Finding Diamonds at the Chesapeake

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Chesapeake non-bid Regional Championships were held this past weekend. This was a tournament consisting of teams that did not play in the Chesapeake Regional Qualifiers. The level of play is not as strong, but if you watch closely enough you can see some diamonds shining on the court. Despite the missed serves and errant passes that made it difficult to capture a players full set of skills you could see the potential talent that could burst out with more experience. We focused on the Gold Bracket for the 14U and 15U. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We pushed the 2026 rankings back a week. Close to 80 new names were added to the rankings requiring some extra time to sort the players. We also were saving some spots for any 2027s playing down or 2026s who failed to get noticed that we took a look at last weekend. Most of these teams do not play at the Open level so this became an opportunity to take a look at them. Below are some of the names we noticed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>14 Under</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>MVSA Dynamite was the class of this bracket. They split with Metro North and Annapolis in pool play, but once the gold bracket playoffs began they swept through the competition, including Annapolis in the finals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='465322' first='Siyena' last='Fitsum']</strong> middle (MVSA Dynamite) - She stood tall at the net, putting up a good block and hitting balls to the floor when given a set. Watching her in warm ups you could see the potential. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438118' first='Amelia' last='Cheng']</strong> libero (MVSA Dynamite) - Possesses a quiet platform that results in accurate passing. Moves her feet well and made a couple diving plays to keep rallies alive. Really impressed me with how well she moved back on the ball for deep serve receives.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='529440' first='Emilia' last='Zhang']</strong> outside (MVSA Dynamite) - She has a good vertical but occasionally fails to follow through with her swing resulting in a few hits that sailed out. Once her swing gets more consistent she will be trouble. Brings a good jump serve to the court. She belongs to the class of 2026.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Julia McWhorter</strong> middle (MVSA Dynamite) - She blocked well at the net. Another class of 2026. She carries some height to stay in the middle.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438095' first='Dayami' last='Soto'] </strong>Libero (Maryland Jrs Elite Yellow) - Dayami has good movement on the court. She also seemed to know everyone's position on the floor for those players who got confused with where they were at. They have her setting from area 6 as the alternate setter, which is a lot of ground to cover.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438122' first='Araiah' last='Chapman']</strong> right side (Metro North) - She played some incredible defense in the back row, which made me wonder why she was not their libero. In the second set she played right side and showed a good vertical and left handed swing to put the ball away. A smaller girl so Libero may become her ultimate home. She completed a number of diving digs that kept rallies alive. Great hustle on the court. Also brings a good serve to the floor.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='731010' first='Raylin' last='Horst']</strong> left side (Metro North) - Played six rotations and brought a good pass when in serve receive. Solid hitter from the left side.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rhian O'Connor </strong>middle (Metro North) - Taller middle who put up a good block and hit the quicks well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 Under</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Saint James White pulled out an 18-16 third game win to take the 15 Gold Bracket over MEVC Premier. There will be a few players below ranked in the top 120 for 2026. That ranking will come out next week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sydni Burse </strong>Left Side (St. James White) - She belongs to the class of 2025. Sydni carries some power in her swing and plays six rotations because of her ability to pass well. If they need a rally finished Sydni would be the girl to set for the point.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='374419' first='Alicia' last='Randall']</strong> setter (St. James White) - Alicia sets well and stays in the front row to hit right side. She attacks the ball well when set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='354087' first='Sophia' last='Ava Jones']</strong> libero (St. James White) - Scrappy back row player. She plays the game quick, moving her feet well in the back row. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='385967' first='Serena' last='Wang']</strong> Left Side (MEVC Premier) - She brings a good swing from the left side, achieving consistent cross court kills. Serena brings a good serve and back court attack to the game but rotated out after her serve.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='377341' first='Sophia' last='Harnood'] </strong>Middle (MEVC Premier) - A taller girl who can be a force at the net. Sophia puts up a good block and powered down two overset kills.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='377343' first='Zina' last='Ashe-Moncet'] </strong>Middle (MVSA Empire) - Another taller player who can dominate in the middle. She also put away some balls from the right side. With a little more experience and consistency on the court she could be a difference maker.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='436114' first='Jocelyn' last='Yuan']</strong> (Right Side (MVSA Empire) - A good left handed swing from the right side. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Peyton Fough</strong> setter (MVSA Empire) - A smaller girl who brings good hands and quickness for setting. Her height may limit her to back row setting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464556' first='Kennedy' last='Peyton']</strong> left side (Virginia Athletics Volleyball Club) - A taller left side who hits the ball well. A solid player, especially when you consider she belongs to the class of 2027.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Adoniya Awoye </strong>setter (Virginia Athletics Club) - Brings some height for a setter. Set a 5/1 showing off good hands.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='436119' first='Faith' last='Ukiteyedi']</strong> middle (MEVC Committed) - A taller girl who has athletic ability with good arm extension. A quicker arm swing would add more velocity to her hits, but that should come with more time and experience.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chesapeake Chortles - A lot of Chesapeake girls invited to the National Training and Development Program (NTDP) for the spring session at George Mason. For the U15-17 age group you have <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181303' first='Isabelle' last='Bardin'] </strong>(Metro), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235748' first='Ema' last='Djordjevic']</strong> (MVSA Sparks), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181300' first='Alexis' last='Ewing'] </strong>(Virginia Juniors) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181297' first='Lameen' last='Mambu']</strong> (Metro. - pictured above) At the 18-20 age group you have <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='180281' first='Erin' last='Debiec']</strong> (Metro), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181097' first='Safi' last='Hampton']</strong> (Metro), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181232' first='Renee' last='Jones']</strong> (Metro), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='180295' first='Ryla' last='Jones']</strong> (Metro) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181307' first='Leni' last='Stanton-Parker']</strong> (Metro). Leni is a bit of a surprise for the 18-20 age group since she plays for Metro 16. Her profile shows a block jump of 10'2' and an approach jump of 10'6".</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>`</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->