Metro and Renaissance Win Gold at NE Qualifier

It was a good weekend for the Chesapeake Region. Two teams won gold at the Northeast Qualifier in Philadelphia. Metro won the 18 Open avenging an earlier loss against AZ REV Premier. Because Metro had already won an Open bid by finishing fourth in the Ohio Valley Qualifier the win only earned them a gold medal but also the confidence that they have the ability to win a tournament.   The same held true for Renaissance. Last week they earned a bid to the Freedom Division by finishing fourth at the Chesapeake Regional Qualifier. This win in the American Division of the Northeast Qualifier upped the ante and brought them a higher bid, which will pass their Freedom Division bid to another team. Don't recall ever having two Chesapeake teams win gold in the same Qualifier.   Metro Avenges Loss to Take Gold    While Metro had already earned a bid to the 18 Open Junior Nationals in Baltimore it did not dampen their competitive spirit. On the first day they went undefeated, sweeping all three of their opponents.   On day two they lost their morning event to AZ Rev Premier 25-19, 25-22. In the USAV national ranking AZ REV is ranked number 11 while Metro sits at number 22. In all the qualifiers Metro has played in they have played their way into the gold. To do so for this tournament they would have to win their last two matches of the day. They accomplished the task by sweeping past AJV adidas 25-22, 25-22 and doing the same to NORCO Black 25-19, 25-23.   The gold bracket was broken out into two three team pools. Only the winners of each pool would play for the gold medal. Their first match was against OT J Stephen, who had yet to lose a match. It took three but Metro prevailed 25-22. 17-25 and 15-8. That match had been played at 5 PM on the second day. Their first match the next day would be at 0800 the next day against Triangle Black, the same time they lost their first match to AZ REV Premier.   Triangle, the 8th ranked team nationally, had lost their first match of the tournament in the gold medal bracket play to HJV Elite the previous day losing the third set 15-12. HJV Elite is ranked 24th nationally. Metro proved ready for the early morning battle, taking down Triangle 25-23, 25-21. That left HJV Elite in their path, the winner advancing to the gold. Metro won the first 25-22 but stumbled badly in the second set 25-11. Fortunately, they were able to bounce back in the third set 15-8 to advance to the gold medal match, where to their surprise waited AZ REV Premier. While the two sets were close Metro prevailed 25-23, 25-23.   Metro is led by their two class of 2025 left sides [player_tooltip player_id='181300' first='Alexis' last='Ewing'] (Penn State) and [player_tooltip player_id='181297' first='Lameen' last='Mambu'] (Georgia Tech). If either of them struggle [player_tooltip player_id='233010' first='Mickhaila' last='Murray'] ((Temple) could step in. [player_tooltip player_id='180281' first='Erin' last='Debiec'] (Colorado State) and [player_tooltip player_id='180283' first='Natalie' last='Nguyen'] (Georgetown) share the setting duties with libero [player_tooltip player_id='180300' first='Mailinh' last='Godschall'] (Duke) taking control of the back row. Right side [player_tooltip player_id='180289' first='Lilah' last='Stevens'] (2024) and utility [player_tooltip player_id='249341' first='Baylee' last='Doolan'] (2025) both represent Navy. Lilah and Baylee can also hit left side in a crunch, but Baylee also represents solid back row defense while still providing an offensive attack.   Metro has shown a level of consistency this year in Qualifiers. They have made it to the gold bracket in all four events they have played. The first two qualifiers they failed to earn a bid. They earned that by finishing fourth in the Ohio Valley Qualifier. Now, this first place finish in the Northeast Qualifier. All of this done without [player_tooltip player_id='180288' first='Emerson' last='Sellman'] (Ohio State) and [player_tooltip player_id='180295' first='Ryla' last='Jones'] (Pittsburgh) who left early for college and Renee Jones (Arizona) who moved to Florida to play at IMG Academy. Next on the schedule is the Under Armour National Championships in Louisville Kentucky April 11-13.   Renaissance Improves Bid with Gold   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/03/Renaissance-NE-qualifier.jpg?w=640" alt="" class="wp-image-518687" style="width:498px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: provided by parent</figcaption></figure>   Renaissance was a little disappointed by their showing at the Chesapeake Regional Qualifier. While a fourth place finish earned them a Freedom bid, the team thought they could have played better.   One could not argue about their play at the Northeast Qualifier. They swept through all their opponents in their first seven matches, in some cases limiting them to single digits in four sets. Their toughest match came against the undefeated Renegades in the second round of the gold medal bracket. Renaissance won the first set 25-22 but that had been the most points scored by a team against them. The second set Renegade won 25-23. Renaissance bounced back to win the third set 15-10.   They swept through the last two matches fairly easily, even defeating 540 VB Elite from the Old Dominion Region 25-11, 25-13 for a second time. Earlier, in pool play they had played 540 VB Elite and beat them 25-8, 25-15. In the gold medal match they beat Jersey Juniors 25-15, 25-18 to win the lone bid in the American Division. Up until that point Jersey Juniors had not lost a set.   Renaissance offense relies on setter [player_tooltip player_id='309026' first='Lindsay' last='Kelley'] (Bridgwater) to connect with her hitters. The best may be right side [player_tooltip player_id='309025' first='Payton' last='Swinton'] (Coppin State) who delivers some big time punches with her left arm. Another Coppin State commit [player_tooltip player_id='319715' first='Deviana' last='Walker'] does her damage from the left side Libero [player_tooltip player_id='481852' first='Taylor' last='Johnson'] (Norfolk State) controls the back row, but for her high school team she carries a pretty powerful swing from the left side.   Other DMV Teams Performing Well    [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] had some tough luck on the first day playing in the 18 Open. They lost their first two matches of the day to Triangle and AJV Adidas. Triangle ended up one of six teams making it to the gold medal bracket. The two early losses knocked them into the second division. They ended up winning their next six matches, losing only one set in the process to win the second division bracket. Unfortunately, there is no reward in that. However, it does show there is no quit in their game.   MVSA Chaos earned their way into the gold bracket of the Liberty Division, despite experiencing one match loss each day. They brought up [player_tooltip player_id='235748' first='Ema' last='Djordjevic'] from the 17 team to provide some offense on the right side. Ema showed she could handle the bump up with 17 kills in a match against Tampa United Black. They lost in the first round of the gold bracket to AZ REV Elite, losing the third set 16-14.   In the American Division 540 VB Elite battled their way to the semifinals of the gold bracket, losing to the eventual champion Renaissance. Renaissance had beaten them earlier in pool play, so their only losses in the tournament came against Renaissance.   Metro North did not lose a match until the quarter final match in gold medal play. Their undefeated run gave them a bye for the first round. They won their first match against Chesapeake Region foe Premier State 25-10, 25-11. They could not carry that momentum into their second match, playing NVA Black. NVA Black won 25-15, 25-21 but lost their next match to Jersey Juniors 25-14, 25-17

It was a good weekend for the Chesapeake Region. Two teams won gold at the Northeast Qualifier in Philadelphia. Metro won the 18 Open avenging an earlier loss against AZ REV Premier. Because Metro had already won an Open bid by finishing fourth in the Ohio Valley Qualifier the win only earned them a gold medal but also the confidence that they have the ability to win a tournament.