Predicting 2025 IAAM Champions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024 IAAM Champions and key players:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>IAAM A: Maryvale Prep - [player_tooltip player_id='547072' first='Victoria' last='Small'], Sophia Harrari</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>IAAM B: Garrison Forest - [player_tooltip player_id='555602' first='Bryah' last='Breaux']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>IAAM C: Gerstell Academy </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The IAAM Conference is a private school league in Maryland that is mainly in the Baltimore suburbs, central MD, and a little more east. The powerful WCAC conference tends to cover more of Central and west, DC, VA etc. The heavy hitters in Volleyball the past few years have usually had 1-2 real standout players on each team, and there's a certain level of parity in each of the three conferences. I think that ends this year. The term super-team gets thrown around a lot in the NBA, or in NCAA, and one team in the conference looks every bit one of those, and stands to put the rest of the league on notice. Here are my guesses to how the conference races pan out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>IAAM A Champ: </strong>Annapolis Area Christian School</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Contenders: Maryvale Prep, Spalding, Garrison Forest</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I made a recent season preview post that talked about AACS, and I've got to back it up here. I don't think that they are just the favorite for this season, but I think they are looking to own the conference for the next 3-4 years and they may have the talent to do so. [player_tooltip player_id='749642' first='Sophia' last='Groshek'], [player_tooltip player_id='748513' first='Scarlett' last='Netherton'], [player_tooltip player_id='748518' first='Harper' last='Walker'] and more A-list prospects than I can add in this post are looking to make a statement this year, we are along for the ride. Maryvale, the defending champ will give them a run I think, [player_tooltip player_id='547072' first='Victoria' last='Small'] and Sophia Herrari will put up a good fight, they are on that same talent level as AACS' young stars, but they just don't have the numbers that AACS does. Garrison Forest has one of the best players in the area and conference period, so you should never sleep on them, and Spalding is putting together some pieces to stay in the hunt themselves. At the end of the day, a team with 11 players that competed in the most recent USAV Nationals is unheard of in this area, and are going to be something else. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>IAAM B Champ: </strong>Glenelg Country</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Contenders: Gerstell Academy</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When a team wins a conference in the IAAM, they get promoted to the next level, so when making predictions like this year to year it gets tricky. Playing in B is not the same as playing in C etc. With Gerstell winning C last year and moving up, I'll give them a shot at being in the mix, with returning All-Conference player Josie Conley, but I think I'm going to give the edge to win B this year to Glenelg Country, who features [player_tooltip player_id='493358' first='Kennedy' last='Cummins'] who plays for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''], which could be enough to win this division with such a star player. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>IAAM C Champ: </strong>Indian Creek</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Contenders: Severn</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With Gerstell winning and moving up to B, that leaves the field open in C for a new champion. I'm going to go with Indian Creek, who lost in the championship last year. They return London Faust who has been improving every season, and have incoming freshman Summer Rivers who looks to own the setter spot in her first season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These are just my guesses, and there could be a lot of factors I'm missing this early in the season. I haven't seen many of these teams yet, nor have we seen what hidden freshmen may be about to bust out on the scene, but this is a pretty good educated guess, and I'm looking forward to seeing how these and the other teams all do this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->