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<p>Below are some of the new names who appear in the class of 2027 plus any watch list players who made it to the rankings.</p>
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<p class="text-gray-700">Avery debuts at number 52 in our rankings. At 6'0" she brings good height for an outside. The 757 played a good tournament in the East Coast championships in Pittsburgh, led by [player_tooltip player_id='545710' first='Avery' last='Osler'] hitting left side. She stood out as their primary offensive piece in their third place finish at the event. </p>
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<p class="text-gray-700">This appeared to be a fundamentally sound team and Avery showed that with her kills. She does not necessarily crush the balls, but she consistently finds empty spots on the floor to create points.</p>
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<p>Avery plays for Frank W Cox high school, which always seems prepared for a playoff run.</p>
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<p class="text-gray-700">Mariska debuts at number 84. While she initially was listed as a middle, her ability to hit right side as well gives her some versatility. Her right side hitting proved instrumental in Maryland Jrs 17th place finish at Junior Nationals. Overall, they finished 7-3, winning the bronze bracket to finish off the tournament. While their 17th place finish may seem disappointing, they won 70 percent of their games against good competition.</p>
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<p class="text-gray-700">For Howard Mariska hits outside. She finished second on her team in kills and third in blocks. Many of her teammates at Maryland Jrs. play for Howard. They will be one of the Maryland high schools competing for the state title, especially if you can carry a go to person like Mariska who can put the ball away from the left side or right side.</p>
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<p>90. [player_tooltip player_id='557876' first='Kinsley' last='Flores'] Middle (Norfolk Academy/East Coast - While East Coast found winning at the Junior Nationals in the National Division difficult, they still had some excellent performances from some of their players. At middle Kinsley showed a good arm extension to put the ball away from the middle. She did not get a lot of playing time as a frosh for her high school Norfolk Academy. That should change next year. They are one team that always competes well in the VISAA.</p>
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<p>99. [player_tooltip player_id='559650' first='Rhea' last='Bhatia'] setter (South Lakes/Virginia Athletics Volleyball Club) - At 5'5 her height may restrict her to back row setting only. She has developed some volleyball IQ in her brief experience playing the game. Sometimes she has to be careful not to dump the ball over the net too often, otherwise teams will prepare for it. She has good hands with the strength to push the ball outside. It appears she has made the South Lakes varsity team as one of the setters during her sophomore season. They have a new coach and hopefully a new direction.</p>
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<p>100. [player_tooltip player_id='577517' first='Mia' last='Lynch'] right side (Kellam/East Coast) - At 5'11" she brings a good lefthanded swing to the right side. Still only a sophomore a couple more inches of growth could make her really dangerous. I watched her play at the Colgan Jamboree. Last year she did not get a lot of playing time for Kellam. This coming year with a stronger frame she should see more opportunities.</p>
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<p class="text-gray-700">Joelle showed up at our Prep Dig Stock up showcase and showed good hustle on the court to debut at 102 in our rankings. Joelle plays for Metro South, one of the Regional teams for Metro. In game action I have only watched her video and at 5'4" she stays low to the floor when playing defense and passes well.</p>
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<p>Joelle played last year as a frosh for Immanuel Christian and is listed as an outside hitter/setter. They are a smaller school in Virginia.</p>
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<p>104. [player_tooltip player_id='577515' first='Sierra' last='Beaver'] middle (Massaponax/Club 540) - While Club 540 15 struggled in the Junior Nationals, Sierra played well. She shows a good swing, producing a couple kills from the middle. Even at 5'9" she showed good timing with a block and produced an ace with her serve. Sierra appears to be a good all around player that can bring a number of skills to the court. Last year for Massaponax she made the varsity as a frosh.</p>
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<p>108. [player_tooltip player_id='577511' first='Jayla' last='Walker'] outside (Norfolk Christian/East Coast) - At 5'5" she is currently undersized for an outside. She has some hops that allow her to hit the ball hard, even putting together a block or two at the Junior Nationals. As she gets older it will get harder to play front row if she doesn't find a growth spurt.</p>
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<p>109. [player_tooltip player_id='539414' first='Giulia' last='Pescosolido'] middle (James Madison/MOJO) - She played well in the middle for MOJO at the Spooky Nook, putting up some key blocks in their second place finish. Giulia ran the quicks well and appears taller than her 5'9" height. Madison already carries three middle/right sides on their roster so she may have to wait a year to play for varsity.</p>
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<p>110. [player_tooltip player_id='578497' first='Jo' last='Taylor'] right side (Grassfield/East Coast) - Another smaller pin hitter for East Coast who hit well at Junior Nationals. She played right side but like her teammate <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='577511' first='Jayla' last='Walker']</strong> she will need a growth spurt to continue playing right side.</p>
