Congratulations to our Gatorade Players of the Year

The DMV area is blessed to have five players win Gatorade Player of the Year awards. Three of those players were recently named by Prep Dig as the high school players of the year for the states of DC, Maryland and Virginia. Two won for the states of West Virginia and Texas but play or have played in the DMV area. Since ranking players for Prep Dig for the last three years in the DMV area there exists a lot of emotional attachment when watching their careers evolve. It is quite exciting to see their success.   Below are the five players from the class of 2025 who have made an impact in the DMV area. Included is a little bit of history about their journey.   Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year    In her early years Caleigh toiled in obscurity playing for clubs in Roanoke. I remember getting an email from a parent complaining that I never write about girls from the Roanoke area.   Fortunately for me there was the Endless Summer tournament in Virginia Beach. Hidden Valley was entered in that tournament. At the time Caleigh was a sophomore. I made the point of watching Hidden Valley play, not expecting much but fulfilling an obligation. After all, they were a high school from Roanoke.   Wow!!!. She dominated that tournament, even as a sophomore. Only 5'6" she was hitting left side and putting balls away against the best blocks. Definitely an eye opening moment.   Even though I have yet to see her play as a libero her volleyball IQ as a left side was off the charts. Even as a six rotation left side she showed me she can play back row. In my next ranking she went from obscurity to number three in her first appearance in the class of 2025 ranking, still the highest debut ever for a player. Because of her Roanoke is now on my map for players to watch.   After her sophomore season Caleigh actually decided to commute to play club ball for Academy in North Carolina to increase her exposure. It worked. She ended up committing to Kansas State after her first season there.    Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year    Her first exposure to me was at a local Maryland tournament at the 16 level. She was a lefthander swinging left side and playing six rotations. She clearly stood out as the dominant player on the court.   When I talked to one of the local coaches who once coached her, he called her one of the nicest human beings you could meet on this planet. So that brought her up a few notches as well.   Then I watched her play high school for Richard Montgomery. It surprised me to see her set and hit right side for the Rockets. Not a lot of players stand 6'0" who have the skills to set and also hammer the ball from the right side. In fact, as good as she hit the ball from the left side her ability to hit from the right side was even better. Such versatility for a player.   Richard Montgomery won the state championship in 2023. They also won it again in 2024. Still, despite all these accomplishments she was the last player in my top ten ranking from the class of 2025 to commit. Don't know the reason why it took so long, especially with her skills.   Ema committed to UMBC.    DC Gatorade Player of the Year    With Jada there never was any question about her talent. Watching her powerful lefthanded swing from the right side put her in the top ten. She also played with a fierce intensity and enthusiasm I like to see on the court.   One day, her mom stopped me at a tournament and thanked me for writing about her. At some point she mentioned that Jada played for [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite'] 12. That surprised me because I coach for [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite'] 13. I gave her a hard time about why she did not play for me the following year, but she said she wanted to but got an opportunity to play for Metro 13. Bummer for me. Who knows where that path would have taken her if she played for [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite'] 13.   Like Ema she helped Georgetown Day win two consecutive championships. Clara Yu won the Gatorade Player of the Year after the first championship. Jada earned it after the second.   At a recent practice for my [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite'] 13 team I mentioned Jada winning the Gatorade Player of the Year award. And where did she start her volleyball career? [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite'] 12. That got a big impression. Now she is their favorite volleyball player. They want to be just like her.   Jada will play for Lafayette.    West Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year    The DMV area can be a melting pot including a number of states. The Chesapeake Region includes DC, Virginia and Maryland as well as Delaware and West Virginia. The club [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] happens to border West Virginia and Musselman High. Ada has played for [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] for a number of years. It helps that her father also coaches there.   When you watch Ada hit you are surprised at the power she can put into the ball. With her skinny frame it makes you wonder where that muscle comes from. She stands 5'11" (now 6'0" on Max Preps), which might be considered undersized by many college coaches. For her high school career she amassed 1985 kills, averaging close to 4 kills per set. She also finished with a hitting percentage of .287.   One of her closest friends and former teammate Hannah Howard also won a Gatorade Player of the Year award for the same West Virginia high school. She eventually converted to libero during her 18 season while playing for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] after making a commitment to UMBC. Ada would have liked to play with Hannah at UMBC but that did not work out. So instead, she will play at Shepherd University in West Virginia.   Just think, UMBC could possibly have committed two Gatorade player of the year recruits if they had played their cards right.    Texas Gatorade Player of the Year    Sometimes I wonder if Macaria would have shot up the prospect ladder if she had not moved to Texas. Macaria played in Virginia for Flint Hill her frosh and sophomore years in high school. Even as a frosh she dominated leading Flint Hill to two VISAA state championships in the two years she played for them.   For Metro she played with Emerson Sellman. The two played left side and made Metro the favorite of college coaches to watch when they played at 16.   Macaria immediately appeared as our number one prospect in the class of 2025 when she moved to Virginia. After two years of playing here she moved to Texas. The National ranking publications for club players started noticing her and she shot up the rankings from the bottom 100 into the top ten. Playing for Prestonwood Christian helped with that ascent.   Sometimes I wonder if Macaria would have received the same amount of national attention had she stayed in Virginia. She certainly was one of the more athletic players on the court, having a father who played in the NFL and a mother who played professional basketball. Now she will be playing for the powerhouse Texas Longhorns.   Who knows, if she had stayed in Virginia perhaps she would have committed to UMBC.

The DMV area is blessed to have five players win Gatorade Player of the Year awards. Three of those players were recently named by Prep Dig as the high school players of the year for the states of DC, Maryland and Virginia. Two won for the states of West Virginia and Texas but play or have played in the DMV area. Since ranking players for Prep Dig for the last three years in the DMV area there exists a lot of emotional attachment when watching their careers evolve. It is quite exciting to see their success.