These prospects stole the show at Crofton Varsity Tournament

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spoiler alert: AACS was there. Saturday was the annual Crofton Varsity Tournament, and eight teams from the area participated. The participating teams were: Crofton and Arundel from Anne Arundel County, Spalding and AACS from the IAAM. Calvert and Patuxent from Calvert County, and Centennial and River Hill from Howard County. Two each from the divisions in Central MD, where most of the VB takes place. Two pool play brackets played out, with the top two from each bracket moving on to the Semi-Finals, and then a Finals game played between the winners.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The brackets were: Crofton - Patuxent - Spalding - River Hill and Arundel - Calvert - AACS and Centennial, with one from each region in each bracket. After pool play, the standings were:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bracket A: 1. River Hill 2. Crofton 3. Spalding 4. Patuxent and Bracket B: 1. AACS 2. Calvert 3. Arundel 4. Centennial</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the semi-finals, Crofton got beaten by a dominant AACS, but did manage to make the 2nd set close, losing 25-11 and then 25-19. The biggest surprise team of the day, Calvert, beat River Hill to move on to the finals. However, AACS was just too much for these teams and closed out the win, capping off a 10-0 day overall. My MVP for the tournamen,t since I have to pick just one, would go to [player_tooltip player_id='545725' first='Abisola' last='Adeyemo'], as she was just a dominant middle all day long and teams just didn't have an answer for her defense or for her OH-worthy hard hitting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["545725"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-68d16631ad837"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">It was on full display today why she's the no. 2-ranked middle, and #14 overall player. She has the athleticism to play any of the 3 front row positions, with her strength and high-level blocking coupled with her arm swing, power, and inside the 10-foot range, she's hard to answer. Her side-to-side speed is next level, letting her move with the set and be ready anywhere on the court. Just a sophomore, she's due to break out a bit more before all is said and done, which is a terrifying thought if she's this good now. She will be an early commit for sure, and this club season is shaping up to be something popcorn-worthy.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That was fun, so why not pick an entire tournament team? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All-Tournament Team:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>First team: <strong>OH:</strong> Raegan Oursler - Calvert - SRVC, <strong>MH:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='545725' first='Abisola' last='Adeyemo'] - AACS - MDJRS <strong>OP:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='748513' first='Scarlett' last='Netherton'] - AACS - MDJRS <strong>S:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='731013' first='Ella' last='Strain'] - Crofton - MDJRS <strong>DS:</strong> Kadey Zee - Arundel - MDJRS <strong>A6:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='749642' first='Sophia' last='Groshek'] - AACS - MDJRS</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Raegan Oursler","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2026","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"5'8u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32564","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Calvert High School","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"SRVC","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-68d16631ad943"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Raegan is one of those players I do this for. Underrated, and not on any PrepDig lists yet, which should be a crime. She's the undisputed leader of her team, which is a really solid, physical team, and if it weren't down in Calvert County, would be getting much more press. She's a finisher, both kills and games, when it's on the line, she's the one you want getting the ball. She plays for a smaller South River Volleyball Club, but she could easily fit in on any of the bigger clubs in the area. Hopefully, the late ankle injury she sustained in the semi-finals isn't too serious, because she just makes the game better. If someone is still looking to add some '26s to the college roster, they should be giving her a call right now.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Second Team: <strong>OH:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='545726' first='Miley' last='Keyes'] - Crofton - MDJRS, <strong>MH:</strong> Ashlee Overley - Spalding - SRVC, <strong>OP:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='325601' first='Sydnee' last='Peters'] - Centennial - [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''], <strong>S:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='749757' first='Dakota' last='Pentorn'] - AACS - MDJRS, <strong>DS:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='748518' first='Harper' last='Walker'] - AACS - MDJRS, <strong>A6:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='753070' first='Avery' last='Lettinga'] - AACS - MDJRS</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["753070"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-68d16631ad9cd"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Avery is about to fly up some lists in our area. She's the next big prospect for MDJRS to churn out. She currently plays on a monster-stacked team that has finished top-5 in the country, and she's just a freshman. She had a mid-season injury that stole some time from her, but looks to be fully recovered, and has been lauded as the best defensive player of the hitters they have, to the extent she sometimes gets put in the DS/Lib rotation to help stabilize serve receive. That's a pretty major compliment when you've got [player_tooltip player_id='748518' first='Harper' last='Walker'] on your team. I've decided I'm going to refer to all-around 6 position players as A6's from now on, because OH/DS/L looks messy and needs an upgrade. Write this one down because she's about to level up into the elite tier with [player_tooltip player_id='748513' first='Scarlett' last='Netherton'] and Emme Wolfe.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That was a lot harder than I thought. There was only so much space to fit people and more deserving players that I couldn't cram in, like [player_tooltip player_id='857979' first='Joyce' last='Hu'], OH at River Hill, Maddie Mauro at Spalding, most of the DS at River Hill who played fantastic the games I saw them, Nora Offurum, MH at River Hill, the entire roster at AACS, Gracee Kimbro, S at Calvert, [player_tooltip player_id='850118' first='Sofia' last='Miga'], S at Arundel, and Liv Pritchard, DS at Crofton.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All in all, this was a great local tournament. Crofton did a great job putting this together, especially since they had to relocate at the 11th hour due to a major Marching Band competition booked at their school. Volunteers came together to move equipment and set up a concessions stand. Coaches organized and ensured that Annapolis HS was stocked with everything they needed (aside from the low ceilings, which couldn't be changed). Even the athletic director was on hand to help ensure things ran smoothly. I'd almost love seeing this expanded to a 16 team tournament, but to make that work you'd have to host it at a site like MDJRS built for having multiple team tournaments, it would have outgrown high schools at that point, even if you use an auxiliary gym, you couldn't fit two nets in the smaller gym to give you the 4 courts you need. That's a thought for another day, however. For now, this was a great setting and tourney, and now we have a high school season to finish.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->