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<p>115. [player_tooltip player_id='608978' first='Francise' last='Ramirez'] left side (Langley/Virginia Elite) - At the Colgan Jamboree she was vying with a couple other pins for the open pin slots at Langley. She appears to have made the varsity. Whether she plays left side or right side will be dictated by her performance. A solid player who shows the ability to play six rotations.</p>
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<p>116. [player_tooltip player_id='608979' first='Mia' last='Schmidt'] outside (Kellam/East Coast) - At the junior nationals she hit left side well and showed a good back row attack. She also hit well at the Colgan Jamboree for Kellam. Currently a bit undersized for an outside. She is the third East Coast player to make her debut in the rankings.</p>
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<p><strong>Watch list players moved to rankings</strong></p>
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<p>56. [player_tooltip player_id='471714' first='Ryann' last='Bothof'] libero (Grassfield/757) - Love her hustle and intensity on the court. She shows a lot of confidence on the court when playing the game.</p>
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<p>66. [player_tooltip player_id='530280' first='Lora' last='Totcheva'] middle (Millbrook/[program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge']) - At 5'10 she shows some good length for this age. Won a top performer award at the Prep Dig Stock Up Showcase with her ability to hit outside.</p>
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<p>73. [player_tooltip player_id='523664' first='Reese' last='Roberts'] middle (Patriot/American) - Another player who excelled at the Stock Up Showcase. Came short of winning a top performer award but played well. She appears to have made the varsity as a sophomore.</p>
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<p>111. [player_tooltip player_id='502514' first='Jenna' last='Kate Tanner'] outside (Madison County/540 Volleyball) - Debuted at our Prep Dig Stock up showcase. Skills show the makings of a six rotation player. Her 5'9" height is a bit undersized but there could be some growth left in her.</p>
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<p>112. [player_tooltip player_id='476422' first='Aniyah' last='Brevard'] setter (Colonial Forge/540 Volleyball) - A smaller setter who may fill in for Karlei Gibson, the main setter for Colonial Forge. Aniyah showed off her setting skills at the Prep Dig Stock Up Showcase. Listed at 5'3".</p>
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<p>113. [player_tooltip player_id='520868' first='Caroline' last='Semko'] Libero (Flint Hill/Virginia Elite) - Another Prep Dig Stock up Showcase participant who will play libero/ds for Flint Hill as a sophomore.</p>
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<p>114. [player_tooltip player_id='507548' first='Cristina' last='Shumanski'] libero/DS (Stafford/540 Volleyball) - Played libero for the club 540 National. Although this was their second team they took first place in the East Coast championship in the second division.</p>
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<p><strong>Virginia Opening High School Review</strong></p>
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<p>The games are for real in Virginia for high school ball. Some surprising results to start the season. One big surprise was <strong>Yorktown</strong> beating <strong>Madison</strong> in five. As we mentioned in an earlier post, Yorktown appears stronger than in past seasons. They proved that yesterday.</p>
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<p><strong>Colonial Heights</strong> swept <strong>Lakeland</strong>. They were led by the 13 kills and 6 aces from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='528727' first='Avery' last='Hurley']</strong>. Avery was a recent addition to our 2026 rankings in April. </p>
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<p><strong>Patriot</strong> swept past <strong>Mountain View </strong>led by the 12 kills from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='220923' first='Soleil' last='Rancourt']</strong>. She also appeared to play a solid back row with a team leading 9 digs and 26 serve receptions. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='500510' first='Violet' last='Masiello'] </strong>also had seven kills and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181245' first='Anisa' last='Flowers']</strong> seven aces. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181245' first='Anisa' last='Flowers']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='448705' first='Danika' last='Swanson'] </strong>shared the setting duties. </p>
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<p><strong>Riverside </strong>showed they could be a team to contend with, sweeping past<strong> Battlefield</strong> 3-0. Both teams made it to the State finals last year but lost, Riverside in Class 5 and Battlefield in Class 6.</p>
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<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181297' first='Lameen' last='Mambu']</strong> did her thing with 13 kills and 12 digs to lead <strong>Chantilly </strong>to a sweep over <strong>Washington Liberty</strong>. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='240899' first='Sarah' last='Kim']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='664141' first='Hala' last='Younes']</strong> shared in the setting duties. </p>
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Below are some of the new names who appear in the class of 2027 plus any watch list players who made it to the rankings.
HEIGHT
6'0"
POS
OH/DS/L
CLASS
2027
State:
Virginia
School:
Frank W Cox
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HEIGHT
5'11"
POS
RS
CLASS
2027
State:
Maryland
School:
Howard
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HEIGHT
5'4"
POS
DS/L
CLASS
2027
State:
Virginia
School:
Immanuel Christian
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