Metro 18 Wins an Open Bid – OK Charge Virginia Connection

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Below some information on the Northeast National Qualifier as well as the Old Dominion 18 Regional Qualifier. The Red Rock Rave also happened last weekend. A Virginia connection brought [program_tooltip program_id='432025' first='OK' last='Charge'] to a seventh place finish in the 17 Open. Details on their reunion below.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Northeast Qualifier - Metro 18 Snags a Bid</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":186087,"width":"201px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/03/Isabel.jpg?w=683" alt="" class="wp-image-186087" style="width:201px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='181303' first='Isabelle' last='Bardin']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Metro 18</strong> played in three qualifiers, two national and one local and fell short of a bid at each event by just one win. The biggest disappointment had to be falling short by one win in the Chesapeake Bid Regional Championship. Two more opportunities still existed for them to earn a spot to pay in the Junior Nationals, the Northeast and the Mideast Qualifiers. If Metro failed to earn an open bid at these qualifiers they had to hope for an at large bid.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While it did not come easy Metro snagged their bid in the Northeast Qualifier by fighting their way into the gold bracket. Eight teams qualified for the gold bracket. Six of those teams already captured a bid. That meant one of the three bids went to Metro while the other fell to OT TJ from Florida. The third bid makes its way into an at large pie.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Metro earned their place in the gold bracket on Sunday by winning their last two matches in pool play on Saturday. After losing a heart breaking 15-13 set in a three set match to 1st Alliance Gold in their opener the next two matches became critical. Just one loss would eliminate them from appearing in the gold bracket. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Against 1st Alliance Silver they lost the first set 26-24. Another heartbreaking loss that may have broken most teams. Not this Metro team led by setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181303' first='Isabelle' last='Bardin']</strong>. With elimination on the horizon, they were able to win their next two sets 25-17, 15-8. A sweep of AJV Adidas 25-22, 25-20 earned them another trip to the gold bracket, which by process of elimination gave them a national bid. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While Metro finished fourth in their bracket pool to pocket seventh place in the tournament, I'm assuming the bid result had already been determined and bracket play became an opportunity to divide up playing time.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Metro 17</strong> fell one win short of earning a bid in their Open Division. They earned a place in one of the four three team pools to battle for the gold bracket appearance. To do that required a first place finish in the pool. Metro defeated Triangle Black in their first match, taking the third set 17-15. Houston Skyline Royal battled Metro to a third set where they ultimately came out on top 15-12. For Metro 17 the next weekend brings the local Chesapeake Regional Bid championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Like Metro 18, <strong>Virginia Elite 18</strong> fell short by one victory to capture a bid in the Chesapeake Regional Bid Championship. They played in the USA Division at the Northeast Qualifier, earning a spot in the gold bracket by sweeping through their competition on Saturday. Unfortunately, their first loss in the tournament the next day in the second round to <strong>305 VBC Rueben</strong> 26-24, 25-14 put them in fifth place, falling just short of a bid. Another win would have put them in the semi-final where three of the four teams earned a bid.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the Liberty Division both <strong>Maryland Jrs</strong> and <strong>MVSA Chaos</strong> finished fifth. Both teams had already captured Freedom Bids. MVSA lost in the second round to <strong>SOVBC Elvis</strong> 25-22, 25-17. SOVBC ended up winning the tournament but declined the one national bid. Maryland Juniors lost a three set match in the second round to <strong>L2 182</strong>. After taking the first set convincingly 25-11, they lost the next two sets 25-23, 15-8. For both teams it was their first match loss of the tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the American Division <strong>Metro North</strong> finished fifth while <strong>South River Volleyball Club</strong> settled for 9th. Both teams earned byes in the first round of the gold bracket. South River lost their first match to <strong>Husky National</strong> 25-17, 25-12. Metro North downed <strong>Barracuda </strong>in their match 25-20, 25-13. However, <strong>AJV Molten </strong>swept Metro North in the next round 25-20, 25-11.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Old Dominion Qualifier</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":753743,"width":"260px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/02/IMG_6679.jpeg?w=1016" alt="" class="wp-image-753743" style="width:260px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: [player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Old Dominion Region handed out three national bids in their local qualifier. Only six teams competed for these three bids. <strong>River Valley </strong>won the National Bid rolling undefeated in the tournament 4-0, 8-0. Libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='196556' first='Caleigh' last='Ponn']</strong>, (Kansas State0 left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='452562' first='Sophie' last='Taylor'] </strong>(Ole Miss) and setter/right side<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='495264' first='Ela' last='Shepherd']</strong> led the charge. When ranking the top three 18 club teams in the DC, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area River Valley finished second to <strong>Metro</strong>. They will play in the National Division with my third ranked 18 club <strong>Liberty Elite</strong> while Metro plays Open.