DMV Club Preview: 18U's Last Hurrah

18s play a shorter season, ending in April, as to not conflict with senior events like Prom, Graduation, Beach Week, etc. They also have trouble filling these teams as some players who don't want to play in college drop out, and others who are already committed will sometimes take the year off or enroll early in college to get a head start. This makes recruiting tricky at this age group because many schools are done with their recruiting for that year, so those schools aren't going to 18s tournaments, they are focused on younger years. The trickle down means that there are some schools out there still looking, plus any schools looking to fill spots from transfers, and many D3s are recruiting seniors all the way through their senior year, but overall it's much lighter than the major brackets for say 16s or 17s.   Often times you'll see 18s teams look like a Frankenstein-like roster. Not having enough seniors to fill out, teams will add players an age group or even two down to have enough to play sometimes. That's not generally a problem on the top level teams, and those teams can be loaded for bear.   Maryland Juniors 18 Elite:   MDJRS 17 Elite black was a good team last year. A good chunk of the team committed somewhere to play in college, and they retained many of their players year to year. Michelle Cui stays with Juniors, but moves up to 18s, as I mentioned this age group often has players that are a grade higher than most because of age cutoffs, so those players usually adjust this year and skip 17s to go to 18s to line up with the more Senior-friendly schedule. AnaSofia Zenallato is the other setter on the team, the two making a good pair. [player_tooltip player_id='374421' first='Miranda' last='Ball'], the outstanding DS committed to Frostberg is also back to round out her Juniors career.   Metro 18:   Metro has a very deep and likely competitive team for this season. Their 17s team last year was a major contender and made waves all season. They are losing some big names this season, as many of the powerful players have already committed to big programs, which is a part of the problem 18s has in general. The biggest blows for them will be losing superstars [player_tooltip player_id='303701' first='Caydence' last='Doolan'], who committed to Marquette, [player_tooltip player_id='265167' first='Laila' last='Chadwick'] who is a 2027 so she moves back to her age group to play 17s again, Ellie Vanlandingham who moves on to UMBC, [player_tooltip player_id='555602' first='Bryah' last='Breaux'], committed to Kentucky, [player_tooltip player_id='321677' first='Charis' last='Burge'] who is off to Syracuse, and Nadia Johnson who is leaving for Baylor. Most of last year's roster is committed already, but some of the committed players returned for a final season as well.   As for replacements, and adds? [player_tooltip player_id='249330' first='Charlotte' last='Arrington'] comes over from [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last='']. She's committed to Duquense, so that's a major add at OH. [player_tooltip player_id='849571' first='Kadey' last='Zee'] comes over and up an age group from Maryland Juniors, she has been a fantastic DS there, and when she got her chance as the Lib at Arundel during HS season, she's a major reason why they made such a deep run in the playoffs and almost beat eventual champion Broadneck. [player_tooltip player_id='809679' first='Jewel' last='Moore'] is another pin from [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''], listed as a RS, she played at Good Counsel. [player_tooltip player_id='493358' first='Kennedy' last='Cummins'] won an IAAM title at Glenelg Country this season, and played back row for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 17s last season. [player_tooltip player_id='412055' first='Lilly' last='Kennedy'] played for National Cathedral this season, and was another back row player for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] that has made the switch to Metro. [player_tooltip player_id='325599' first='Raegan' last='Lentz'] is a MB from, you guessed it, [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''], who is committed already to Amherst. [player_tooltip player_id='716365' first='Skyler' last='Riley'] is a 2027 OH that came over from [program_tooltip program_id='484770' first='VA' last='Juniors'] and has been ranked pretty high in the '27 Prep Dig Rankings. [player_tooltip player_id='325601' first='Sydnee' last='Peters'] is another big time OH that came over from [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last='']. I saw her at a tournament during HS season and she was hitting 10ft lines with some amazing vertical, a lot of athletic talent there. Overall, that's a lot of movement, but they did a good job bringing in talent to replace the superstars that have moved on.   [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 18 Cozad:   This team took a major hit like some of the other teams in the area this offseason. They lost a chunk of players to Metro Travel replacing the mass of players that didn't come back to that team. While I can't claim to be an expert on all the players on that side of the DMV fence, I can say I'm very familiar with about half of this team. [player_tooltip player_id='506629' first='Dylann' last='Loggins'] and [player_tooltip player_id='753439' first='Joelle' last='Vassor'] play together at Howard HS, and were former teammates at MDJRS two years ago. Dylann is committed to Indiana State, and can be an absolute force at MB. Joelle is enjoying her breakout right now after coming up HUGE in the state title game, and is playing up to be on this team this season. Another player from MDJRS, [player_tooltip player_id='849619' first='Kiya' last='Boggan'], a very tall MB with long arms was developing nicely through the year last year and used some of that experience to make a nice run in the Montgomery County Playoffs. This should be a huge development year for her, and I know that a few college coaches have been watching her intently. The last player I'm very familiar with is [player_tooltip player_id='734791' first='Sophia' last='Jenkins'], who is a majorly underrated player in the area. She's another 2027 along with Joelle and Kiya, and was on [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last='']'s 2nd team playing MB last season, using her vertical to make up for the lack of elite height there. She did a good job at middle, but when I got a good look at her at the PrepDig Showcase, the raw athleticism was just pouring off of her. She's strong enough to play middle and get you some blocks, but a powerful hitter in her own right, with a setter that can set the middle well and take advantage of her athleticism, she could be unstoppable, but she may also be a high level talent at the pins as well. Moving her to RS and taking advantage of her blocking ability and letting her fire rockets at the opposing setters cross court is a very tempting choice. This is one of the players I've had my eyes on and was hoping she gets a real opportunity to shine, because she's a player that a college program can win a division with, someone just needs to sign her and turn her loose.   I won't feature as many 18s teams as I would other ages, simply because like I said, it's an odd year in Club Volleyball, and it's why that age group has different timelines and are done with their season earlier than the others. It should still feature some good volleyball however, and I'll be rooting for the rest of these uncommitted seniors to find a home for college ball if that's the path they are shooting for. If any D3s out there are sitting on open 2026 slots still and looking for players, feel free to reach out, I've got a few for you here in the DMV that will make a difference.

18s play a shorter season, ending in April, as to not conflict with senior events like Prom, Graduation, Beach Week, etc. They also have trouble filling these teams as some players who don't want to play in college drop out, and others who are already committed will sometimes take the year off or enroll early in college to get a head start. This makes recruiting tricky at this age group because many schools are done with their recruiting for that year, so those schools aren't going to 18s tournaments, they are focused on younger years. The trickle down means that there are some schools out there still looking, plus any schools looking to fill spots from transfers, and many D3s are recruiting seniors all the way through their senior year, but overall it's much lighter than the major brackets for say 16s or 17s.