Ten Middles to Watch at AAUs

Time to do an analysis for those teams playing in AAUs and Junior Nationals. In AAUs they have close to 100 Chesapeake/Old Dominion teams entered to play. It would be impossible to write an analysis for each team. Because of this we will break it down by positions. For Junior Nationals we will break it down by teams.   The first position we will look at for AAUs is middles. Most of the better middles based on our rankings are playing in the Junior Nationals. That does not mean the AAUs lack talent. Here are ten middles that are worth a look.    [player_tooltip player_id='180298' first='Alice' last='Holoubek'] (Bishop O'Connell/Virginia Elite) - Alice has committed to Mary Washington. She plays a cerebral game, always keeping her eye on the setter to predict where the set will travel. Her awareness on the court is phenomenal, always knowing who she needs to watch in the front row to key on for the block. She hits quicks well with a powerful righthanded swing. Virginia Elite will be playing in the 17 Open at AAUs. In the Northeast Qualifier Open Division Virginia Elite finished 20th out of 23 teams.   [player_tooltip player_id='182776' first='Brianna' last='Clay'] (Battlefield/Virginia Juniors) - Virginia Juniors also got an at large bid for the Freedom Division at Junior Nationals. It is not clear if they will try to play both. Brianna plays middle for them. She earned first team selection for the Cedar District and second team honors for Class 6B All Region. She runs the quicks well and at 6'2" puts up a good block in the middle. Juniors is listed as playing in the 17 Premier Division at AAUs. They played in the USA Division in the Northeast and Mideast Qualifiers and finished in the middle of the pack. In the Chesapeake Regionals they finished fifth out of 12 teams.    [player_tooltip player_id='233560' first='Carley' last='P Coghill'] (Massaponax/540 VB Elite) - At 5'10 Carley is not a tall girl for a middle. At least for Division I. What she brings is athleticism and quickness to the position. This makes me think she could also play at one of the pins if given an opportunity. In addition, she has a good serve and fires up her teammates with her enthusiasm. 540 is a new club to the Old Dominion Region. They recently finished fifth in the East Coast championships out of 24 teams. Their best finish in a qualifier was a ninth place finish out of 57 teams in the Northeast Qualifier USA Division. 540 VB Elite will play in the 17 Club Division at AAUs.   [player_tooltip player_id='352784' first='Christina' last='Lockett'] (Tuscarora/MVSA Starz) - This 5'11" middle brings a good vertical to the game and has a long arm extension that allows her to hit high off blocks. She also moves quickly allowing her to get to the pins to complete a block. The Starz play in the 17 Premier Division in AAUs. The team recently played in the East Coast championship and finished third out of 24 teams in the BOE Division. In the Northeast Qualifier they finished 19th out of 65 teams playing in the Liberty Division.   [player_tooltip player_id='209796' first='Camille' last='Pomeroy'] (Madison/[program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite']) - At 6'1" she provides some height in the middle. She runs the quicks well moves from pin to pin to put up a block. For her high school she led her team in hitting percentage and blocks. For AAUs [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite'] plays in the 17 Premier Division. They played in the East Coast Championships this past weekend and finished 21st out of 24 teams. They finished ninth out of 12 teams in the Chesapeake Regional Qualifier.    [player_tooltip player_id='309022' first='Peri' last='Linterman'] (Riverbend/540 VB Elite) - At 6'3" Peri can dominate at the net. She also belongs to the class of 2025 so that means playing up with the 17s. The middle position clearly stands as the strength for 540. She ranks number 17 in the class of 2025 and third in position rank. The two middles ahead of her will be playing in the Junior Nationals in Chicago. Putting her on the right side would certainly create a wall for the left side hitters. 540 VB Elite will be playing in the 16 Club Division in AAUs.   [player_tooltip player_id='240025' first='Abigail' last='Vasak'] (Dominion/[program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite']) - Abby has height and good arm extension on her block. There is still a bit of rawness in her game that will smooth out with continued court time. She started for Dominion at middle as a sophomore and led them to the semi-finals in the State championships. [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] will play in the 16 Club Division at AAUs.   [player_tooltip player_id='235325' first='Skylar' last='Giulani'] (Potomac/Virginia Elite) - At 6'0" Skylar can put up her share of blocks. She keeps herself pretty busy by playing multiple sports. In addition to volleyball Skylar also plays basketball and lacrosse for Potomac High. For the AAUs Virginia Elite has entered to play in the 16 Open Division. At this point the team falls short of being an Open level team, but playing against the strong competition will up their game. At the Sunshine Volleyball Classic Virginia Elite finished 31st out of 40 teams in the Open Division.   [player_tooltip player_id='238850' first='Sydney' last='Bennett'] (Patriot/American) - At 6'1" Sydney ranks as the third best blocker in the class of 2025 and the 25th ranked player in the state of Virginia. The two middles ranked ahead of her will play in the Junior Nationals in Chicago. Sydney glides well from pin to pin to put up a block. She also hits the middle well, often hitting the ball over the block. American will play in the 15 Club Division at AAUs. They had a 18th place finish out of 108 teams in the American Division at the Northeast Qualifiers. Unfortunately, the team finished ninth out of 16 teams in the Chesapeake Regional Championships., falling short of earning a bid to Junior Nationals    [player_tooltip player_id='229773' first='Evie' last='Ballengee'] (Liberty Christian Academy/Heart of Virginia - pictured above) - Playing in Lynchburg does not get you a lot of exposure. Clearly this 6'1" middle is someone that deserves some attention. Evie appears to have a high volleyball IQ, knowing where to tip the ball in the open areas of the court. When I last watched her play the arm swing could use some improvement to allow her to put some velocity on the ball for her middle hits. Perhaps playing right side could allow her more freedom to finish her swing. At the Capitol Hill Classic Heart of Virginia played in the Open Division and finished 23rd out of 48 teams. They battled a good [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] team to three games before losing the third game 15-7. Heart of Virginia will play in the 15 Premier Division in AAUs.   Others to Watch    [player_tooltip player_id='435745' first='Alyssa' last='Kumah'] played both outside and middle for 540 Elite 15. Definitely someone to watch. She stands 5'10 with great wrist snap to her hits. Her teammate [player_tooltip player_id='397397' first='Jasmine' last='Williams'] also patrols the middle and puts up a good block. In one set she collected four solo blocks. 540 VB Elite 15 will play in the Club Division of AAUs. They recently finished second out of 24 teams in the East Coast championships.   [player_tooltip player_id='181314' first='Aubrey' last='Loughlin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='397550' first='Chloe' last='Bonney-James'] are two middles who play for 16 VAVA Blue. They both stand 6'0" and run the quicks well. VAVA will be playing in the 16 Premier at AAUs.

Time to do an analysis for those teams playing in AAUs and Junior Nationals. In AAUs they have close to 100 Chesapeake/Old Dominion teams entered to play. It would be impossible to write an analysis for each team. Because of this we will break it down by positions. For Junior Nationals we will break it down by teams.