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'] Black grabbed second place. They lost to River Valley in the finals 25-16, 25-17. The second place slot provides them an American Division spot in Junior Nationals. Some key players to watch on this team are left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='569802' first='Milan' last='Curl'] </strong>(New Hampshire), middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='568907' first='Shylah' last='Totten']</strong> (East Carolina) and setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='465317' first='Kathryn' last='Nguyen']</strong> (Mary Baldwin).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Finishing third to take a Freedom Division spot was <strong>757 Black</strong>. They beat <strong>757 Teal </strong>25-16, 25-19 in the third place match. 757 Black is led by class of 2026 left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='333654' first='Santina' last='Martcheva']</strong> (Virginia Tech), (setter/right side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='245600' first='Peyton' last='McGee']</strong> (Bucknell) and setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='326540' first='Ivey' last='Lucas']</strong> (Gardner-Webb).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Two ex-Virginia Players Lead [program_tooltip program_id='432025' first='OK' last='Charge'] 17 to Seventh Place Red Rock Rave Finish</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two ex-Virginia players led [program_tooltip program_id='432025' first='OK' last='Charge'] to a seventh place finish in the Red Rock Rave Qualifier in Las Vegas. One of them <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='210539' first='Emma' last='Gardner']</strong> recently played for Metro last year standing out as a top rated player in the Virginia class of 2026. For Oklahoma the Long Beach commit ranks seventh in their state. Emma moved to Oklahoma at the end of club season last year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The other [program_tooltip program_id='432025' first='OK' last='Charge'] player, libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='317563' first='Taylor' last='Rattay'] </strong>played for [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite'] 12 way back in 2020. Her sister <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='534842' first='Sloane' last='Rattay']</strong> also played on the same [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite'] 12 team but as a ten year old she did not get a lot of playing time. The coach for that team was me.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>During that season Taylor hit left side. One of the gifts with Taylor was her quickness and athleticism. She brought an impressive jump to the position. When measuring approach jumps the 14 coach commented how Taylor would rank second on his team in that category. When your father is a Hall of Fame football quarterback for Louisiana Tech and dabbled a bit at quarterback in the NFL while your mother played volleyball at Louisiana Tech for four years you can see where she gets the athleticism. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Unfortunately, it appears her growth stopped at 5'6". While I believe her athleticism could still allow her to hit outside she moved to the libero position when she moved to Oklahoma. As a libero Taylor ranks number 17 in the class of 2026. On the other hand, her sister Sloane sprouted to 5'11" giving her an opportunity to stay outside. She played with her sister last year at Stillwater high school leading the team in hitting percentage and kills per set. She plays for Oklahoma Peak Elite 15.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CO-VID interrupted that 2020 season. However, before the season officially came to a close we received an invite to participate in Junior Nationals. Unfortunately, the season never happened. The Rattay family moved to Oklahoma during the summer of that year because the father got a position as the football coach at Oklahoma State, ironically the lone Division I college without women's volleyball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Four years later the Gardner family planned a move to Oklahoma. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='210539' first='Emma' last='Gardner']</strong> needed a club to play for in Sooner country. When I talked to the mother I recommended [program_tooltip program_id='432025' first='OK' last='Charge'] as a strong club in that area. She said some friends who had once lived in Virginia who had also recommended that club. When she named her friends as the Rattay family I informed her that I had coached two of their younger daughters. It goes to show you how small the volleyball community can be.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Also on that [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite'] 12 team were <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='279856' first='Kayla' last='Luther']</strong> ([program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last='']/Loudoun County), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='239322' first='Hailey' last='Park']</strong> ((MOJO/Langley) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='238365' first='Molly' last='Gardner']</strong> Virginia Elite/Briar Woods). As a coach it is always good to see your former players achieve success.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->