Virginia Volleyball Showcase All Tournament Team

The players listed below were named by the other coaches for the All Tournament Team at the Virginia Volleyball Showcase. Langley came out on top while Courtland surprised with their second place finish. Not surprising that the two 5/1 setters for Langley and Courtland made the All Tournament Team.    Last year she set a 5/1 for Riverbend. This year she is setting a 5/1 for Courtland. Last year Courtland finished 20-10. This year they start off the season 4-1 with a second place finish in the Virginia Volleyball Showcase. They beat some pretty good teams along the way in defending class 5 state champion First Colonial, Colgan and Collegiate.   Good setters can help teams win championships. The Cougars have got one with Aubrey. At 5'11 she has the height to be a force at the net. She also has soft hands to hit her spots consistently. There still need to be minor technical adjustments made to her setting but regardless of who she sets for the team comes out as winners.     Chelsea was one of Aubry Parker's primary points of contact when needing a kill. She brings a left handed swing built for the right side. It was her kill against Collegiate that gave the Cougars a 28-26 win in the second set after they had lost the first set 25-18. That changed the momentum a bit and the Cougars took the third set 25-11. Without that win an appearance in the gold finals would not have been possible.   This past club season Chelsea played for [program_tooltip program_id='489547' first='540' last='Volleyball Academy'] Nat'l, which is considered a second team. Her play at the showcase shows she can play at the first team level.     If there was an MVP for the tournament my vote would go to [player_tooltip player_id='238357' first='Claire' last='Mo']. Her choices in setting and consistency in finding her location results in hitters consistently finding one person blocks to hit against. Middle blockers find her difficult to read. She has no problem with a jump back set that left Vivian Nitkowski many opportunities to hit against one block. Vivian's success also put her on the first team.   Langley has started the season on a roll with a 6-1 start to the season. This has been done without one of their top hitters [player_tooltip player_id='181298' first='Ana' last='Toumazatos'] playing. When she gets healthy this team can repeat as class 6 Virginia state champions.     St. Catherines won the third place game over Holy Cross in the silver bracket. I did not get a chance to see a lot of St. Catherine's play. In the game against Holy Cross Anne set and stayed in the front row to hit right side. She puts some good velocity on the ball when she hits.   Anne has good hands and the savviness to know where to place the ball on an unexpected dump. She also plays good defense in the back row, digging a number of balls hit her way. Fielding Croft stands out as just an all around solid player.   [player_tooltip player_id='297528' first='Anne' last='Fielding Croft'] has committed to Christopher Newport.    [player_tooltip player_id='485079' first='Grace' last='Davies-Hackenberg'] outside (First Colonial)- Grace appeared to be the primary option for setter [player_tooltip player_id='664169' first='Kaiyah' last='Hiles'] when she needed the big hit. She also stood out at the Colgan Jamboree the previous weekend. It does appear she is a player on the rise and will be counted on for a repeat championship for the Patriots. Last year Grace stepped in for [player_tooltip player_id='249294' first='Teagan' last='Emdadi'] when she got injured to help First Colonial win their first state championship since 2014. This year they both will be counted on if they hope to repeat as champions.   [player_tooltip player_id='326538' first='Helen' last='Murray'] libero (First Colonial) - Last year Kayla Foley won the MVP as the libero when First Colonial won their championship. [player_tooltip player_id='326538' first='Helen' last='Murray'] was a defensive specialist finishing fourth on her team in digs but first in aces. This year it will be her opportunity to take over the libero role. Her platform is good for passing and she brings a good serve to the court. She also has the quickness to play some good defense. While it will be tough to replace Kayla there is no better candidate than Helen to do the job.   Mackenzie Giordano outside (Cosby) - Mackenzie will have to be a name to put on my radar. I did not get a chance to see her play. Cosby finished second in the bronze medal match for an overall 14th place finish. Makenzie lists at 5'6" which is a little under sized for a front row player. However, receiving the votes by the coaches to make it on the all tournament team stands as quite the statement.    A fourth place finish is nothing to be ashamed of for North Stafford. Maya normally plays right side but for this tournament she hit predominately from the left side. If North Stafford would have won the tournament she would have gotten my vote for the MVP.   