Virginia State Finals Preview

After tomorrow the high school season will end. Unfortunately, I have a skills session with the 13 year old kids I coach on Saturday morning. That will make it tough for me to make it to the finals. This will be the first Virginia state finals I will miss in three years. Next week the rankings will begin. However, I also must squeeze in my final top 25 high school teams as well as my high school MVPs and all tournament team for DC, Virginia and Maryland. Last year, the three MVPs won their respective states Gatorade player of the Year awards as well.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Class 6 - West Springfield vs Colgan</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/20250830_162717-rotated-crop-5549x3644-1758852255.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-889487" style="width:555px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Colgan</figcaption></figure>   The final tally in the vote for the Class 6 state champion has Colgan ahead of James Madison by one vote. West Springfield was not a choice, though "other" received six votes. My pre-season prediction was Colgan. They defeated James Madison in a five set thriller on Tuesday night. James Madison was one vote behind Colgan in our poll.   James Madison won the first and fourth set by two points, 25-23 and 27-25. Colgan won the other sets pretty convincingly 25-21, 25-15 and 15-8. Colgan is a fairly new school opening in 2016. In 2018 Colgan reached its first semi-final in states but lost to eventual champion Chantilly. They won states in 2021 defeating Herndon and the Gatorade player of the year Akasha Anderson. They lost in the finals in 2022 to Alexandria City, led by another Gatorade Player of the Year Milan Rex. Now they face West Springfield who made it to the semifinals last year, which is as far as they have ever advanced in a state playoff until this year.   West Springfield has yet to win a State championship. They swept past Grassfield, led by the 12 kills from [player_tooltip player_id='354086' first='Nina' last='Schweigert'] and the 10 from [player_tooltip player_id='720348' first='Milena' last='Kibret']. Nina has certainly grown as a hitter. I first saw her at a Prep Dig showcase in Las Vegas at Junior Nationals when she was just a sophomore. She did not have the power in her swing as she does now, so it impresses me the work she must have put in to improve her game. Despite her 5'8" height, she leads the Spartans in kills, which has resulted in a state championship appearance. The 6'2" middle Milena leads in hitting percentage at .432.   The player who makes this offense spin is setter [player_tooltip player_id='438046' first='Anna' last='Dierks']. She dished out 28 assists and scooped up 11 digs, tying libero [player_tooltip player_id='725456' first='Audrey' last='Busch'] for most digs. Anna and Audrey both do the little things that often times go unnoticed when you look at the team and marvel at why they are so good.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Class 5 - A Rematch of Riverside vs Kellam</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:535px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson'] with the block</figcaption></figure>   This is a rematch of last year's final when Riverside swept past Kellam. Kellam played poorly as a team in that match. Things should be different tomorrow.   Riverside swept past Ocean Lakes. It was a long three hour drive for Dolphin players and fans to only play or watch three sets. In the opening set [player_tooltip player_id='377335' first='Mackenzie' last='Davis'] started on fire with six kills to put Riverside up 16-10. [player_tooltip player_id='333652' first='Gabriella' last='Vizek'] turned into the closer with four kills, her last ending the set 25-17. Ocean Lakes middle [player_tooltip player_id='618590' first='Lyla' last='Shannon'] tried to keep the Dolphis in the game with three late kills of her own but the Dolphins could never close to within three.   [player_tooltip player_id='438070' first='Camryn' last='Coulther'] played an exceptional match at libero. She stood her ground to pop digs up as well as hit the floor to keep to keep rallies alive. Her seven point serving run in the second set put Riverside up 14-5. Vizek again proved unstoppable during that run with three kills burying quicks from the middle.   Just when you thought the game was done Ocean Lakes made an incredible comeback, again led by [player_tooltip player_id='618590' first='Lyla' last='Shannon'] whose third kill of the comeback tied the score 21-21. Riverside found themselves stuck in a rotation where no one could put the ball away. A hitting error by Ocean Lakes gave Riverside an opening. [player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson'] then put a ball away from the back court and [player_tooltip player_id='438070' first='Camryn' last='Coulther'] served an ace on a ball that appeared to be going deep. A lift call on [player_tooltip player_id='333654' first='Santina' last='Martcheva'] when she tried to force a fall into the deep corner gave Riverside the 25-22 win.   The third set Riverside pulled away after two tremendous digs by [player_tooltip player_id='438070' first='Camryn' last='Coulther'] followed by kills from [player_tooltip player_id='333651' first='Sydney' last='Ray'] and [player_tooltip player_id='464556' first='Kennedy' last='Peyton'] to put Riverside ahead 15-9. Ocean Lakes did not have a second comeback in them and lost 25-20 with a deep ball serving error ending the match. [player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson'] completed seven kills to ice the match for the Rams.   