Riverside and Hidden Valley win Tournaments

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Number one ranked <strong>Riverside </strong>won a tournament at Heritage High School while <strong>Hidden Valley</strong> won the Albermarle tournament for the second year in a row. While the results in the Heritage tournament did not count because they were considered a scrimmage the results for the Albermarle tournament counted.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Riverside won a double elimination tournament at Heritage. They swept through all their opponents except for Heritage, losing the second set against them. In the third set with the score tied at 12-12 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson']</strong> put the game away with three consecutive kills for a 15-12 win. They then went on to beat Independence in the final 25-19, 25-13.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Riverside will be difficult to beat. <strong> [player_tooltip player_id='333651' first='Sydney' last='Ray']</strong> operates a 5/1 and distributes sets to a potent offense consisting of middles<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='181309' first='Brianna' last='Holladay'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='333652' first='Gabriella' last='Vizek']</strong> as well as left sides <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='225187' first='Simone' last='Schaefer']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464556' first='Kennedy' last='Peyton']</strong>. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson']</strong> proves the most impactful, virtually unstoppable from the right side. Her approach jump of 10'8" plus her arm extension allows her to hit over the smaller blocks. In addition, Kennedy has improved her game from last year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The one area the Rams could use tightening is the tempo sets in the middle. That hurt them last year in the finals of the class 5 state championship and they showed difficulty making connections on the faster sets in the middle. Fortunately, it is still early in the season so the team has time to work on that aspect of their game. As if it needs to be said but <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438070' first='Camryn' last='Coulther'] </strong>plays an excellent libero. Even as a sophomore she stands out as one of the best on the floor.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I<strong>ndependence</strong> tried to hang with Riverside. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='290176' first='Kieran' last='Rhoton']</strong> played mostly left side and combined with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235296' first='Makenzie' last='Dvorznak']</strong> and<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='471485' first='Kaelyn' last='Wharton']</strong> at the pins to match them point for point. <strong> [player_tooltip player_id='235327' first='Jenna' last='Hathaway']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='471485' first='Kaelyn' last='Wharton'] </strong>proved impactful from the right side. It was the ball control that won this match. Riverside won the serve and serve receive portion of the match that allowed them to slowly pull away in each set.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Heritage </strong>won the third place match over Broad Run. While they lost the first set they won the next two, including a convincing 15-3 win in the third set. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='325403' first='Annabelle' last='Kim']</strong> ran the offense, sometimes sharing the setting duties with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='490057' first='Avery' last='Lefman'] </strong>and sometimes operating a 5/1. Late in the game Heritage would operate a 6/2 to get more height for blocking on the right side.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["529439"],"_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-66def6cc9f4fb"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">She actually hit left side for Heritage. That appears to be her role for the Pride. Her height and long wing span allow her to consistently put the ball to the floor. Occasionally, she played a little six rotation but she still needs some work in that area. Playing right side for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] did not give her a lot of opportunities to play back row. A lot of potential in her game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='529439' first='Jasmine' last='McBorrough']</strong> provided critical offense from the left side for Heritage, with her 5'11" height and long reach allowing her to find the floor consistently against the smaller blocks. Her back row play still needs a lot of work if she hopes to play six rotations consistently. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='443558' first='Emily' last='Kolas'] stands out as a quality defensive player who can come through with the accurate pass to keep the team in system. [player_tooltip player_id='582293' first='Shannon' last='Treloar'] gave Heritage good blocking at the middle.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Broad Run</strong> finished fourth. They were led by setter/right side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181244' first='Ryan' last='Hicks']</strong>. <strong> Helena Pakiela</strong> provided offense from the middle while <strong>Clair Erny </strong>contributed from the left side. Frosh <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536734' first='Serena' last='Wong'] </strong>played the libero position the last two matches and did a good job. As a frosh the varsity game can be much faster than 14 travel ball when you are playing a quality opponent.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Westfield </strong>brings one of the best liberos in the game, even though she belongs to the class of 2028. Frosh<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='536716' first='Diane' last='Nzoupet']</strong> passes well and does not allow any ball to hit the floor no matter how hard it is hit, as long as it is within sprawling range of her reach. <strong> [player_tooltip player_id='693840' first='Jasmine' last='Oduro']</strong> has length and the wing span to make a difference in the middle. <strong>Haley Marsh</strong> at left side and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='701939' first='Josephine' last='Pairel']</strong> at setter/right side are two sophomores that shined.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Finally, for <strong>Paul VI </strong>their two outsides <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438043' first='Katherine' last='McLaughlin']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='532908' first='Olivia' last='Stroupe']</strong> are two sophomores to watch. They are undersized but they play with fire. Ironically both were left sides for me at 13s on the same team as the Independence libero<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='693829' first='Ella' last='Kliner']</strong>. Felt pretty good watching the trio play at the high school level. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='308751' first='Olivia' last='LeBlanc']</strong> is getting an opportunity to set for varsity. Frosh <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='541140' first='Maris' last='Francescon'] </strong>and sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='696423' first='Alessandra' last='Joyce']</strong> also got opportunities to set. This appears to be a young team building for the future with a handful of seniors sprinkled in to provide guidance.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Number 12 ranked <strong>Hidden Valley</strong> (pictured above) improved their record to 7-0 with their tournament win at Albemarle. It was not easy. In the semifinal against <strong>Covenant </strong>they lost the second set 25-20 then battled to win the third set 23-21. Against <strong>Briar Woods</strong> they were beaten in the first set 25-17 then battled back to win the last two sets 25-17 and 15-13. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='464576' first='Sophie' last='Arnold']</strong> provided the bulk of the offense from the left side. With setter [player_tooltip player_id='235285' first='Calli' last='Anderson'] out for the season the Titans rely on <strong>Lauren Dudley</strong> and <strong>Abby Bishop </strong>for the setting. <strong>Maddi Carter</strong> has taken over the libero responsibilities.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hidden Valley has a big match coming up next week when they play <strong>Christiansburg</strong> in their first regional match up. Christiansburg is my pick to win the Class 3 Virginia state playoffs, but then I think I may have lit a fire under <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn']</strong>, which may make that prediction difficult to happen.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->