The Wolverines beat Langley in the first set of the gold bracket pool, then lost the next two sets. If they could have won just one of those last two sets they would have been playing Courtland in the gold medal match.   They battled defending Class 5 state champion First Colonial in the third place match but lost the third set 15-13. They may be a much more potent team with Maya hitting from the left side.     Peyton is a strong setter. What separates her from other setters is her powerful spikes from the right side. She could play right side even if she did not set. Her patented hit seems to be driving the ball into the deep corner in area five.   Peyton has committed to Bucknell. Her team finished the tournament by winning the silver bracket finals over Colgan. With Peyton leading the charge Norfolk Academy could take it all the way in the VISAA. This could be a down year for Flint Hill, providing an opening for another team to take the championship.     Rujuta was the lone frosh to make the all tourney team. She plays a solid all around game whether it revolves around passing or playing stellar defense. Her only down side would be that at 5'7" she may be undersized for an outside.   She passes well, plays superb defense and hits the ball hard. The big test for her is finding the ability to hit it past the bigger blocks. Prep Dig voted her a top performer award at their frosh showcase in August. Definitely a talent to watch.    [player_tooltip player_id='333654' first='Santina' last='Martcheva'] outside (Ocean Lakes) - In my opinion perhaps the most impressive left side hitter at the tournament. She lists at 6'1" and appears to have good elevation with her right arm to bring the ball down hard to the floor. She also gets her hands high over the net when blocking left side. The Virginia Tech recruit did not play a lot of back row while I was watching but she appears to have the quickness and athleticism to play six rotations.   [player_tooltip player_id='693827' first='Simone' last='Lawson'] right side/setter (Patrick Henry-Ashland) - The nice thing about ranking players is that when someone makes an all tournament list who lacks familiarity in your eyes you are forced to find out more about her. Simone is from the class of 2026, stands 5'11 and swings lefthanded. Her video shows a pretty fast arm swing from the right side and when setting and seeing a pass fly close to the net she can get up and take a pretty good swing at it.    At 5'9" she identifies as one of those undersized outsides. She made the Sharks as a frosh after their championship season. There was still a lot of talent on the roster so her role for the team was as a server who could put up a jump spin serve into the court and accumulate points. She brings a greater role to the team now as a primary outside hitter.   Last year she ranked number two to Aubrey Hatch in kills on the team. Her serve remained tough as she led the team in aces. This year it will be her team to lead on offense. A good opportunity to teach a number of young players how to play the game.    Vivian Nitowski right side (Langley) - Her swipe off the block in the first set gave Langley a 27-25 win over Courtland in the championship match. Last year she did not get a lot of playing opportunities in the Saxons championship run. This year she could land the starting right side position left vacant by graduation. At 5'8" she lacks the size of those graduated players, but she seems to get the job done. That is what coaches look for when they are filling out their lineup card.   Weekly Game Reports   Probably the biggest game of the early week saw Riverside play James Wood. Riverside went undefeated last year until losing in the Class 5 state championship final. James Wood reigns supreme as the two time defending Class 4 state champion. Talk about epic. Four of the five games were decided by two points. The match went five but Riverside won the last set 15-13. The 5'5" outside [player_tooltip player_id='181280' first='Brenna' last='Corbin'] led the Colonels in kills with 19 and digs with 21 while also contributing one solo block.   In another battle Good Counsel fought against Georgetown Visitation in five, winning the last set 15-13. While [player_tooltip player_id='525338' first='Jewel' last='Moore'] led the team in kills with 19, frosh [player_tooltip player_id='623089' first='Emma' last='Golnoski'] finished second with 14. Emma also had 12 digs and led in serve receptions so it appears the Falcons have brought in a solid frosh to build their program.

The players listed below were named by the other coaches for the All Tournament Team at the Virginia Volleyball Showcase. Langley came out on top while Courtland surprised with their second place finish. Not surprising that the two 5/1 setters for Langley and Courtland made the All Tournament Team.