Kellam swept past Midlothian to get another chance at Riverside. They have not won a state championship since 2019 when they played in Class 6. They beat Woodson in four way back then. [player_tooltip player_id='484970' first='Sofia' last='Barnes'] led the way for Kellam with 17 kills. The 6'2" Setter/right side [player_tooltip player_id='484751' first='Riley' last='Erwin'] finished with 11 kills, 5 blocks and 17 assists. [player_tooltip player_id='544609' first='Giulia' last='Allison'] shut down the Midlothian attacks with her 23 digs. Expect this final to be a little more competitive than last year.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Class 4 - James Wood vs Loudoun County </h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/09/IMG_9177-crop-3889x2553-1758852369.jpeg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-889488" style="width:450px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: James Wood</figcaption></figure>   Back in the day Loudoun County dominated Class 4, winning 14 of 15 state championships between 2007 to 2021. That kind of dominance is rarely seen in any sport. In 2022 James Wood would win their first championship, led by two frosh [player_tooltip player_id='181302' first='Kennedy' last='Spaid'] (15 kills) and [player_tooltip player_id='181280' first='Brenna' last='Corbin'] (12 kills). James Wood has not lost a state final since, including 2023 when they swept Loudoun County in the quarter finals and 2024 when Courtland beat the Captains in the semi-finals to face James Wood in the finals.   This time James Wood beat Courtland in the semi-finals after taking them down in five in the finals last year. It was a little easier as they beat them in four, taking the first set 27-25 and then losing the second 25-18. They bounced back from the second set loss to win the next two sets 25-16 and 25-22. The usual suspects [player_tooltip player_id='181302' first='Kennedy' last='Spaid'] (28 kills) and [player_tooltip player_id='181280' first='Brenna' last='Corbin'] (13 kills) did the majority of the damage.   Loudoun County won in five sets over Grafton, ending the Clippers streak of losing in the finals for eight consecutive seasons. The last three sets were all won by two points with Loudoun County winning the third and fifth sets 27-25 and 15-13 and Grafton taking the fourth set 25-23. [player_tooltip player_id='810003' first='Kenzie' last='Smith'] finished the match with 21 kills as well as seven solo blocks but it fell just short.   Loudoun County played James Wood in a final way back in 2014 when Loudoun swept them. It should stand out as an interesting final with the two teams having won 17 of the last 18 championships playing against each other.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Class 3 - Christiansburg vs Abingdon</h2>   The last two years Christiansburg has been eliminated in the semi-final by the eventual champion Hidden Valley. This year Hidden Valley was eliminated in Regional play. The Blue Demons swept past New Kent, not giving up more than 19 points in the semi-final. Abingdon swept past Kettle Run.   Christiansburg has yet to win a state championship. Abingdon last won a state championship in 1983.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Class 2 - Radford vs Fort Defiance</h2>   Fort Defiance remains undefeated. They were led by [player_tooltip player_id='720606' first='Maecy' last='Frizzelle'] with her 20 kills and 13 digs. Radford got past John Battle in four, losing the first set 25-23 before recovering and taking the next three. Jaylyn Holt led Radford with 12 kills and six blocks while Lillian Joyce contributed 13 kills with 17 digs. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='778783' first='Mattox' last='Adams'] was given credit for 40 assists.   Radford's only loss came early in the season against Giles in four during their second match of the season. A couple days later Radford played Giles again and beat them in four. Giles will play in the championship match in Class 1. That loss against Radford was one of just two losses Giles had all season. Radford won back to back titles in 2018 and 2019 but has been quiet since.   The last Fort Defiance titles goes further back. They last won back in 1995, though their resurrection began last year when they reached the finals before getting swept by Ridgeview. Now, they hope to snatch another championship.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Class 1 - Giles vs Middlesex</h2>   Auburn was the six time defending champion. In the last three state semi-finals Auburn eliminated Giles. This year Giles did the eliminating, taking the semi-final match in four. It was the fifth time this season Giles had defeated Auburn. Giles last won a championship in 2020 when they played in Class 2.   Middlesex beat Lancaster in five, taking the first two sets before avoiding the reverse sweep by winning the third set 15-8. It was the fourth time they played them this season. Middlesex won the first two while Lancaster won a short three set tournament win. That loss was just one of two they suffered all year. They also lost to Peninsula Catholic in that same tournament in a two set sweep. Middlesex has yet to win a state championship.   For Lancaster [player_tooltip player_id='768375' first='Alexis' last='VerMeer'] finished with 20 kills, three blocks and 19 digs in the loss.

After tomorrow the high school season will end. Unfortunately, I have a skills session with the 13 year old kids I coach on Saturday morning. That will make it tough for me to make it to the finals. This will be the first Virginia state finals I will miss in three years. Next week the rankings will begin. However, I also must squeeze in my final top 25 high school teams as well as my high school MVPs and all tournament team for DC, Virginia and Maryland. Last year, the three MVPs won their respective states Gatorade player of the Year awards as well.