DMV Freshman Showcase: Top Performers

It was a good thing that we had two scouts at this event, as the level of talent was deeper than anticipated, and seeing them all at the same time was tricky. With two sets of eyes on things, we identified our target number of top performers, and then a couple of bonus targets because we just couldn't narrow things down anymore. With some deep turnout from [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''], Maryland Juniors and BAVA, especially, some schools have a nice influx of talent on the way next season. Especially AACS, which was represented by 4 incoming freshmen on its own, including Avoli Committed Athlete [player_tooltip player_id='749642' first='Sophia' last='Groshek'].    Sophia was my pick as Avoli Committed athlete, as she stood out with her leadership and communication, as well as her outstanding play. She's got a fantastic hard float serve which when coupled with her height and her jump serve, takes a nasty angle making it hard to play, mimicking a top spin serve and causing problems for even the best DS/L on the court. She's got great height, that she uses to get up and get strong angles down the line and back corner. She looked good on the block, even though she was often faced with the toughest hitter to block at the event, club mate Siera Thomas. While the offense is nice, her serve receive and digs were some of the best you'll see from a pin hitter, she's the real deal.     Another player from the talented AACS freshman class and Maryland Juniors, Harper is a standout DS/L by any standard. You won't find many players more solid with their platform and passing, which starts a high powered offense on one of the top 14s teams in the country. Her range and speed are exactly what you'd expect from a girl leading a team to a 3rd place finish at Nationals in 2024. Harper is a defensive force to be reckoned with and is going to be one to watch at Nationals this month.     Neely stood out early in this showcase during 3v3 action. It's not often you see a middle with a good serve receive, and nice passing skills, once she showed that it was hard not to keep tabs on her all day. Offensively, she showed good touch, and nice hitting skills with pretty good speed for a middle. Defensively she did a good job sliding to help cover the big hits from each side and getting her hands up above the net on every play. She had her hands full going up against the best pin hitter at the showcase for quite a bit of the day and showed well, even grabbing a couple solo blocks. Neely is going to be a welcome add for a Broadneck team that already has some of the best weapons in the state and will be looking to make a deep run this fall.     Lilyana was a fantastic player to watch at this showcase. She stood out originally with range and defense so fantastic that I thought she was a good DS/L. When I checked my info and saw she was a Setter, I was even more intrigued and watched for a longer stretch. Over the course of the day, I saw great footwork, using her great speed to get to where she needed to be and get squared in time to get up a good strong set. Her hands were very soft and she did a good job of setting middles with nice touch, while still having good strength for the outside balls. The agility was nice, showed good accuracy on the back sets to the right side, and her decision making skills were very solid, mixing up balls enough to keep the block off balance and give her hitters the best chance to succeed. She is going to be one of the best setters in the area for years to come.     Kayla was one of my favorite players to watch all day. Like most scouting days, players don't often know when we are watching, and catching her just in warm ups I saw some great traits for a DS/L and marked her as one to follow. Over the course of the day, I found out she was one of the youngest players at the showcase, and plays for one of the top clubs in the area, which is almost always a great combo. Watching her more, her defense is next level, great speed, and very quick ground-up recovery led to quite a few spectacular digs and back in the play. She kept a bunch of balls in play with one handed ups that looked like sure points, and her serve receive was solid, if not spectacular at times. Quite a few times during game play I watched her play balls hit by the best hitter in camp that girls years older would have had trouble with. Kayla is going to be a star in the area and a fun one to watch through her HS years.    An already deep area in the DMV got even deeper with such a talented Freshman class coming in, Nationals will have a couple more stories to tell, but High School season just got much more interesting in this area. Doubtless that you will hear much more about these girls in the coming months.

It was a good thing that we had two scouts at this event, as the level of talent was deeper than anticipated, and seeing them all at the same time was tricky. With two sets of eyes on things, we identified our target number of top performers, and then a couple of bonus targets because we just couldn't narrow things down anymore. With some deep turnout from Paramount , Maryland Juniors and BAVA, especially, some schools have a nice influx of talent on the way next season. Especially AACS, which was represented by 4 incoming freshmen on its own, including Avoli Committed Athlete Sophia Groshek Sophia Groshek 5'11" | S/OH Annapolis Area Christian | 2029 State VA .