Junior Nationals Day 3 - Who Advances to First Division

<p>Most of the pools have finished their first day of pool play. Only the Freedom 14 will have one match for each team tomorrow morning before the top three are decided. Below the DMV teams to advance to the first Division and the players who impressed me the most with their play. I usually only watch one set per day.</p>   <h1 class="wp-block-heading">15 Open</h1>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Metro Travel</h2>   <p>Results - 2nd Place , 3-2 (8-5) - They lost their last two matches today. Even though they beat Mad Frog the first set Mad Frog came back to beat them the last two sets. The loss to Active Navy did not turn out too bad since it did not have an impact in their second place finish. It al came down to who was going to win that final match between Mad Frog and Metro.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">This is the first time I have seen [player_tooltip player_id='746506' first='Carolyn' last='Maria'] run a 5/1 for Metro. She normally is so good at hitting that Metro runs a 6/2 while using her offense on the right side. Running a 5/1 gives right side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='748513' first='Scarlett' last='Netherton']</strong> an opportunity to stay in the back row and become more of an offensive weapon there.</p>   <p class="text-gray-700">Where Carolyn's strength sits in a 5/1 is her ability to put balls away when the pass rises close to the top of the net while she plays in the front row. Teams were not ready for her to put the ball away on the second contact. Where she needs more work is finding the open spot when she tries to use the setter dump. She also needs to use the back row attack more frequently.</p>   <p class="text-gray-700">However, she connected with the hitters enough to generate a second place finish, which is where they were seeded. Now comes the hard part as they face more advanced teams.</p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] Nick</h2>   <p>Results - third place finish 2-3 (6-7) - Their first match upset of Arizona Storm became critical for them to advance. After losing their next three they beat Drive Nation. Arizona Storm finished 2-2 in their last four matches. The two tied for third place with [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] advancing because of their early victory. Not bad since at the start of the tournament they were seeded sixth.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Last year she played middle for the Libero Huskies. She went to Tuscarora High where they used her as an outside. When she tried out for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] it was as an outside. Eventually, she settled on the right side.</p>   <p class="text-gray-700">She was quite busy today with a number of clear put away kills from the right side. She is also very effective at putting up a block. The more she hits from the outside the better her timing becomes.</p>   <p class="text-gray-700">At 6'0" she has good athleticism with the highest approach jump on the team at 10.2.5. </p>    <h1 class="wp-block-heading">Nationals 15</h1>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] Blue</h2>   <p>Results - 3-2 (7-5) - Third place finish. It was a three way tie for third. The top third place team took second after beating [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge']. [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] took third after beating CJV Mizuno.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Brielle is the primary outside hitter for [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge']. Her 5'10" height gives her length when hitting against a block. She also participates in a number of combo blocks with the middle.</p>   <p class="text-gray-700">She goes to West Virginia powerhouse Musselman High School where she led her team in kills. She pairs with middle [player_tooltip player_id='749349' first='Avery' last='Curtis'] as the primary offensive contributors for [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'].</p>    <h1 class="wp-block-heading">American 15</h1>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">BAVA Blaze</h2>   <p>Results - second place finish 4-1, 8-4. Their only loss came in their last match against Sunshine Pacific.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">With the injury to left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='787925' first='Camryn' last='Bedell'] </strong>BAVA needed to replace her production on the left side. Camryn's injury came when the score of their first set of the day was 28-28. They lost the next two points with her out of the lineup.</p>   <p class="text-gray-700">Hannah, who normally plays right side came in to replace Camryn on the left side. She produced some critical points as they won their next two sets 25-19, 15-12 to win the match. In the third set after BAVA was aced to pull WPVC to within one 10-9, Hannah put an end to the serve with a kill then went back to serve and pulled an ace to increase the lead to 12-9. They would go on to win 15-12.</p>   <p class="text-gray-700">BAVA would go on to win their fourth match against New York Juniors 17-25, 25-23, 15-6.</p>    <h1 class="wp-block-heading">Open 14</h1>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Metro Travel</h2>   <p>Results - second place, 4-1 (8-4) - They would win their first four matches, the last two going to three sets after losing their first set. In both matches they won their third set 18-16, 15-13. In their last match they were swept by first place Legacy.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">She does it all for Metro 14. For someone who is yet in high school she flies with her 10'4" approach jump that allows her to hit over most blocks. She also is not afraid to hit the floor on defense. She made some incredible plays diving for balls to keep rallies alive.</p>   <p class="text-gray-700">It will be interesting to see how she develops. At this moment she is a favorite to go number one in the rankings for the class of 2030 but her left side teammate <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='941763' first='Sai' last='Herndon-Brown']</strong> can put the ball away as well. Her 9'9" approach jump is good but still falls short of Nadia.</p>   <p>Next year Nadia will team with [player_tooltip player_id='746506' first='Carolyn' last='Maria'] to add some punch to the O'Connell lineup. </p>    <h1 class="wp-block-heading">Freedom 14</h1>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] Priscella</h2>   <p>Results - They are not done yet. [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] has one more match left with the undefeated 501 Volley. A loss would knock them out of the first division group since the second place team at 4-2 and the other 3-3 third place teams are playing each other.</p>   <h1 class="wp-block-heading">American 14</h1>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] Jazz</h2>   <p>Result - second place, 4-1 (8-3). They lost their first match of the day, then went on to win their next four.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Maya is a terror on offense, hitting balls from the left side or sliding in to hit a higher set in the middle. For her height she shows good hops with a 9'7" approach jump. That is the third highest on the team. Her back row play with passing primarily still need some work but she has time for that.</p>   <p class="text-gray-700">Maya will matriculate at Fairfax. It would not surprise me that she makes the varsity as a frosh. </p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">East Coast Black</h2>   <p>Results - second place finish 4-1, 8-3. They swept their last match to finish in second place.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">She looks taller than her listed 6'1" height. She also is pretty adept at putting some velocity on the ball as she drives it to the floor. Her parents come from Belarus. She moves well from pin to pin to put up a good block. She will need to work on her quickness if she wishes to hit outside. Since she was playing middle I did not see too much of her in the back row.</p>   <p class="text-gray-700">Definitely has the potential to be a difference maker on the court. </p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">BAVA Waves</h2>   <p>Results - second place, 4-1 (8-5). BAVA was swept by Top Select in the 4th match. They also went three in three matches with the third set ending 17-15 in two of those matches. Still, they escaped with a second place finish.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">A strong middle for BAVA who put up some big blocks. She also showed that she could drive some balls to the floor when set. In the one set I watched she whipped down a redirect kill to tie the score at 22-22. She then hammered her last two sets to give BAVA a 25-22 win.</p>   <p class="text-gray-700">Another player whose development will be tracked. A couple more inches of growth and she could become a terror in the front row. </p>    <p></p>

Most of the pools have finished their first day of pool play. Only the Freedom 14 will have one match for each team tomorrow morning before the top three are decided. Below the DMV teams to advance to the first Division and the players who impressed me the most with their play. I usually only watch one set per day.