Top Talent Shines at the Endless Summer Tournament

It may not have been Durango in Las Vegas, which hosted the top high school teams in the country last weekend, but there was some impressive talent in Virginia Beach this past weekend. Below are some of the high schools and their players who shined in the tournament.   Musselman (West Virginia)   They were the 2021 Class AAA West Virginia State champions and they went up against the Class 6 Virginia State champions Colgan in the finals of the Championship Division. As expected, the games were close, with Colgan winning the opener 26-24 and Musselman capturing the last two, 25-22 and 15-13.   Musselman was led by last year's West Virginia Gatorade High School player of the year [player_tooltip player_id='181201' first='Hannah' last='Howard']. She finished the match with a team high 13 kills. She stands only 5'8" but hits the ball hard and is a second libero on the court. Her passing is superb and she is quick on defense. Last year she played for Paramount 17 and led them to a Junior Nationals appearance in Indianapolis where they finished in the gold bracket in the 17 USA Division..   [player_tooltip player_id='181299' first='Ada' last='McCoy'] is her opposite on the left side and she contributed 10 kills. She is only a sophomore but at 5'11 brings some length to the front row. She plays club for Blue Ridge 15 and was named as one of the rising stars in the area by Prep Dig.   The libero [player_tooltip player_id='181241' first='Ava' last='Dunnigan'] is always around the ball. She played travel ball for the Paramount 16 team, leading them to an appearance in the Junior Nationals. The number two libero from our class of 2024 has the knack to pick up anything within reach of her arms. Ava scavenged 17 digs against Colgan.   Colgan (Manassas)   The state champions came up short against Musselman but they beat a very strong Grafton team, who were undefeated coming into the tournament. The 6'5" middle [player_tooltip player_id='181185' first='Brielle' last='Kemavor'] can dominate at the net. Her size and blocking can intimidate opponents, leading them to tip the ball more rather than swing away. She can also hit it over many blocks. She is a player of the year candidate.   This offense would not churn as smoothly without the setting of Alexis Scipione. She also can put some mustard on the ball when spiking and will be added to my setters who can hit list. The 5'9" senior is just a solid all around player who does the little things to create victories.   At 6'0" junior [player_tooltip player_id='209790' first='Aubrey' last='Hatch'] provides some height on the left side. Their 6'0" middle, senior Grace Smith can also put the ball down. This height creates some issues for smaller teams trying to defend. Grafton had a smaller setter running a 5/1 who stayed back to cover tips when she was in the front row, creating rotation problems when only two players were defending to form a block. Colgan swept past the previously undefeated Grafton 25-18, 25-12.   I also liked the play of junior libero [player_tooltip player_id='207594' first='Paula' last='Sigurani']. She controls the passing lanes well and plays a solid defense.   Hidden Valley (Roanoke)   They went undefeated in the tournament playing in Division I. The talk of the tournament was probably their 5'7" outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn']. Normally, she plays libero for travel ball but people have probably told her she is too small to be an outside hitter. She has tremendous wrist snap that rifles balls quickly to the floor. For a sophomore she has a tremendous volleyball IQ. She just knows where to put the ball on the other side of the net that remains undefended.<img class="wp-image-228786" style="width: 150px;" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/09/Image-1-scaled.jpeg" alt="">   Against Grafton in the semifinal game she finished with 24 kills, including two when the score was 24-23 in both set one and two with Grafton having the serve and Hidden Valley needing the point to win the game. She hammered both balls to the floor to secure the victory and advance to the final. In the final she finished with 19 kills against a solid Marshall team they beat 25-19, 25-18.   She showed her libero skills as a passer with a 2.4 rating for the tournament and her defense is superb. It would be hard to find a better all around player at this tournament.   Another sophomore that is impressive is 5'7" setter Calli Anderson. She has a nice release off her set and has a way to dish the ball to Ponn whether she is in the back row or front row. They also have a strong libero in junior Lauren Whitaker to assist Ponn in the passing rotation and scramble to provide solid defense.   