Teams and Players Who Shined at MAPL Black Division

I write a lot of notes from these tournaments. Sometimes these notes are written so fast that when I get home to review them they look like Chinese characters. It becomes a mystery trying to figure out what I was trying to write. What is really frustrating is when the number I thought was associated with the player does not exist on the roster. It becomes a challenge trying to figure it out the name of the player. However, I usually hear from someone when a mistake has been made. The editing part is easy.   Below are some of the teams and their players who stood out that competed in MAPL..   Black Division 16-18   757 18 Black   757 is a merger of Beach Elite and another club. They finished in 9th place in the tournament. After losing their first two matches of the day to [program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'] 18 and [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 17 they bounced back to win five of their last six. Their big win was to [program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'] 17. Eventually they won the silver bracket with a win over Virginia Wave17.   The top player on 757 clearly goes to [player_tooltip player_id='245600' first='Peyton' last='McGee'], who brings a hard lefthanded swing to the left or right side. Because she sets and swings lefthanded she plays mostly the right side. Sharing the setting duties with her is [player_tooltip player_id='326540' first='Ivey' last='Lucas']. Ivey is a smaller setter who brings good hands to the court. A third setter is [player_tooltip player_id='670784' first='Olivia' last='Fortier'] but she can also come in as a defensive specialist. She did a little of both at the tournament. [player_tooltip player_id='664963' first='Kayla' last='Bennett'] is the main libero.   For offense they rely on [player_tooltip player_id='333654' first='Santina' last='Martcheva'] to bury balls from the left side. Her 6'1" frame can put a lot of velocity on the ball but her back row play can still be a little sketchy. The unranked [player_tooltip player_id='752054' first='Madison' last='Rogers'] showed some good middle play when hitting the quick tempo sets.   [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 17 Nick   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/07/354-Parker-Sutherland.jpg?w=566" alt="" class="wp-image-411781" style="width:235px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">parker sutherland</figcaption></figure>   Paramount 17 tied with [program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'] 18 Black for the fifth spot. Their only three losses in the tournament were to Metro 16 and 17 as well as [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 17, all teams that finished ahead of them in the standings. They did defeat [program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'] 18 Black in three. That would actually give them fourth place when you count head to head play for the tie breaker. For Paramount, a disappointing finish, especially when you consider [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 16 won the tournament and beat Metro 16 and 17 as well as [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 17.   One of their strength is the length in their middles with [player_tooltip player_id='325603' first='Parker' last='Sutherland'] and [player_tooltip player_id='498420' first='Meisha' last='Sykes'] providing the height while [player_tooltip player_id='325599' first='Raegan' last='Lentz'] brings the quickness. Despite her shorter height (6'0") Raegan shines at hitting the quick tempo sets. [player_tooltip player_id='333650' first='Louise' last='Neuhart'] consistently puts the ball away from the left side. She tallied at least six kills in their second set win over 757 18 Black, including the final kill that finished the match. [player_tooltip player_id='438046' first='Anna' last='Dierks'] and [player_tooltip player_id='235322' first='Avery' last='Prendergast'] share setting duties.   757 16 Black   They won their first three matches, including big wins over [program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'] 17 Black and [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 16 Blue. They finished the tournament off strong with a three set win over 757 17 Black to win the bronze medal bracket.   Libero [player_tooltip player_id='471714' first='Ryann' last='Bothof'] always impresses me with her hustle and her communication with her teammates when on the court. An extremely intense player. She whipped out a couple ace serves that helped in the win over [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 16 Blue. Definitely a player I would classify as an over achiever. [player_tooltip player_id='746325' first='Cheyenne' last='Wright'] looked strong on the right side generating five kills against [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 16. She belongs to the class of 2028 so she plays a year up. [player_tooltip player_id='734796' first='Benisa' last='Moore'] brings good hops from the left side but needs to improve her passing to play six rotations. Left side [player_tooltip player_id='545710' first='Avery' last='Osler'] put away the game winning hit in their second 26-24 win over [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 16.   East Coast 17 Black   The one disappointing aspect of this tournament for East Coast is their losses to the 16, 17 and 18 757 Black teams. They do have talent with the 6'2" [player_tooltip player_id='707593' first='Kenzie' last='Smith'] plugging up the middle. She gets her hands up high over the net but still needs to work on her transition game to improve her approach. She played a lot of right side for Grafton. [player_tooltip player_id='519180' first='Marian' last='Ratchford'] showed some strong wrist snap on her swings from the left and right side. Another player with a big left side attack is [player_tooltip player_id='752059' first='Sydney' last='Peterson']. Her six rotation play allowed her to create offense from the back row.   [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 17   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/04/hobbs-blue-ridge.jpg?w=628" alt="" class="wp-image-529430" style="width:235px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='520349' first='Lauren' last='Hobbs']</figcaption></figure>   They finished in third place in the tournament. A 16-14 third set loss to the eventual champion [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 16 changed their fortunes. They also lost to Metro 16 and 17, with the loss to the Metro 17 team occurring in the semifinals of the gold bracket match. The good news is they took down Paramount 17 in the first round of the gold bracket, slipping past them in the third set 15-10.   [player_tooltip player_id='481961' first='Addison' last='Ziegler'] with her left handed swing from the right side adds a lot of offense for this team. [player_tooltip player_id='181302' first='Kennedy' last='Spaid'] is the terminator from the left side. This year she appears to hit the ball with much greater velocity while also still showing the intelligence to know where to find the seams in the court. Kennedy will play beach at Arizona State, so the indoor game just helps her deal with the winter months. [player_tooltip player_id='525340' first='Olivia' last='Smith'] is a smaller left side who loves to tool balls off blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='520349' first='Lauren' last='Hobbs'] runs the offense setting a 5/1. [player_tooltip player_id='320815' first='Tenley' last='Mattison'] and [player_tooltip player_id='739911' first='Colette' last='Mercker'] do an excellent job blocking the middle. Collette strung together two ace serves against [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 17 to put her team ahead 12-7, then finished the match off with a powerful redirect kill that gave [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] the 15-10 win. Of all the liberos in this area give me [player_tooltip player_id='181280' first='Brenna' last='Corbin']. The James Madison commit can play the position better than most on this planet.   [program_tooltip program_id='498498' first='Virginia' last='Wave'] 17 Elite   An 11th place finish for them. They won four of their first five matches. A loss to [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 17 dropped them down to the silver bracket. They were swept by 757 18 black in the finals of that match.   [player_tooltip player_id='746353' first='Caroline' last='Clements'] really impresses with her left side play. She is an undersized pin with a fast arm swing that brings a lot of velocity to her hits. Her six rotation play also allows her to create offense from beyond the three meter line. [player_tooltip player_id='752063' first='Anna' last='Moody'] takes advantage of her left handed swing to generate offense from the right side. [player_tooltip player_id='752075' first='Julia' last='Kinney'] finds the empty parts of the court hitting from the pins. Her swing also generates good velocity.   [player_tooltip player_id='752070' first='Isabella' last='Arthur'] plays a strong middle with the strength to hit balls through blocks. When hitting an overset she does not provide the kind of bounce a Metro player will show, but she brings it to the floor just as well. [player_tooltip player_id='752065' first='Leah' last='Rounds'] also plays middle despite being a tad undersized. [player_tooltip player_id='238858' first='Allyson' last='Burke'] impressed with her libero play. She shows a good serve while providing hustle on the court.   Metro 18 North   Metro North only lost one match all tournament. That was to the [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 18 Blue team. They won the Silver B bracket to finish in ninth place. At 5'6" [player_tooltip player_id='321678' first='Elaina' last='Murphy'] brings the jump and the arm swing to whack the ball as hard as any six footer. She belongs to the class of 2026. As a six rotation player she could make a good back row player.   Metro 16   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/03/154-Barrett-Bolter-rotated.jpg?w=683" alt="" class="wp-image-520724" style="width:187px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='478903' first='Barrett' last='Bolter']</figcaption></figure>   They finished in third place, losing in three sets to [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 16 in the gold semi-final match after taking the first set 25-23. The only other match they lost in the tournament was to Metro 17. They brought some impressive wins over [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 17 and [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 17.   [player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray'] and [player_tooltip player_id='377396' first='Alexa' last='Telly'] are the primary offensive contributors from the left side. Alexa popped the game winning kill to win their first set against [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 16 in the gold bracket semi-finals. She also carried Metro 16 with four kills towards the end of the second match that they eventually lost 25-22. Middle [player_tooltip player_id='438077' first='Averi' last='Hanna'] ended the match with a 25-19 win against [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 17 with an ace serve. The other middle [player_tooltip player_id='437441' first='Hunter' last='Ross'] put together a big block against [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 16 to give them a 24-22 lead in their lone semi-final win. [player_tooltip player_id='290176' first='Kieran' last='Rhoton'] and [player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray'] switched their normal pin placement every so often, with Kieran getting an opportunity to hit left side while Macie hit from the right. It also gives defenses different looks.   [player_tooltip player_id='292644' first='Caycee' last='Chhum'] and [player_tooltip player_id='478903' first='Barrett' last='Bolter'] share setting responsibilities. They do a good job of using the one handed set to continue to feed their hitters on the really tight passes. [player_tooltip player_id='437443' first='Kaniyah' last='Ball'] plays a consistent libero. She also brings a strong serve with lots of knuckle.

I write a lot of notes from these tournaments. Sometimes these notes are written so fast that when I get home to review them they look like Chinese characters. It becomes a mystery trying to figure out what I was trying to write. What is really frustrating is when the number I thought was associated with the player does not exist on the roster. It becomes a challenge trying to figure it out the name of the player. However, I usually hear from someone when a mistake has been made. The editing part is easy.