Metro 15 Battles Their Way to Fifth

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Metro came into the tournament as the 13th seed. Of the eight teams who made gold five of them were top seeds in their pool. Metro eliminated one of those top seeds Skyline in a crossover match. OT Randy eliminated Legacy in a crossover. OT Randy would go on to the finals where they would lose to Wave in three. The third top seed eliminated Dynasty lost to OT Randy and Skyline in the three team first division pool. They failed to earn a crossover match to qualify for the gold bracket.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the first round of the gold playoffs against AJV Adidas, poor passing plagued Metro. When running a 5/1 you need passes close to the net to allow the setter to use her jump setting to draw the blockers up. If they feel she is a front row player they may jump with her or hesitate leaving the outside hitter with one block. Most of the passes for Metro were not crossing the three meter line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Early in the first set Metro shanked three passes to fall behind 6-0. The closest they could get after that was 8-12 when<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='750047' first='Caroline' last='Conroy']</strong> combined with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='746506' first='Carolyn' last='Maria'] </strong>for a block. Unfortunately, Metro served the next ball deep failing to take advantage of a momentum shift. Metro could not recover after that and lost 25-14.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second set Metro played much better staying even early at 7-7. AJV Adidas would go on to score the next five points taking advantage of Metro hitting errors and nets when blocking. Even after Metro scored a point, they followed that up by giving up three to fall behind 15-9. Metro battled to get back in the game, pulling to within one at 20-21 after a <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='750047' first='Caroline' last='Conroy']</strong> kill. A hitting error by Metro followed and they were again down by two.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Down 24-20, two hitting errors by AJV Adidas pulled Metro to within two. A tip shot down the line appeared to go just out. However , the line judge saw it differently, signaling it in. That ended the second set 25-22. Not the way Metro wanted to see the match end.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the upside <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='746506' first='Carolyn' last='Maria']</strong> earned a spot on the All Tournament team. When you watch her set on the court she does not seem to ever break into a panic. No matter what the score she always appears to stay calm.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Prep Dig All Tournament Team for the 15U</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Again, no more than five players from the same club can make the team. This prevents one club from dominating the selections too much. However, Metro Travel and Metro Nationals are treated as two separate clubs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["878688"],"_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-6a4277e96f9aa"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Mckenna pairs with two setters who list at 6'1" while setting a 5/1 for their team. However Mckenna has the versatility to play multiple positions. Her defensive acumen opens up the libero position as an option. She can also play as a defensive specialist with the ability to hit in the back row.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Mckenna is one of those players who would contribute to a team because of her volleyball IQ on the court. She also has leadership qualities that always help other players focus on the court.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">[program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] had a respectable 23rd place finish in the National Division. They struggled towards the end, losing their last four matches. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Similar to the 14U the maximum number of players from one club on this team is five. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>MVP - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='746506' first='Carolyn' last='Maria']</strong> (Metro)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Setter - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='746506' first='Carolyn' last='Maria']</strong> (Metro), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='766895' first='Neely' last='Olish']</strong> (BAVA), <strong>McKenna Homans</strong> ([program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'])</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Right Side - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='748513' first='Scarlett' last='Netherton'] </strong>(Metro), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='779106' first='Isabella' last='Jeantel']</strong> ([program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''])</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Left Side - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='622282' first='Emerson' last='Wolfe'] </strong>(Metro), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='763138' first='A'vielle' last='Lewis'] </strong>(BAVA), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='754650' first='Madison' last='Meiring'] </strong>(Virginia Juniors), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='762829' first='Angela' last='Zhang']</strong> (Metro National)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Middle - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='753073' first='Aniston' last='Williams']</strong> (Metro), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='947948' first='Ava' last='Ibiezugbe']</strong> (Virginia Juniors), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='749349' first='Avery' last='Curtis'] </strong>([program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'])</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Libero - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='755672' first='Jaylin' last='Park']</strong> (Metro),<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='932773' first='Jemma' last='Peterson']</strong> (BAVA)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Metro 14 Recovers to Win the Bronze Division</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":[941763],"_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-6a427e32abcba"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Call Sai and [player_tooltip player_id='753097' first='Nadia' last='Wooten'] the dynamic duo. Not a lot of teams have the quality of those two outsides on their team. They have length, athleticism and hustle that allow the two to play six rotations. Despite their length they both frequently crash to the floor in an attempt to dig a ball.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sai will reinvigorate a Bullis roster decimated by graduations and transfers after their first ever ISL championship two years ago. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this game, at the level they play at Metro 14 will learn that there is no letting up. Any team can beat you if you don't play your best. Metro won their first four matches before losing to the eventual champion Legacy. This put them in a three team pool with Pineapple and Dynasty.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Don't know what happened in the match against Pineapple but in the second set they lost 25-10. This type of loss is a killer in a tiebreaker. When they beat Dynasty in the first set in the second match 25-23 their fate had already been sealed. Even if they could have beaten Dynasty in the second set their was no way they could recover from a 25-10 loss in point percentage. Metro eventually lost to Dynasty in three while Dynasty swept Pineapple so it became moot. Dynasty would go on to take third in the tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Metro recovered from their poor showing on the third day to take three to win the bronze division. They even beat Coast Said 23-25, 25-16, 17-15. Back in the day when my two nieces played for Coast I don't ever recall them losing to a Metro team. Now that appears to becoming a little more common. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->