Liberos Who are Offensive in High School

My niece won the MVP for her conference her sophomore, junior and senior years in high school as an outside hitter. For club she played libero. At 5'11" she felt she was too small to play outside at a Division I college. Playing libero got her an opportunity to play a half season for Utah. Unfortunately, concussions forced her to leave the game early.   The girls below played libero last year for their club. They are all smaller than my niece, but they are making an impact as an outside hitter for their high schools, some of them leading their team to the state playoffs. Three will play at Division I colleges as liberos.    [player_tooltip player_id='265167' first='Laila' last='Chadwick'] (Metro/Madison) - She actually won an MVP award two years ago as an outside hitter at the Capitol Hill classic at the 14 level. The next year she played libero since the 15 team at Metro carried four pin hitters 6'1" or greater. Laila lists at 5'8". For her 15 season she switched to libero. During her frosh season at Madison she returned to the pin hitter slot. This has added an extra offensive dynamic to the Warhawk team as she leads them to the state playoffs. They recently completed a reverse sweep against Langley to win their Regional bracket. For her contributions Laila got voted to the first team All Region for Class 6D.    [player_tooltip player_id='181280' first='Brenna' last='Corbin'] (Blue Ridge/James Wood) - Brenna loves to hit. At 5'5" that may not be a realistic goal if she hopes to play indoor volleyball at a Division I college. Last year she played libero for Blue Ridge where her beach instincts allowed her to take over the back court. Her frosh year at James Wood she moved to the outside position, finishing second on the team in kills as they won the Class 4 state championship. The Colonels moved her to libero to begin her sophomore year. That did not last long. She moved back to the outside mid-season and now sits fourth on the team in kills. James Wood also won their region and [player_tooltip player_id='181280' first='Brenna' last='Corbin'] was voted to the All Region Class 4D first team. She does not hit the ball hard, but her shot placement frequently finds an empty spot on the floor.    [player_tooltip player_id='180300' first='Mailinh' last='Godschall'] (Metro/Centennial) - She will be going to Duke next year to play volleyball. As a libero. Her 5'7 height would kind of dictate that. Don't tell that to her high school coach. For Centennial she plays outside and plays it well. She leads her team in kills, aces and digs. Perhaps the only skill set she has trouble reaching is jumping high enough to put up a good block. However, she has accomplished four solo blocks this season according to Maxpreps. The Eagles find themselves in the Maryland state playoff chase and they will need Mailinh to hit outside as well as play the back row to achieve success.    [player_tooltip player_id='223897' first='Amelia' last='Tomlinson'] (Western Albemarle/Richmond VBC) - Amelia will be going to Liberty next year as a libero. She played that position last year at Richmond Volleyball club. At 5'8" Amelia stands rather tall for a libero. This year the Warriors needed offensive help to qualify for the playoff chase. Amelia switched to the outside to add some offense to the team. The switch proved a success. Ultimately, the Warriors qualified for the Regions in Class 3 to qualify for the playoffs, but they fell short losing in the first round. In all likelihood Amelia will return to the libero position when she plays for Liberty. As the saying goes, it was fun while it lasted.    [player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn'] (NC Academy/Hidden Valley) - Caleigh lists at 5'6" but brings tremendous court presence to her game. She has the hops to hit the ball down hard on the court, but she also has the court sense to know where the empty areas of the court exist. She plays libero for NC Academy but at Hidden Valley in Virginia she hits outside. Every year she finds herself in the top five in kills for Virginia. This year she ranks second with 569, or about 6.4 kills per set. While Hidden Valley plays at a class 3 level many of her kills this year have come against schools like Flint Hill, Briar Woods, Riverbend, Georgetown Day and James Wood. The only team they have lost to this year is Flint Hill. Hidden Valley has qualified for the State playoffs in Class 3.   Playoff Updates    In the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) Flint Hill and Bishop O'Connell will go against each other in Division I. This is the first time these two have played against each other in two years. They may be rivals, but many of them are also teammates, five of them play for one of the top 17 clubs in the country, Metro 17. For Flint Hill [player_tooltip player_id='180295' first='Ryla' last='Jones'], [player_tooltip player_id='233010' first='Mickhaila' last='Murray'] and [player_tooltip player_id='180283' first='Natalie' last='Nguyen'] played for Metro 17. [player_tooltip player_id='180281' first='Erin' last='Debiec'] and [player_tooltip player_id='180296' first='Madison' last='Bowser'] also play for Metro 17. It should be a lively game.   Flint Hill swept past Collegiate with [player_tooltip player_id='233010' first='Mickhaila' last='Murray'] leading the team in kills at 13. Bishop O'Connell did the same with St. Catherines, [player_tooltip player_id='180296' first='Madison' last='Bowser'] leading the way with 16 kills.   In the O'Connell win the Knights had a 24-19 lead in the first set. Saint Catherines scored the next five points to tie the game at 24-24. It took a [player_tooltip player_id='183410' first='Cara' last='Nearpass'] ace to end it 27-25. Cara finished the match with six aces. After taking the first set the Knights established control, winning the next two 25-13, 25-12.   In Division II Nansemond-Suffolk Academy achieved a reverse sweep over Peninsula Catholic, winning the last three 25-16, 25-20 and 15-10. Covenant found themselves down two games to one to Virginia Academy but pulled out the last two sets 25-19 and 15-7 to win in five.   Division III had Chelsea Academy sweep Timberlake to earn a spot in the finals. Stonebridge needed four sets to beat New Covenant. Stonebridge lost the first 25-19 but demolished the Gryphons in the next three sets 25-7, 25-16 and 25-9. Chelsea Academy played Stonebridge early this season at an Endless Summer tournament and gave the Cavaliers their only loss of the season.   The D.C. State playoff chase saw St. Johns eliminated early. Georgetown Day swept them in a second round encounter, the last two sets ending in 25-6 and 25-11 scores. This should result in a final round playoff encounter between Jackson-Reed and Georgetown Day. Jackson-Reed won the championship two years ago. Georgetown Day won it last year.   The Virginia High School League (VHSL) Regional playoff rounds have been completed. The biggest surprise was the Madison Warhawks pulling a reverse sweep over Langley to win the Region. Langley has lost only three matches this season and they all have come at the expense of Madison. Woodson took Springfield in four, led by the seven aces from [player_tooltip player_id='204152' first='Sofie' last='Ferrell']. Hanover swept Courtland and Midlothian won in four against Patrick Henry. State playoffs begin Saturday.   Maryland finishes up their Regionals. Glenelg swept past Mt. Hebron, led by the 13 kills and three aces from [player_tooltip player_id='346815' first='Isard' last='Bernades']. Arundel pulled a sweep against Severna Park, [player_tooltip player_id='309025' first='Payton' last='Swinton'] leading the way with 8 kills, while [player_tooltip player_id='319715' first='Deviana' last='Walker'] and [player_tooltip player_id='477413' first='Kiara' last='Harmon'] each contributed seven.   Urbana won in four over Clarksburg. [player_tooltip player_id='321679' first='Simone' last='Assasie'] finished with 18 kills and five blocks while Sophia Grech contributed 12 kills. Richard Montgomery swept past Paint Branch [player_tooltip player_id='412056' first='Elizabeth' last='Mitchell'] found the floor nine times for the Rockets.   The finals for the State championships for Maryland will be November 18.

My niece won the MVP for her conference her sophomore, junior and senior years in high school as an outside hitter. For club she played libero. At 5'11" she felt she was too small to play outside at a Division I college. Playing libero got her an opportunity to play a half season for Utah. Unfortunately, concussions forced her to leave the game early.