Langley Wins the Virginia Volleyball Showcase

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last year<strong> Langley</strong> won the Class 6 State Championship with juniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181307' first='Leni' last='Stanton-Parker']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181298' first='Ana' last='Toumazatos']</strong> hitting left side. Leni transferred to <strong>IMG Academy</strong> in Florida while Ana sat the bench for this tournament nursing a minor injury. That did not deter Langley from winning the showcase. Led by frosh [player_tooltip player_id='554770' first='Rujuta' last='Singh'] and junior [player_tooltip player_id='377330' first='Chloe' last='Lin'] taking over the outside responsibilities and [player_tooltip player_id='238357' first='Claire' last='Mo'] setting, they swept past <strong>Courtland</strong> in the finals to win the showcase. A good start to the Virginia high school season for Langley.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A number of champions participated in this event. <strong>Holy Cross </strong>went undefeated last year and were voted the number one team in the area last year by the Washington Post and Prep Dig. <strong>First Colonial</strong> won the Class 5 state championship and <strong>Langley</strong> the Class 6. You also had a <strong>Colgan</strong> team that won a Class 6 state championship in 2021 and teams like <strong>Ocean Lakes</strong>, <strong>Courtland</strong> and <strong>Patriot</strong> who are all strong contenders for a state championship run this year. <strong>Norfolk Academy</strong>, <strong>Collegiate</strong> and <strong>St. Catherines</strong> are three of the stronger independent schools competing at the VISAA..</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The tournament started out on Friday with six pools of three teams. The winner from each pool would advance to the gold bracket, second place moved into the silver and third place slotted into the bronze. Each team would play three games to 25 and tie breakers would be critical in determining the final finish. Even though you may have lost the first two sets it still proved critical to win that third set to improve your position in a tie breaker scenario.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first pool found out about the tie breakers with <strong>Ocean Lakes</strong>, <strong>St. Catherines</strong> and <strong>Marshall</strong> finishing 1-1. Because Ocean Lakes swept Marshall it put them in the gold bracket while Marshall dropped to Bronze. St. Catherines moved to silver. That sweep by Ocean Lakes would be Marshal's only match loss of the tournament. They would not lose a set or even allow a team to reach 20 points the rest of the tournament, winning the bronze division.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["517814"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66d522cfdabd2"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">At 5'11" Ashley brings decent height to the left side position. With Holy Cross in their pool Collegiate was not expected to advance to the gold bracket. With Ashley mashing sets from the left side Collegiate defeated the Tartans in three to win their bracket.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The nice thing about a tournament like this is that this was the first opportunity to see Ashley play. Prior to that my only review of her play was based on video. Now that I have seen her play she definitely is a player to watch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last year she did not get many opportunities to hit outside with two veteran seniors leading the offense. She still finished fourth on the team in kills, but more impressively first in aces. A six rotation player with a nice platform for passing and the quickness to play defense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">This year Collegiate will rely on her for offense on the left side.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Collegiate School</strong> upset Holy Cross and advanced to the gold with a 2-0 record. They were a scrappy team that played exceptional defense led by their libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='664165' first='Harper' last='Murphy']</strong>. Two juniors left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='517814' first='Ashley' last='Grace Johnstone'] </strong>and right side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='670560' first='Ann' last='Musick']</strong> powered the offense in the matches I watched. They also have a couple frosh on the roster in defensive specialist<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='693815' first='May' last='Moncol'] </strong>and setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='693818' first='Ava' last='Callaghan']</strong>. While they lost the first set to Holy Cross, the Cougars were able to battle back to win the next two sets. They were able to do the same against Crosby when they played them in the first match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>First Colonial</strong> swept through their pool, defeating <strong>Nansemond-Suffolk Academy </strong>and <strong>Patrick Henry-Ashland</strong> 3-0. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='249294' first='Teagan' last='Emdadi'] </strong>and middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='481962' first='Gabby' last='Taylor'] </strong>led the offense. Gabby was also used at the left side during the Colgan Jamboree. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='485079' first='Grace' last='Davies-Hackenberg'] </strong>also looked strong from the left side. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='664169' first='Kaiyah' last='Hiles']</strong> did a nice job running the 5/1 and directing the offense. Libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='326538' first='Helen' last='Murray']</strong> covered the back row.