DMV Teams Competing in 18U National Championships

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In Louisville Kentucky six teams from the D.C/Maryland/Virginia (DMV) area are competing for the 18U National Championships. Not really too sure what makes it a national championship other than a sponsorship by Under Armour. They are hosting a number of highly ranked teams to compete in this tournament. Later this month the USAV 18 Junior National championships will be held in Utah. Perhaps the LOVB event, which is one of two professional volleyball leagues is also holding their championship in Louisville during that same weekend. That may carry some influence as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If you look at the top ten nationally ranked teams according to Advanced Event Systems (AES), only three teams from that group are competing in this national championship, Munciana Samurai, SPVB Elite and MiElite Mizuno. Many of the top ranked west coast teams such as Coast, Wave, Arizona Storm and TAV Black are absent. That waters down the championship aura a bit, however it doesn't taint the fact that a number of quality teams are still playing. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From a DMV perspective, three of the top four teams from the Chesapeake Region are competing, [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''], Metro and Virginia Elite. Three other teams, Columbia Black, 757 Black and [program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'] Black are entered in the Premier Division. From a regional perspective Columbia is fifth ranked in the Chesapeake Region. [program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'] ranks second while 757 Black ranks 6th in the Old Dominion Region. Below are some of the players to watch from these six teams.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Metro </strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":186087,"width":"171px","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:171px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='181303' first='Isabelle' last='Bardin']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Metro surprisingly could not even finish in the top four in the Chesapeake Region Bid Championship. Paramount upset them early in the single elimination bid bracket. Metro later made up for it by earning an Open bid when they finished seventh in the Northeast Qualifier. They are the only DMV team to compete in the Open Division in the USAV Junior National Championships in Utah. Metro ranks number 35 nationally and third regionally per AES.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players ranked in the top 50 - #2<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='181303' first='Isabelle' last='Bardin']</strong> (Purdue), #3 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181300' first='Alexis' last='Ewing'] </strong>(Penn State), #7 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181309' first='Brianna' last='Holladay']</strong> (Virginia Tech), #9 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181763' first='Jada' last='Aksu']</strong> (Lafayette), #16<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='235293' first='Destini' last='Pickett']</strong> (American), #20 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235284' first='Caitlin' last='Johnson']</strong> (Santa Clara), #23 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181805' first='Madison' last='Smith'] </strong>(Brown)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] lost to Liberty Elite in the Chesapeake Region Bid Championship. That gave them an American bid in the USAV Junior National Championships in Utah. Paramount has played in a number of Qualifiers in an attempt to win an Open Bid. They fell short with their highest finish ninth in the Ohio Valley Qualifier. They also competed in the Triple Crown event where they placed 61st out of 96 teams. All of their finishes in the qualifiers were in the second division. Based on those results [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] ranks 368 nationally, while still ranking first in the region.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players ranked in the top 50 - #12 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='248705' first='Zoe' last='Ryu']</strong> (Bowdoin), #19 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235324' first='Rowan' last='Johnson']</strong> (Akron), #25 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235283' first='Racquel' last='Frazier']</strong>, #27 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='230817' first='Riley' last='Lynch']</strong>, #29 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='184604' first='Nia' last='Thomas'],</strong> #30 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='183589' first='Angelique' last='Desamours']</strong>, #44 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181235' first='Sydney' last='Mayfield']</strong> (Northeastern)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Virginia Elite</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":186080,"width":"200px","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/Shy.jpg?w=774" alt="" class="wp-image-186080" style="width:200px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='181242' first='Shylah' last='Swope']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another favored team that could not win a bid from the Chesapeake Regional Bid Championship. MVSA Chaos upset them in the first round of the bid bracket playoff. While they did compete in a couple Qualifiers, playing in both Open and USA Division they fell short of capturing a bid. Still some open slots in the USA and Liberty Division exist, but all the Open Division slots have filled. Their biggest loss this season may have been the knee injury to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181243' first='Evelyn' last='Jurden']</strong> just prior to all the qualifiers being played. She ranks tenth in the class of 2025 with a commitment to New Hampshire. For the state of Virginia high school Evelyn finished third overall in kills. Virgnia Elite ranks number 160 nationally and fourth in the Region.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players ranked in the top 50 - #4 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181298' first='Ana' last='Toumazatos'] </strong>(James Madison), #14 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181242' first='Shylah' last='Swope']</strong> (William &amp; Mary), #15<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='181279' first='Kadi' last='Pynchon']</strong> (Lafayette), #17 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235291' first='Sadee' last='Gedse']</strong> (George Washington), #33 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='475116' first='Jocelyn' last='Pye']</strong> (John Hopkins), </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Premium Division</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Columbia Elite Black</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Columbia is the third team that fell just short of earning a bid in the Chesapeake Regional Bid. They lost to the eventual champion Liberty Elite in the first round of the single elimination bid bracket playoffs. The only Qualifier they have played is the Northeast Qualifier. They finished 31st out of 48 teams. While Columbia has yet to win a tournament they have finished in the top five in five tournaments. Those results put them at 537 in the national rankings while they sit number five regionally according to AES.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players ranked in the top 200 - #158 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='581666' first='Nicole' last='Neal'] </strong>(Navy)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>757 Black </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Beach Elite went away and merged with 757 Black. 757 will compete in the USAV Junior Nationals Freedom Division after finishing third in the Old Dominion Regional Bid Championship. They competed in the USA Division in a couple Qualifiers but finished in the middle of the pack. In the Mid-Atlantic Power League (MAPL) at Hampton they finished ninth in the 16-18 Black Division. No first place finishes recorded in AES, which puts them at 484 nationally, while they rank sixth regionally.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players ranked in the top 200 - #42 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='245600' first='Peyton' last='McGee']</strong> (Bucknell), #65 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='326540' first='Ivey' last='Lucas']</strong> (Gardner-Webb), #126 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='481962' first='Gabby' last='Taylor']</strong> (Iona), #147 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='670784' first='Olivia' last='Fortier']</strong> (Mary Washington), 200 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='664963' first='Kayla' last='Bennett']</strong>, class of 2026 #14 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='333654' first='Santina' last='Martcheva'] </strong>(Virginia Tech) </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'] Black</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":589224,"width":"301px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/08/82-Allie-Skarbek.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-589224" style="width:301px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Allie Skarbek</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>East Coast finished second in the Old Dominion Regional Bid championship. This earned them an American bid in the USAV Junior Nationals in Utah. Similar to 757 they played in the USA Division Qualifier but finished in the middle of the pack. At MAPL they finished fifth, the highest for an 18 team in the tournament. Despite ranking higher in the region than 757 Black at number two they fall lower in the national rankings at 510.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players ranked in the top 200 - #85 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='569802' first='Milan' last='Curl']</strong> (New Hampshire), #138 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='568907' first='Shylah' last='Totten']</strong> (East Carolina), #150 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='465317' first='Kathryn' last='Nguyen']</strong> (Mary Baldwin), classof 2026 #155 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='553762' first='Allison' last='Skarbek']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->