The wins over Marshall and Grafton show their 12-0 record up in Roanoke is legit.   Grafton (Yorktown)   They went into the tournament undefeated but suffered two losses against two other undefeated teams in Colgan and Hidden Valley. For five years in a row they have gone against Loudoun County for the Class 4 Virginia State championship but falling short each time. This year could be different.   There is a lot of talent on this team, starting with their junior left side hitter 5'11" Alexis Keeter. The team captain hits the ball from the back row and front row and was smart about using the tip. She pounded a ball past the 6'5" [player_tooltip player_id='181185' first='Brielle' last='Kemavor'], which is not an easy thing to do. When they went to her a second time Brielle got the best of her. Alexis led her team in kills against Colgan.   Their other captain senior setter Alondra Miranda-Pagan sets a sweet ball. At 5'3" she guards against the tip when she is in the front row, but it does provide more of a challenge for two blockers to cover the net. It is a testament to her setting that they choose to have her set a 5/1 and sacrifice a little bit of blocking so she can feed the hitters.   Senior 5'10" middle Madison Livengood puts the ball down. She also is a threat to hit from the outside. She led her team in blocking for the tournament with 10.   Marshall High School   Their only loss was to Hidden Valley in the finals of the Division I championship. Their 6'1" middle Marie Kah provided some critical blocks to get them to the championship. [player_tooltip player_id='181234' first='Samia' last='Sayd'] is their go to girl from the outside and Zuli Ruth did a good job as the libero.   Bishop O'Connell   Bishop O'Connell dominated the IIb Division. No team scored over 20 points against them. They were led by the usual suspects, with [player_tooltip player_id='181098' first='Grace' last='Maria'] hitting outside, [player_tooltip player_id='180296' first='Madison' last='Bowser'] burying balls from the middle and [player_tooltip player_id='180281' first='Erin' last='Debiec'] and [player_tooltip player_id='226029' first='Emily' last='Reyburn'] dishing out the sets. Other players who impressed were [player_tooltip player_id='212889' first='Hannah' last='Kotb'] at libero and [player_tooltip player_id='183410' first='Cara' last='Nearpass'] who accumulated 13 aces with her serving. Frosh Tea Stamenkovic is starting to find the opponents side of the floor with more frequency when hitting the quicks in the middle. <img class="wp-image-228784" style="width: 150px;" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2022/09/Resized_share_image_1663781743293_495843942668502.jpeg" alt="">   Other players to note   Greta Barvick (Chelsea) - The 5'10" outside hitter can put some velocity on the ball whether she is hitting back row or front row. She set for Vienna Elite 17 last year so did not get much of an opportunity to hit. For Chelsea Academy she is their primary hitter and she gets the job done..   Aulie Huff (King's Fork) - I enjoyed watching their captain and 6'1" middle work the court. She has a good attitude, always with a smile on her face and gets high over the net on the block. She has committed to East Carolina University. It is always good to find a player who really looks like she is enjoying herself on the court.   Chesapeake Chirps: Bishop O'Connell played their rival Paul VI on Tuesday in a big WCAC match in front of a lively crowd. O'Connell had to play without [player_tooltip player_id='180296' first='Madison' last='Bowser'] but still managed to squeeze out a sweep. [player_tooltip player_id='181098' first='Grace' last='Maria'] finished with 19 kills...Flint Hill travelled all the way to Tampa, Florida for a volleyball tournament and swept through the competition winning each match 2-0...Congrats to the five girls who will be going to Phoenix September 23-25 for the USA volleyball National Team Training program. Ema Djordjevic, [player_tooltip player_id='181297' first='Lameen' last='Mambu'] and [player_tooltip player_id='181805' first='Madison' last='Smith'] will be competing in the U15/16 division. [player_tooltip player_id='181097' first='Safi' last='Hampton'] and [player_tooltip player_id='181185' first='Brielle' last='Kemavor'] will be competing in the U/17/18/19 Division. ...Langley hosted a three team tournament last weekend. They swept both James Madison and Robinson and now have won seven straight matches without losing a set.

It may not have been Durango in Las Vegas, which hosted the top high school teams in the country last weekend, but there was some impressive talent in Virginia Beach this past weekend. Below are some of the high schools and their players who shined in the tournament.