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["476364"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66d522cfdac2a"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">There always seems to be that one play where a libero makes you take notice. For Amber she appeared to fly through the air and then did a perfect dolphin dive in an attempt to bring a ball up. She failed to get the dig, but the effort proved impressive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last year the one big loss the Saxons needed to fill came at the libero position. Amber answered the call. Her play seems to have gotten better since last season. She brings a leadership role to the back row position, taking charge of passing responsibilities. The one year of experience at the position brings an extra air of confidence to her game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Langley</strong> also went 2-0 in their pool. They swept past <strong>Thomas Dale</strong> and then after winning the first two against <strong>Norfolk Academy</strong> to clinch the bracket they lost the third set 25-13. Setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='238357' first='Claire' last='Mo'] </strong>was running a 5/1 in the matches I watched, especially in the gold bracket playoffs with<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='239322' first='Hailey' last='Park'] </strong>also available to set. Hailey came in a number of times as a defensive replacement for the right side. Frosh left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='554770' first='Rujuta' last='Singh'] </strong>played so well that she made the all tournament team along with [player_tooltip player_id='238357' first='Claire' last='Mo'] and <strong>Vivian Nitowski.</strong> Vivian made a critical kill in the first set of the championship match against Courtland when she wiped a tight set off the blockers hand to land just out for the 27-25 win. Love the play of libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='476364' first='Amber' last='Smith']</strong>, who sometimes appears to fly in the air with her dolphin dive as she reaches for the ball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["294589"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66d522cfdac6c"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Maya was a force in the Virginia Volleyball Showcase. Normally she plays right side. For this tournament the Wolverines used her on the left side. With her and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='221415' first='Lindsey' last='Canty']</strong> providing the offense the rallies were short. A fourth place finish among this talented group creates a good start to the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At 5'11" Maya brings good physical strength to her game. When she times the set well the ball is hammered with good velocity. Cross court or down the line, she hits the ball hard.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>North Stafford </strong>won their division over <strong>Caroline </strong>and <strong>Patriot</strong> High School. Normally <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='294589' first='Maya' last='Tillman']</strong> plays right side but she was banging a lot of balls from the left side position. She and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='221415' first='Lindsey' last='Canty']</strong> made a good duo. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='471627' first='Allison' last='Spittal']</strong> plays a superb libero. She uses her platform angles well when making a pass and when she can moderate her strength has a tough serve. That ball flies like a bullet but sometimes sails too deep. <strong> [player_tooltip player_id='290419' first='Sanai' last='Jones']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='643839' first='Nia' last='Adams']</strong> did a good job with their setting responsibilities and <strong>Jordan Ellis</strong> powered up from the middle.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["397536"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66d522cfdacac"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Last year Aubrey set for <strong>Riverbend </strong>and their 27-3 record was their best in school history. This year she transferred to <strong>Courtland</strong> and hopes to achieve the same success. Despite this being her first year with the team the coach has enough confidence in her to make her the floor captain.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aubrey has smooth hands for setting. She also brings good height at 5'11" for the position, making an impact in the front row. Her big challenge is maintaining the quickness to get to the ball in a position to always use your hands to make a set. Hitting percentages tend to decrease when attacking platform sets. The volleyball IQ exists to make the right sets.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Courtland </strong>downed <strong>Colgan</strong> and <strong>Mechanicsville</strong> to advance to the gold bracket. They did have to beat Colgan 25-18 in their last set to clinch the spot. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='397536' first='Aubrey' last='Parker']</strong> led the offense setting a 5/1. She distributed the ball to a number of targets including left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='523341' first='Makailah' last='Ford']</strong>, middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='725446' first='Allison' last='Meyer'] </strong>and the lefty swinging right side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='524421' first='Chelsea' last='Quaye']</strong>. The Cougars also received strong play from libero <strong>Isabel Hopkins</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Courtland</strong> battled to win their gold bracket pool to advance to the gold final. They battled with <strong>Collegiate</strong>, losing the first 18-25 and then pulling off the second 28-26. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='524421' first='Chelsea' last='Quaye']</strong> delivered the final kill to end the set. With momentum on their side they crushed Collegiate in the third set 25-11. After getting crushed by <strong>First Colonial</strong> in the first set 25-12, the Cougars were able to bounce back to win the next two 25-17, 25-21.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Langley</strong> had a tougher haul to make it to the gold final. They lost their first match to <strong>North Stafford</strong> 17-25, 25-11, 25-21. North Stafford had just lost to Ocean Lakes in their first match 23-25, 25-23 and 25-21. Langley then went on to beat <strong>Ocean Lakes </strong>twice, winning the first 25-22, getting crushed in the second 25-9 before winning the final 25-16. When it was all said and done the three teams were tied at 1-1 in matches and 3-3 in sets. So, it came down to point ratio, which Langley won out with 1.27. North Stafford and Ocean Lakes were both below 1.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite not advancing to the gold Ocean Lakes carries some talent on their roster. Virginia Tech commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='333654' first='Santina' last='Martcheva']</strong> hit an impressive left side and issued a tough serve. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='664960' first='Carmella' last='Mendoza'] </strong>ran the offense well setting a solid 5/1. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='671315' first='Sienna' last='Carr']</strong> powered kills from the right side and covered all six rotations. Libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='664963' first='Kayla' last='Bennett'] </strong>covers the back row well and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='618590' first='Lyla' last='Shannon']</strong> had a number of excellent redirect kills from the middle.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["245600"],"_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":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66d522cfdacec"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Peyton has committed to Bucknell. Her lightening fast left arm puts balls away quickly from the right side. She also has the hands to set a 5/1 if the need arises, but her hitting scores points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I can still remember the game she had as a frosh against Bishop O'Connell in a semi-final match where she single handedly won the game with her right side kills. At that time her sister set a 5/1. Eventually, they lost in the finals to <strong>Flint Hill</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Norfolk has enough talent on this team where Peyton could reprise her role as the right side terminator to advance her team to the finals of the VISAA. Last year she led the team in kills, showed her defensive ability at the setting position by finishing second in digs, while also finishing second in aces and assists. She does everything on the court.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we mentioned earlier, Langly would sweep Courtland for the gold win. Norfolk Academy would win the silver beating Colgan 19-25, 25-22 and 15-11. Norfolk Academy was led by setter and right side<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='245600' first='Peyton' last='McGee']</strong> and 6'1" middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='664173' first='Vivi' last='Deans']</strong>. <strong>Bela Cancado</strong> played a solid libero, quick and athletic on defense. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='557876' first='Kinsley' last='Flores'] </strong>blocked well from the middle and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='752059' first='Sydney' last='Peterson']</strong> provided offense from the left side.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Marshall</strong> may have been too talented a team to fall to the bronze. They beat Crosby in the final 25-4, 25-16. Just one more set win on Friday could have put them in the gold bracket.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While <strong>Holy Cross</strong> went undefeated last year, this year will be one in transition. With the loss of left side<strong> Emerson Sellman </strong>and setter<strong> Jaylyn Simon</strong> they have some critical positions to fill. Senior left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181304' first='Sarah' last='Jeremias']</strong> sat this one out to nurse a minor injury so frosh <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536721' first='Ana' last='Woods']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438091' first='Catherine' last='McIntyre']</strong> and <strong>Lily Polmateer </strong>were getting playing time at left side. The setting position needs addressing so setters <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='238376' first='Anasofia' last='Zanellato']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='672039' first='Sibel' last='Ozan']</strong> were filtering through different formations. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235324' first='Rowan' last='Johnson']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='477146' first='Aaliyah' last='Williams'] </strong>seem to be set at middle, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='472384' first='Kate' last='Bickel'] </strong>returns to the libero position.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->