Metro 15 Muscles it’s Way to Gold

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the latest Advanced Events System (AES) Rankings Metro 15 is not ranked. That may change after Metro 15 won a local Maryland Jrs tournament this weekend. While Metro finished second in a Rock and Rumble tournament in Cleveland in early January it appears those games have yet to be captured by AES. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Originally, the [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 15 team entered this local Maryland Juniors tournament. After winning gold at the Volley by the James they dropped out. Their Volley by the James performance placed them third in the Chesapeake and number 48 nationally per AES. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With Paramount absent from the tournament that left Metro 15 as the clear favorite to win. With five players ranked in the top ten of the Virginia class of 2027 rankings and six more ranked within the top 40 that creates a lot of depth. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["469197"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65adc8ddcc39d"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Metro 15</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Metro brings a lot of weapons to the floor. Four of those list as right sides. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='290176' first='Kieran' last='Rhoton']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='469197' first='Olivia' last='Garey'] </strong>are the two favorites to come in for the setters They both have strong arms and list over six feet. Kieran could probably play left side in a pinch. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='437457' first='Jasmin' last='Tucker'] </strong>(pictured above) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='437988' first='Sasha' last='Plummer']</strong> also bring some power to the right side. For Metro who gets the call to play right side will probably come down to who has the hot hand. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Unlike most other Chesapeake 15 teams Metro 15 runs quicks in the middle. The best at it is probably <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='437441' first='Hunter' last='Ross'],</strong> who ran the quicks with explosiveness for her high school team Flint Hill. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438077' first='Averi' last='Hanna']</strong> also plays the middle. She appears to have clicked pretty early with her setters <strong>Barrett Bolter</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='292644' first='Caycee' last='Chhum']</strong>. Even <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='437446' first='Alli' last='Robinson']</strong>, who played right side for Flint Hill but appears to be a middle for Metro had the tempo down early. Because the Metro pins are so explosive if they can consistently find the tempo on the quicks in the middle they will be difficult to stop. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The left side brings the heat with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='377396' first='Alexa' last='Telly'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='437985' first='Zora' last='Dimbo']</strong>, You could also use Kieran or Jasmin on the left side as well. Alexa powers the ball to the floor with a really fast wrist snap. If the timing is there the ball hits the floor fast, especially when going up against single blocks. Macie earned first team honors in the Cedar District as a frosh and is the younger sister of [player_tooltip player_id='233010' first='Mickhaila' last='Murray'], who led Flint Hill to a state championship. Zora played left side for the DC state champion Georgetown Day. Again, playing time could come down to the hitter hottest on the floor. All three are extremely athletic. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The fast tempo offense will not have success without good passing. With <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='437443' first='Kaniyah' last='Ball']</strong>playing libero that should happen more frequently than not. Kaniyah was initially ranked as the number two libero in the class of 2027, but she actually belongs to the class of 2028. Kaniyah brings quickness to the back row and has strong hands to dig or receive serve with her hands rather than relying on her platform. Her backup appears to be <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='470447' first='Evelyn' last='Donovan']</strong>. I only saw Evelyn play back row for this tournament but as a frosh she hit left side for Washington Liberty. It is possible she could offer some depth on the left side as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The setters who will run the offense are <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='292644' first='Caycee' last='Chhum'] </strong>and <strong>Barrett Bolter</strong>. Caycee has won top setter the last two years in her age group at the DC Capital Hill Classic. She also earned first team honors in the Concorde District. She loves to jump set, which can throw blockers off. In one rally she made a beautiful one handed quick to [player_tooltip player_id='437441' first='Hunter' last='Ross'] on a tight set that resulted in a thunderous kill. Another time she jumped but faked a set and allowed the ball to travel over the net to harmlessly land on the opponent's floor. This was my first time seeing Barrett set. She comes all the way from Annapolis to play for Metro. She effortlessly connected with the quicks to all three of her potential middles. This is not a tall team so diversity in location to keep the opponents guessing will be to Metro's advantage. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Metro 15 swept through the tournament. The closest a team got to them was Coastal Riptide 15-1 which scored 22 points in the first match. After that, no team scored over 15. Metro 15 swept Shenandoah Surge from West Virginia in the gold medal match 25-5, 25-13. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["477435"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65adc8ddcc400"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>St. James White </strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. James strength appears to be their back row. Watch list player<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='477435' first='Jaida' last='Mostafa']</strong> played a solid libero. She shows quickness with her feet allowing her to center the pass. <strong>Lucia Almonte</strong> played back row as well. Her strength was her serve that produced a number of aces. St. James White lost in the first round of the silver bracket.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Coastal 15-1</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The two smaller left sides for Coastal <strong>Ava Tush </strong>and <strong>Adeline Wetzel</strong> showed some pop. Coastal swept their 15-2 team to win the silver bracket. <strong>Lana Roach</strong> also hit the ball hard from the pins. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>South River Volleyball Club (SRVC) Surge</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They lost in the first round of the gold bracket to Shenandoah Surge. They brought some raw talent to the court. Their two middles had length that portends well for the future. <strong>Lily Hilton</strong> and <strong>Alexa Morris </strong>did more tipping than hitting over the blocks, but with more repetitions improvement should come. Lily showed a strong arm with her serves, one time blasting a ball ten feet out of bounds. <strong>Naomi Kolo </strong>has the height and left handed swing for the right side. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Shenandoah Surge</strong> (West Virginia) </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While they are a West Virginia team they still belong to the Chesapeake Region. They lost in the finals to Metro 15, but won every match prior to that. Their setter <strong>Madison Shelton-Henry</strong> showed good hands and quickness. She also brought a little bit of pop with a left handed swing on the right side. If she can get stronger physically she could impact a game. Their libero <strong>Kelsy Willis </strong>made all the plays and also brought a good serve to the court. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chesapeake Chirps: Renaissance 16 Black had an impressive fourth place finish at Volley by the James. The only team they lost to was Jersey Juniors, who dropped them down to silver. They topped off that showing by winning the Maryland Jrs 16 Mixed tournament, finishing with a strong 5-0 match record. Renaissance 16 Black is led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='238852' first='Casey' last='Yuh']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='324765' first='Camille' last='Ciambruschini']</strong> at setter, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='320816' first='Catherine' last='Long']</strong> at middle, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='499455' first='Keelin' last='O'Connell']</strong> on the outside and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='238862' first='Livia' last='Lee']</strong> at libero. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->