Ten Unranked Prospects on the Rise

I try to see as many matches as possible but in the DMV area there can be over 500 matches in one day. The focus remains on teams yet to be seen, but that are having a strong season. Below are some players who do not appear in our current rankings, however based on their performance this high school season that may change. This list identifies players from the class of 2025 and 2026.   2025   [player_tooltip player_id='609602' first='Allison' last='Cibrian-Martinez'] L/DS (Colgan) - At the Flint Hill invitational she earned a spot on the All tournament team. The Sharks were the surprise winner of the event defeating Bishop O'Connell in the finals. O'Connell had just defeated the host Flint Hill in the semi-finals. Without her steady libero play the Sharks would not have been able to successively sustain an offensive game. In what looked to be a rebuilding year the Sharks find themselves 16-2-1 with a 9-0 record in the Region. You can't do that without a successful libero. Last year Allison was listed as a OH/DS for the team. This year it appears she has found her niche in the back row.   [player_tooltip player_id='693840' first='Jasmine' last='Oduro'] MB (Westfield) - Westfield is making a run in the Concorde Region with a 15-4 record. Last year they finished a dismal 1-18. A lot of the credit for the improved record points to the middle play of [player_tooltip player_id='693840' first='Jasmine' last='Oduro']. Her improved ability to run the quick tempo sets opens up the hitting lanes for the pins. She also has improved her blocking and her success at finding the floor more consistently has risen exponentially. The Bulldogs have made one of the biggest turn arounds this high school season.   [player_tooltip player_id='643819' first='Julia' last='Schumer'] OH (Marshall) - Last year Julia did not get a lot of opportunities to start for Marshall. The Statesman had the Sayd sisters hitting on the left side. This coming season saw a big improvement in her game. She has taken a regular spot hitting left side where she also plays six rotations. Julia hustles after every ball, crashing to the floor to prevent a ball from landing. Perhaps she may not be the most dynamic hitter on the court, but she still has the ability to put the ball to the floor. She uses her intelligence to know where the empty areas of the court exist. In a recent match against Yorktown she finished with 15 kills.   [player_tooltip player_id='696412' first='Stella' last='Lichter'] OH (Walter Johnson) - Stella leads the Wildcats in kills and digs. She plays solid six rotation volleyball. Last year she also led the team in kills and was second in digs. Again, a solid six rotation player. She also plays for MVSA. For some reason she did not stand out at MVSA. At the Battle of Bethesda she made my all tournament team. Just a solid all around player and team leader. She lists at 5'10", perhaps not tall enough to play at a power 5 college but she can contribute at a smaller level,   [player_tooltip player_id='608994' first='Emma' last='Sofis'] MB (Colonial Forge) - It surprises me that a 6'3" middle/right side has yet to find a college interested in her. Emma can play either middle or right side. Her hands reach high over the net when she goes up to block. She lacks an on line presence for the recruiting process so perhaps no interest exists to play in the college environment. Definitely has the height to dominant in the front row but still needs some tinkering with her transition game to improve her approach for hitting middle.   [player_tooltip player_id='705676' first='Malia' last='Lei-Sam'] OH (Hayfield) - At 5'8" she lacks the height to hit outside at the higher Division I levels. However, she does hit the ball with velocity. The Hawks are also not shy either about using her offense in the back row. She stands out as the primary offensive force for the Hawks. Her back row play is also strong. If the need arises she could convert to a libero.   2026   [player_tooltip player_id='664960' first='Carmela' last='Mendoza'] S (Ocean Lakes) - She set a 5/1 offense for Ocean Lakes. No matter the talent of your hitters if the team lacks a quality setter they will still struggle to win. She distributes her sets well and finds a consistent location. Ocean Lakes finds itself in a four team battle for first place in the Beach Division. They have yet to win a State title, finishing second in 2016 to Kellam. The combo of left side [player_tooltip player_id='333654' first='Santina' last='Martcheva'] and setter [player_tooltip player_id='664960' first='Carmela' last='Mendoza'] hope to change all that.   [player_tooltip player_id='696415' first='Jenna' last='Swale'] L/DS (Madison) - Last year the Warhawks carried one of the top liberos in the area in Sydney Pham. Jenna was not on the varsity roster. What a difference a year makes. This year she finds herself second on the team in aces and third in digs per set. Madison finds themselves undefeated in the Concorde Division, a task that would prove difficult without solid libero play.   [player_tooltip player_id='664173' first='Vivi' last='Deans'] M (Norfolk Academy)- She brings some height to the middle at 6'1". Blocking stands out as her strength. She ranks second on the team in blocks. As a middle she does not get that much opportunity to hit, but she ranks third on the team with a .316 hitting percentage. A little more work on her transition game would improve her approach and provide more opportunities to hit. An athletic player Vivi also participates in basketball and soccer. Perhaps that lack of focus could prevent her from excelling at one sport.   [player_tooltip player_id='693829' first='Ella' last='Kliner'] L/DS (Independence)- Ella has taken over the libero responsibilities this year for Independence. You may not find a player on the court who communicates more. She also hustles on the floor. On occasion she struggles with her passing. Regardless, with her on the court you know you will get full effort. Before her volleyball career got started Ella was a gymnast   [player_tooltip player_id='702631' first='McKenna' last='Brown'] OH (Howard) - Finally got to see Howard play. McKenna leads the offense hitting left side and also making herself available for the three meter attack in the back row. She leads the team in kills while also ranking second in digs. At 5'11 she brings decent height to the left side. When she hits the ball it carries with some hard velocity.   Colgan Stays Hot With Win Over Patriot   It was a battle between Patriot, first place in the Cedar Run Region versus Colgan, first place in the Cardinal Region. Colgan also came into the match hot with an 11 game winning streak. During that streak they had only lost two sets.   In the first set Patriot raced out to a 10-6 lead. [player_tooltip player_id='238850' first='Sydney' last='Bennett'] had a big block in the middle and [player_tooltip player_id='220923' first='Soleil' last='Rancourt'] slammed down some early kills. After a time out by the Sharks they got serve back and [player_tooltip player_id='238593' first='Tehillah' last='Garrison'] created havoc on the Patriot side of the court. Mixing in a jump spin with a jump float she served two aces and notched six points to put the Sharks up 13-10. Patriot continued to struggle with their passing and the Colgan middles [player_tooltip player_id='333653' first='Elizabeth' last='York'] and [player_tooltip player_id='696425' first='Kennedy' last='Buchanan'] finished the set off for a 25-20 win.    At 5'10" she brings decent size to the left side as a sophomore. Her attack approach reaches 9'9". With a couple more inches of growth, improvement in her approach and more physical training to enhance her jump and she could be dangerous. Sometimes her approach is too early on higher sets which causes her to hit underneath the ball and rifle her hit out. Tight sets tend to handcuff her as well. With more repetitions over time the hope is she will learn to swipe a tip off the block.   For a class of 2027 there exists a lot of potential in her game. With a major in engineering she certainly brings intelligence to the court. After watching her play with Patriot a rise in the rankings would not surprise me.    Patriot bounced back in the second set. This time it was their middles taking charge with [player_tooltip player_id='464562' first='Elizabeth' last='Gordon'] bringing four kills and two blocks while [player_tooltip player_id='238850' first='Sydney' last='Bennett'] contributed two kills and one block to give the Patriots the 25-21 win. Ashley Bowman also started the game off with two ace serves to begin the set 3-0. [player_tooltip player_id='500510' first='Violet' last='Masiello'] contributed two late kills to finish the game.   The third set started out the same as the first, with Colgan calling a timeout at 6-10 and Patriot calling a time out at 10-11. This time the Pioneers stayed in the game. [player_tooltip player_id='500510' first='Violet' last='Masiello'] got hot from the left side to power four kills to the floor. [player_tooltip player_id='223581' first='Skylar' last='Johnson'] for the Sharks responded with five kills, including a clutch deep court kill that tied the game at 24-24. Two Patriot hitting errors gave Colgan the 26-24 win.   [player_tooltip player_id='238593' first='Tehillah' last='Garrison'] finished Patriot off in the fourth set. She accumulated our points off her serve putting Colgan ahead 23-15. She also contributed three kills in the set The Pioneers were never in the game, losing 25-16.   [player_tooltip player_id='448705' first='Danika' last='Swanson'] set a 5/1 for Patriot. She did a good job distributing her sets to the hitters, especially the middles. She had a tendency to put the set too close to the net setting the outsides when the pass was near the ten foot line. [player_tooltip player_id='181245' first='Anisa' last='Flowers'] found herself at the libero position. The former setter did a good job on defense and passing. The passing breakdowns for the Pioneers came when others were forced to pass. [player_tooltip player_id='609602' first='Allison' last='Cibrian-Martinez'] played a solid libero for Colgan.   With four frosh on the varsity and a very good junior varsity team Colgan looks to continue their regional domination for a couple more years.   The other match worth watching was Hayfield versus Falls Church. It so happens that Falls Church is within walking distance. In that match both teams were tied for first in the National Region at 9-1. It would determine who would win the region since neither are expected to fall to their future opponents.   Falls Church came away with the sweep 25-17, 25-20 and 26-24. [player_tooltip player_id='248668' first='Eliana' last='Tamayo'] led the team with 13 points serving, 19 assists and 9 digs. For me, this was a bit of a surprise since Hayfield showed some offensive prowess when they played Thomas Jefferson. That offense was absent Monday night.

I try to see as many matches as possible but in the DMV area there can be over 500 matches in one day. The focus remains on teams yet to be seen, but that are having a strong season. Below are some players who do not appear in our current rankings, however based on their performance this high school season that may change. This list identifies players from the class of 2025 and 2026.