USAV Junior Nationals Recap Three - Summing it up

The tapestry has been woven. The picture complete. The 14s and 15s have finished their story. Nice to have a day off before the 16 and 17s arrive. I did not see too much of the Open competition, staying with the local clubs. Metro 15 was the only club to play open among the locals. Below is a summary of the 14s and 15s play.   Breaking Down the Numbers   I did not include Premier from Delaware in our break down of the Chesapeake group. For the Chesapeake 14s their overall record stood at 28-36 (74-87). The Old Dominion 14's overall record 1-27 (3-55). For the Chesapeake 15's their final numbers came out to 22-34 (60-78), while Old Dominion went 2-7 (7-15). Consistency in play remains the largest divide.   Paramount had the highest finish among the 14 group, placing 13th in the National Division. They lost their last three matches, two of them to teams that took fifth in the standings. One to AVC Cle Red to determine who would come out in first from the second pool breakout. The second loss came at the hands of Northern Lights in the challenge match. In their last match in the first round of the silver bracket Paramount stumbled with their passing, watching a 13-11 lead evaporate, resulting in a 15-13 loss. Previously, they had lost the second set 29-27. A win would have gotten them to ninth place.   MVSA Charge grabbed the honors with the best finish among the 15s, placing 21st in the American Division. For them every match seemed a battle, with seven of their nine matches going three sets. In the Bronze Bracket against CCJRs they seemed to have some trouble covering the setter dump. After winning the first 25-20, they lost the next two 28-26 and 15-11. A little better coverage on the setter dump in the second match could have changed the outcome.    Taking it to the Limit   Metro Travel 14 and Maryland Juniors 14 saw six of their nine matches go three sets. Paramount 14 and MVSA Charge 15 had seven of their nine matches go three sets. Liberty Elite 15 defied them all, with all nine of their matches going three sets. What made that even more of a challenge is they had to play most of those matches with just seven players.   Liberty Elite finished 23rd in the Freedom Division. They had two players on the bench in boots and one player became unavailable after having surgery for tonsilitis. That gave libero [player_tooltip player_id='325602' first='Alexa' last='Smith'] the opportunity to hit left side, middles [player_tooltip player_id='325603' first='Parker' last='Sutherland'] and [player_tooltip player_id='374418' first='Jayanna' last='Ware'] to show their diversity hitting slides and Adysen Groves to play libero.   It also gave [player_tooltip player_id='399708' first='Aven' last='Thorn'] the opportunity to play front row, a position she normally does not play, though she set a 5/1 earlier in her career. Kylee-Anne East and Aven set when playing the front row.   New Class of 2026s Who Put Themselves on the Radar   [player_tooltip player_id='377396' first='Alexa' last='Telly'] middle (Metro) - She played middle for Metro and made a couple key blocks, including a redirect that resulted in a kill. Metro has some tall pin hitters so playing middle is a way for her to get in the lineup. The two middles for Metro are shorter than five of their pin hitters.   [player_tooltip player_id='412055' first='Lilly' last='Kennedy'] libero (Paramount) - She showed a nice platform for passing and played some good defense. Paramount has used a couple different liberos, but settling on Lilly for the Nationals is a testament to her quality of play.   [player_tooltip player_id='412056' first='Elizabeth' last='Miller'] Left Side (MVSA Charge) - She puts some nice velocity on the ball. It comes from a hard swing that still needs more consistency. That strong swing also translates with a good serve.   [player_tooltip player_id='399708' first='Aven' last='Thorn'] setter (Liberty Elite) - Aven has been out most of the year because of a knee injury. She still needs to get in volleyball shape, but strong hands and a good volleyball IQ set her apart. Played some good defense when digging the strong line hits.    Future Impact Players   [player_tooltip player_id='227251' first='Morgan' last='D. Williams'] left side (Metro 15) - At 6'3" she can hit it over many blocks. Still a three rotation player, but you definitely want that arm on the court. Once she learns the passing game she can be a threat from the back row. That will only enhance her game.   [player_tooltip player_id='265167' first='Laila' last='Chadwick'] libero (Metro 15) - She plays up and actually belongs to the class of 2027. Very athletic. Last year she hit outside and earned the MVP award at the Capitol Hill Classic. She only stands 5'8" so the libero role may be best suited for her. Liberos who play outside for their high school team always seem to thrive.   [player_tooltip player_id='296486' first='Taylor' last='Harrington'] middle (Paramount 14) - She needs to hit more quicks in the middle to diversify her game. Blockers still had difficulty blocking her even with the higher sets. She already stands 6'1" and has an approach jump that reaches 10 feet. Extremely athletic.   [player_tooltip player_id='357402' first='Katherine' last='Lewis'] left side (Virginia Juniors 14) - She stands 6'2", hits the ball hard and plays a smooth back row. Already has a nose for hitting the three meter sets.   Breeze Johnson setter (Blue Ridge 14) - She set a 5/1 at Nationals because the other setter was not available. The coach lamented the fact that they could not have her offense in the front row. She actually belongs to the class of 2028 but can hit the ball harder than many of the top hitters in the class of 2026. Needs to learn how to jump set to be more deceptive with her game.   [player_tooltip player_id='325602' first='Alexa' last='Smith'] libero (Paramount 15) - She did not get to showcase her libero skills at the Nationals. A shortage of players forced her to hit outside. She seems to carry a sixth sense for where the ball will be hit when playing back row. When her teammates hit before the start of a game, she plays on the other side of the net digging their spikes.

The tapestry has been woven. The picture complete. The 14s and 15s have finished their story. Nice to have a day off before the 16 and 17s arrive. I did not see too much of the Open competition, staying with the local clubs. Metro 15 was the only club to play open among the locals. Below is a summary of the 14s and 15s play.