Metro 17 Also Earns a Bid to Open

The third Metro team earned an Open bid at the Boston Qualifiers this past weekend, following in the footsteps of Metro 15 and 16. Metro 18 earned a National bid by winning the Chesapeake Regional Bid Championships. They still have two more Qualifiers, the Northeast and Mideast to earn an Open bid. Metro 14 fell just one win short of earning an Open bid at the Boston Qualifiers a couple weeks ago. They still have a long road ahead with three more qualifiers on their schedule.   For Metro 17, they started the first day of pool play sweeping their first two opponents. Their third opponent Excel National Red gave them some difficulties, taking Metro to three. Metro lost the opener 24-26 but then won the next two sets 25-16, 15-10.   Day two may have been their most satisfying. After sweeping their first two opponents their third match came against [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last='']. This Metro team has had difficulty beating [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''], losing to them at least once last year in the Mid Atlantic Power League (MAPL) and once this year at the Charm City Classic. After the loss I wrote in a post that in competition you are either winning or learning. If you do not learn then you are bound to repeat the same outcome. Metro 17 appeared to have gotten an education after their last loss against Paramount. They went out and swept them 25-22, 25-22.   That left surviving a tough gold medal pool with Rockwood Thunder and Coast Ozhan. My two nieces played for Coast. In a conversation with Ozhan he did not recall ever losing to a Metro team. He feared them because of their athleticism, but he had not yet lost to them. Consider that streak broken. Metro beat them 25-18, 25-10. In the second match they scratched past Rockwood in the first set 27-25 then lost in the second 20-25. Metro battled and beat them in the third set 18-16.   As they entered into the gold medal pool they had already earned their Open bid. They lost the opening match to Club V Prodigy Reed 20-25, 12-25. This put them in a tie for third place but with a reservation for an Open bid in Indianapolis secured. For many on this 17 team this is their first appearance in Open for Junior Nationals.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">One Player from Each Team Who Battled for a Place in the Gold Bracket </h2>   Metro    Metro has two quality setters who led their teams to high school state championships. [player_tooltip player_id='292644' first='Caycee' last='Chhum'] led Georgetown Day to the DC state championship while also winning the DC Gatorade player of the year award. [player_tooltip player_id='478903' first='Barrett' last='Bolter'] also set Broadneck to a Class 4 Maryland state championship.   Last year the duo led Metro to a second place finish in the Junior Nationals in the National Division. This year it appears they will have the opportunity to perform together in the Open Division for the first time in their young careers. This is the fourth year they find themselves paired together as setters. Each year ends with a better result. In 2024 they finished 11th in the National Division while in 2023 they fell to 21st in the American Division. Last year they finished second in the National Division.   Barrett appears to have played beach during her early years, having won a couple gold medals at the USA National Volleyball Beach Championship Qualifier. The last of those gold medals she earned came in 2023.   She makes excellent decisions when on the court carrying a cool, calm demeanor throughout a match. No matter the circumstance she doesn't appear to get rattled. She also brings good hands to the court, showing no hesitation with jump setting to force the blocker to lose a second or two in thought to think about which area to block.   With the 17 season possibly being their last together it would be nice to go out with an Open championship in their first appearance at that level.    Paramount Nick    Erin is a player you don't really notice during warmups. She hits the ball hard, but almost all established players hit the ball hard when performing in hitting lines. When the game begins that is when she draws your attention. It appears that every time she attacks the ball it hits the floor for a kill. She does not tower over her opponents, but her attacks result in points. They are targeted and precise.   She also gets a bit overshadowed by other players on her team. There is Lameen Mambu at Chantilly and then [player_tooltip player_id='296486' first='Taylor' last='Harrington'] at Paramount. All eyes are on them as they make their spectacular hits. Erin just plays steady as a gentle breeze.   She plays mostly right side so I have not seen too much of her back row play. She does play some left side for Chantilly.   While her spikes won't make your jaw drop, they earn the same number of points when they hit the floor.    Metro National    At 6'3" she towered over her Urbana teammates in the Maryland class 4 playoffs. She played middle because Broadneck did not have a strong middle to block her. She is probably best used as a right side. For blocking purposes she appears to find the pins a bit late when playing the middle.   Put her on the right side and she can be a terror. She plays for Metro National, which finished in fifth place in the USA Division at the Boston Qualifiers. After beating Virginia Elite in three they needed one more victory to earn a USA bid. Unfortunately, TAV swept them.   This Metro 17 National team has some interesting mix of players. Many of them like Kristen have the tools but just need the experience to play at a higher level to put those tools together. Perhaps not the most talented team at this point but an interesting mix to watch with great growth potential.    Virginia Elite    Milena is another player with height. Last year when she played for West Springfield she showed a bit of rawness in her game. This year she was much more polished. West Springfield in my opinion was an unexpected winner in the Virginia Class 6 state championship. They would not have won without the steady play of Milena patrolling the middle. She led the team in blocking in the championship match with six.   Now she takes her improved tools to Virginia Elite. They finished ninth in the USA Division this past weekend after losing in three to Metro National in the first round of the gold bracket. Milena is one of those players you have to keep tracking because once she finds her offensive game she could transform into a top caliber player.   The blocking skills are there. A little more improvement in her arm swing to gather more power in her spikes would make her a force. She led her West Springfield team in blocks while finishing second in kills. While her .405 hitting percentage impresses it accumulated from her ability to hit over smaller, less skilled blockers. Playing at the higher level will provide her the challenges she needs to improve her game.    Paramount Allorie    Maya is one of those 6'1" setters you have to keep an eye on. She set for a smaller private school St. Andrews Episcopal. Her hands carry the ability to push the ball out to her hitters but when in the front row she can bury the ball to the floor very quickly. She made the AA ISL first team all league along with her outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='569865' first='Eireni' last='Scott']. Her, [player_tooltip player_id='206729' first='Megan' last='Phan'], [player_tooltip player_id='292644' first='Caycee' last='Chhum'] and [player_tooltip player_id='374420' first='Sadie' last='Fester'] all made the first team as setters. That is a nice foursome of setters.   Maya plays for the Paramount second team. They finished in fifth place in the American Division Red at the Boston qualifiers. They lost only one match all tournament. Unfortunately, that was to Maine Juniors losing 15-9 in the third set in the gold bracket quarterfinals.

The third Metro team earned an Open bid at the Boston Qualifiers this past weekend, following in the footsteps of Metro 15 and 16. Metro 18 earned a National bid by winning the Chesapeake Regional Bid Championships. They still have two more Qualifiers, the Northeast and Mideast to earn an Open bid. Metro 14 fell just one win short of earning an Open bid at the Boston Qualifiers a couple weeks ago. They still have a long road ahead with three more qualifiers on their schedule.