the court and is a dominator up the middle.  She won player of the year leading Colgan High School to a Class 6 state championship.  Brielle recently committed to BYU.</p> <p>The setter and captain of the team is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="181178" first="Milan" last="Rex"]</strong>.  Metro has enough confidence in her that she plays right side when not setting.  At 5’11" she puts up a solid block and provides leadership on the court.  Milan is committed to UC Santa Barbara.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="181099" first="Sydney" last="Bryant"]</strong> is a 5’11" outside with a fast arm swing that rifles bullets through the opponent’s defense.  She had some struggles against Paramount in the finals but there is no questioning her talent.</p> <p><strong>East Coast Power</strong> finished in third place relying on their two outsides <strong>Julia Yurkovich</strong> and <strong>Kenya Lucas</strong> to provide the offense to defeat Liberty Elite.   Julia, at 5’10" was voted first team all state for Delaware.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>