Final Day - Metro Hauls in the Medals at Dallas

Since my niece started playing volleyball for Coast about a decade ago Metro was always talked about as a club filled with athletes but short on results. Their only first place finish occurred way back in 2015 when their 18 team finished first in Nationals. Two teams won medals in 2018, both the 18s and 14s finishing third in the National Division. Their last appearance on the medal stage was in 2021 when the 16 team finished second in the National Division. That also might have been the last time a Chesapeake team appeared on the medal stand.   This year Metro took it to another level. For the first time three teams took home medals with the 15s, 16s and 17s going home with the hardware. In addition, the 15s team gave them a first place finish in the National Division, something that last occurred in 2015 when their 18 team took home the gold also in the National Division. Finally, the 17 team snagged their first medal ever in the Open division. Perhaps Metro is rising to a new level. Their athletic players broke out some pretty special skills and this time they achieved results.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Metro 17 Takes the Bronze</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/06/RG1A6109.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-788243" style="width:401px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson'] with the block</figcaption></figure>   The morning did not start well for Metro against Club V Black Reed. They made a great comeback battling from a 24-21 deficit to tie the set 24-24. [player_tooltip player_id='303701' first='Caydence' last='Doolan'] contributed a kill and [player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson'] tied the score at 24-24. A hitting error by Metro and a set ending kill by Avery Poulton gave Club V the opening set win 26-24.   In the second set libero [player_tooltip player_id='265167' first='Laila' last='Chadwick'] shifted the momentum with her defensive play. She always seemed in the right spot when making a dig, lifting the ball to the setter to allow her to run the offense. Not a lot of chasing balls with her digs to make frantic out of system sets. Right side [player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson'] benefited from the pristine digs with eight kills in the set and Metro rolled to a 25-13 win. Laila also contributed two aces and a number of assists from out of system sets.   Down 4-5 in the third set [player_tooltip player_id='303701' first='Caydence' last='Doolan'] strung together three consecutive kills, the last one happening only after a terrific save by [player_tooltip player_id='265167' first='Laila' last='Chadwick']. Laila then sent [player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson'] an out of system set which she put away. Caydence found the floor again to give Metro a respectable 9-5 advantage.   Club V battled back to 12-14 but [player_tooltip player_id='227251' first='Morgan' last='Williams'] ended any hope of a comeback with a kill.   Houston Skyline ended up winning the National Championship, however in the opening set of the semi-finals Metro beat them 25-23. After losing the second set 25-12 they actually took a 4-2 lead in the third set when a [player_tooltip player_id='265167' first='Laila' last='Chadwick'] dig flew over the net and somehow found floor. Their last lead was 5-4 before Houston Skyline took charge to win 15-9.   Making the All tournament team for Metro 17 was [player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='303701' first='Caydence' last='Doolan']. They are ranked number 1 and 2 in our class of 2027. If by some chance Metro had finished first or second in the tournament some of the coaches may have found room for Laila on the All Tournament team.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Metro 16 Earns Silver in the National Division</h2>   <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:218px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='478903' first='Barrett' last='Bolter']</figcaption></figure>   Coming into the match against PVA Elite Metro's only loss in the tournament came against 1st Alliance. After sweeping past PVA Elite 25-19, 25-20 their next opponent in the semi-finals of the gold bracket was 1st Alliance. Up until this point 1st Alliance remained undefeated. Only one team took a set off them.   In the first set Metro jumped to an early 6-2 lead. A deep serve out gave 1st Alliance the serve back. They took advantage by scoring six unanswered points to take the lead 9-6. A [player_tooltip player_id='437441' first='Hunter' last='Ross'] middle kill on a quick tempo set ended that spree. Still, recapturing the lead proved tough.   A [player_tooltip player_id='478903' first='Barrett' last='Bolter'] serve that dribbled over the net for an ace finally leveled the score at 11. A couple unforced 1st Alliance errors extended that lead to 13-11. The [player_tooltip player_id='437441' first='Hunter' last='Ross']/[player_tooltip player_id='437457' first='Jasmin' last='Tucker'] combo block on the right side became difficult to break. This combo got credit for two blocks to give Metro a 16-13 lead.   It appeared Metro took control of the first set after a [player_tooltip player_id='473872' first='Jocelyn' last='Gill'] middle kill gave them a 20-15 lead. 1st Alliance kept battling, eventually grabbing a 22-21 lead on two ace serves from Joelle Pye Blacknard. [player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray'] countered with back to back kills to return the lead to Metro. In the end, it took a [player_tooltip player_id='437441' first='Hunter' last='Ross']/[player_tooltip player_id='437457' first='Jasmin' last='Tucker'] third combo block to end the set 25-23.   The second set took a big turn during a five point service run by [player_tooltip player_id='292644' first='Caycee' last='Chhum'] that included three aces. That run gave Metro an early 9-4 lead. They would further extend it to 13-6 after a [player_tooltip player_id='437441' first='Hunter' last='Ross'] kill followed up by an ace. They were able to coast in the 25-16 win.   That meant a trip to the finals with all the pageantry. Just like 1st Alliance, Northern Lights came into this match undefeated. This did not intimidate Metro as they jumped out to an early 12-6 lead. [player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray'] contributed to that with four kills. Northern Lights went on their own run to eventually tie the set at 16-16.   It appeared Metro again took control of the set after a [player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray'] ace and a block by [player_tooltip player_id='473872' first='Jocelyn' last='Gill'] put them up 24-21. A kill down the line, an ace and a doubles call tied the score at 24-24. [player_tooltip player_id='377396' first='Alexa' last='Telly'] ended that spurt with a kill off the block. Metro would lose set point after that. Down 28-29 after a service error a ball travelled high over the net after a dig. It dropped between two Metro players who thought the other was going to take it. Northern Lights pulled it out 30-28.   Metro failed to recover after that. They fell behind 14-7, rallied just a bit to get the score to 19-22 but Northern Lights scored the next three points for the 25-19 win.   Named to the all-tournament team were left sides [player_tooltip player_id='377396' first='Alexa' last='Telly'] and [player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray'], as well as libero [player_tooltip player_id='437443' first='Kaniyah' last='Ball']. Kaniyah played some excellent defense to go along with her precision passing. It would not surprise me if her passing rating exceeded 2.2. She is a class of 2028 playing up and certainly deserving of her number five ranking in that class.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Other Tournament Notes</h2>   [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 16 had a rough tournament. It appeared after they did not make Group 1 after pool play [player_tooltip player_id='296486' first='Taylor' last='Harrington'] either did not play after that or reduced her playing time. She had just returned from Canada where she played for the United States U19 national team. Paramount finished 33rd out of 36 teams. It should be noted that Metro 17 finished 33rd out of 36 teams last year playing in the 16 Open. They kept virtually the same cast of characters to finish in second place in 17 Open this year.   [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Josie lost their first four matches of the tournament. This was the first ever appearance of a [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] team in Junior Nationals. They recovered to win four out of the last five. Nice recovery, although it again should be noted that the competition is much easier once you leave the group I bracket.

Since my niece started playing volleyball for Coast about a decade ago Metro was always talked about as a club filled with athletes but short on results. Their only first place finish occurred way back in 2015 when their 18 team finished first in Nationals. Two teams won medals in 2018, both the 18s and 14s finishing third in the National Division. Their last appearance on the medal stage was in 2021 when the 16 team finished second in the National Division. That also might have been the last time a Chesapeake team appeared on the medal stand.