Virginia Juniors Wins the 18U Regional Championship

This weekend the Chesapeake Region held their 18 Regional Championships to hand out three bids to the 18 Junior Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. Two teams, Metro and Paramount, have already qualified for Open Bids.   The teams were broken out into four three team brackets. The winner of these brackets earned a first round bye while the other two teams dropped into a first round single elimination match. Columbia Black, EC Power Delaware, Vienna Elite and Virginia Juniors won their brackets. Below are the three teams who earned their bids:   Virginia Juniors (National Bid)    Virginia Juniors played the whole tournament without losing a set. They survived a close 27-25 first set win over Columbia in the semi-finals but cruised through the remaining sets. The pin hitters executed the attacks while the middles posted up the blocks.   The two left sides [player_tooltip player_id='224016' first='Kezia' last='Francis'] and [player_tooltip player_id='181107' first='Alana' last='Simmons'] provided most of the pop from the pins. Neither stands tall on the court but they both bring plenty of sizzle to the ball. Alana creates a big wind up with her swing that I might have tried to fix a few years ago when she was younger but it seems to work for her now. Kezia usually plays six rotations (Edit: it has come to my attention that [player_tooltip player_id='181107' first='Alana' last='Simmons'] normally plays six rotations) but for this tournament Alana carried the court. She covered the floor well with her defense and stayed strong in the passing department.   On the right side [player_tooltip player_id='181180' first='Kelsey' last='Holmes'] and Simara Alexander brought the punch. Kelsey at times sets when in the front row while [player_tooltip player_id='200199' first='Ava' last='Ray'] sets in the back row. For this tournament Kelsey focused on hitting and put a number of balls down. At 6'0" she also put up a penetrating block.   The 6'3" [player_tooltip player_id='209180' first='Jasmine' last='Okeoma'] stood out for her blocking in the middle. The Auburn commit seemed to string together a series of blocks in a rally, moving effortlessly from pin to pin to reject attempted kills. Hitters became so frustrated that tips became their preferred option. [player_tooltip player_id='181184' first='Chelsea' last='Colter'] contributed as well from the middle, putting up a formidable block. She also accumulated points with her serves.   Virginia Juniors used Riverside High teammates [player_tooltip player_id='200199' first='Ava' last='Ray'] and [player_tooltip player_id='238096' first='Sage' last='Duggal'] as the setters. Ava did not play in the Northeastern Qualifier, leaving the setting duties to Sage and Kelsey. For this tournament Sage and Ava controlled the offense, setting from the back row. They mixed it up with a variety of quick sets in the middle that kept defenses off balance. They also brought a tough serve to their game, stringing together a number of points that built up leads.   Libero [player_tooltip player_id='239270' first='EllaMae' last='Fitzgerald'] and defensive specialist [player_tooltip player_id='209182' first='Sofia' last='Hardy'] controlled the defense and passing game, making it shine the brightest. Sometimes the two form a two person serve receive alignment. For this tournament they used a more conservative three person rotation. They read the hitters well, moving quickly to their defensive positions. There were some amazing digs from the back row that kept rallies alive and momentum swinging towards Virginia Juniors side.   EC Power Delaware (American)   This team also dominated the competition, not losing a set until their match against Virginia Juniors. They beat a strong Vienna Elite team in the semi-finals 25-14, 25-19. Virginia Juniors neutralized their offense with some strong blocking.   Daphne Mond and Julia Yurkovich brought the offense from the left side. Julia plays all six rotations. The Delaware High School Volleyball Association Coaches voted her the player of the year. This also got her Gatorade player of the year for Delaware. She led Saint Mark's high school to four consecutive high school final appearances. Her outside play put East Coast in the finals, but they fell short after getting swept by Virginia Juniors.   The 6'0" Kenya Lucas brought some power to the right side. The Radford commit accumulated over 1,000 kills during her high school career. She also put together some big blocks on the right side.   Mckenna Ritchie played a solid libero. Her passing helped EC Power to fuel their offense and her defense kept rallies alive.   Vienna Elite (Freedom)    Vienna Elite relies more on control than power to win volleyball matches. If they don't win the long rallies they probably don't win the set. In the playoffs they lost the first set to Maryland Juniors and then had to overcome a 15-11 deficit in the second set before pulling it out 25-23. With momentum back on their side they won the third 15-8. EC Power swept them in the finals, but they swept Columbia Black for third place to earn the Freedom bid.   6'1" middle [player_tooltip player_id='309029' first='Prinzez' last='Zeck'] stands out as their lone big power source. When she hits the ball it finds the floor quickly. The two left sides [player_tooltip player_id='209168' first='Zaylie' last='Tamashiro'] and [player_tooltip player_id='314723' first='Emma' last='Sawruk'] rely more on location than power for their kills. They both play six rotations and excel on the defensive side of the game. They can also create some offense with three meter attacks.   [player_tooltip player_id='314724' first='Marla' last='Scott'] brings a strong left handed swing to the right side and can also play six rotations. Vienna Elite uses [player_tooltip player_id='209175' first='Trisha' last='Guevara'] in the back row to set and the 6'1" [player_tooltip player_id='314725' first='Madeline' last='Schamaun'] to set in the front row. In the second set against Maryland Juniors Trisha pushed a second ball into the deep right corner to win the game 25-23.   [player_tooltip player_id='273061' first='Aileen' last='Richardson'] plays middle despite standing just 5'7". She hits the quicks well and after serving plays a solid defense. I would suspect she could play left side or libero if asked. If a college needs a team player Aileen appears to fit that description. [player_tooltip player_id='209169' first='Emily' last='Dunn'] also played a strong right side.   [player_tooltip player_id='238097' first='Angelina' last='Barrera'] covers the libero spot. She plays quick on defense and knows where to move on the floor. Rarely will you see a poor pass come from her platform.   The fourth team waiting for a higher qualifier bid to be earned by one of the teams above is Columbia. They move up to a Freedom bid if that happens. Columbia uses Briar Wood High's [player_tooltip player_id='237654' first='Jenna' last='Van der Biezen'] as one of their two setters.   Chesapeake Chirps: [player_tooltip player_id='209180' first='Jasmine' last='Okeoma'] will be travelling to Europe with Akasha Anderson and the Auburn volleyball team. That will keep her summer busy until the Junior Nationals hit Chicago in late June/early July....Colorado Crossroads used to be one of the hot spots for Qualifiers. They lost their bid after the pandemic. They now run an AAU tournament. Not as many teams play in that but in the 17 Division DMV Elite finished first and Vienna Elite took third out of 12 teams.

This weekend the Chesapeake Region held their 18 Regional Championships to hand out three bids to the 18 Junior Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. Two teams, Metro and Paramount, have already qualified for Open Bids.