Taking a Look at the Early 2028 DMV Commits

My philosophy has always been that before committing to a school choose one for the education. As my niece learned, once an injury occurs and your volleyball career ends will you continue with your education at that school. My niece committed to Utah to play indoor volleyball, suffered her seventh or so concussion and the athletic trainer informed her that she would not clear her to play next year. She left Utah after her first year.   A year later she went to Hawaii to play beach volleyball, suffered another concussion and decided to call it a career. She liked Hawaii and stayed there to earn her degree. Make sure the school you have committed to is right for you. Don't commit to a school just for the volleyball. Especially don't let the fact that others are committing early rush you to make a commitment as well. Make the right choice for you.   So, before I take off for Indy below are the eight early Division I commits for the DMV area. Five of the eight players rank in our top ten. Also, a shout out to a player who came all the way from Georgia to attend a Prep Dig frosh showcase. Ellei Ayala won a top performer award and recently committed to UNC Ashville.    For the first couple years she was my top prospect for the class of 2028. She brought height and power to the court as a setter, similar to what [player_tooltip player_id='746506' first='Carolyn' last='Maria'] brings to the Class of 2030. However, her preference was for the sand and she soon became difficult to find on the indoor court.   As an example of what she could do she broke the John Handley record for most kills in a match while playing as a frosh with 32. The following week she broke the record again with 33. She also played a year up for [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] when she played club and still dominated the competition at that level.   Now she will be playing beach for LSU. If her indoor career is over I may remove her from the rankings. Last year her name did not appear on the All Tournament team for the Northwestern District. She still appeared on the John Handley roster, but she no longer listed as a setter but an outside.   She has two younger sisters rising up the ranks. I believe the twins will be frosh next year. That may motivate Breeze to continue to play for the high school team.     There are not a lot of players who hit harder than Chika. She lists only 5'8" but she brings an approach jump of 10 feet. I am convinced there still exists some future growth in her as well. Her older sister is a middle for John Hopkins and lists at 6'2".   This year Chika won the best attacker award at the Capitol Hill Classic. A six rotation player who can make an impact behind the three meter line.   Safi Hampton is playing her final year at North Carolina. She also played for Metro ranking as the number one prospect in the class of 2023. Chika may lack the height of Safi but she certainly has the powerful arm.   Chika will join Libero [player_tooltip player_id='612399' first='Riley' last='Ko'] as 2028 commits to North Carolina.     At 6'0" she would not be considered tall for a middle. However, she has tremendous athleticism with an approach jump reaching 10'2". She is also very strong physically so she can out muscle her opponents at the net.   The NTPD has invited her to their training sessions on at least three occasions. She also earned a spot on the 2026 JVA All National Team for the class of 2028. Eliana ranks as the top middle in the Virginia class of 2028 as well. She also appeared in the recently released Prep Dig top 100 ranked at number 91.   In two years Eliana will join another Metro player Morgan Williams who also committed to Tennessee and is a frosh on their roster this year.       Riley is an extremely versatile athlete. She plays beach where she has won numerous tournaments, including the Chesapeake Bid 18 U and 16 U. She also hits outside for her high school Reservoir. However, what she does best is play libero.   Last year the 15 team won the gold medal at the Junior Nationals in the National Division. Riley earned a spot on the all tournament team. The only libero ranked ahead of her is her fellow Metro player [player_tooltip player_id='437443' first='Kaniyah' last='Ball'], who plays up for the 17 team. Ball also earned a spot on the All Tournament team for the 16s.   Riley will be playing with [player_tooltip player_id='787533' first='Chika' last='Onukwugha'], another Metro player class of 2028. Safi Hampton a former Metro player currently plays for North Carolina but will have graduated before Riley and Chika arrive as frosh.     Diane has the honor of being the first class of 2028 player to commit in the DMV Region. She currently plays up for the [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 17 team. I remember ranking her highly in the class of 2027 but then had to remove her when I realized she was playing up.   She plays with a passion using her natural instincts to cover the court. Her quickness to the ball keeps rallies alive as well as a strong volleyball IQ that allows her to read hitters well. Watching her play back row it appears she enjoys playing pepper with the opposing hitter on the other side of the net.   Diane has committed to Georgia. She will be the first Bulldog from the DMV area since 2018 when Katie Houser from James Wood played for them.     Didn't know a lot about Alexis until I saw a video of her play. She played high school ball for Lancaster, a small Class 2A school. Once I saw the video she flew immediately on my radar.   It did not take me long to see her play. She appeared in a Prep Dig showcase in Richmond and wowed everyone with her play. She won the MVP award for the top player at the event. While she ranks at number 15 that ranking could go higher the more I see her play.   Alexis plays six rotations, providing offense from the back row as well as front row. Her back row play could use a bit more consistency, but you can say that about a lot of 6'1" outsides.   It appears she attended a volleyball camp in Iowa. That resulted in an early commitment. The last DMV player who played at Iowa was Michelle Urquhart. Michelle played at Kempsville High in Virginia Beach and club for [program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'].       When Amanda played for [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite'] 14 she practiced at a court next to mine. She always showed up 30 minutes early to get extra touches with her father or another coach providing the tosses. At practice no player showed more hustle than Amanda.   She went to [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] the next year where she played for the second team. Her height now lists at 5'10", with a decent approach jump of 9'6". That is decent enough to stay right side when in the front row or setting a 5/1.   Last year she set a 6/2 for Paul VI, leading them to a WCAC championship. She also set them to a second place finish in the VISAA state championships. It has been a few years since they have achieved this much success.   Amanda has committed to Georgetown. She ranks as the # 12 setter in the class of 2028. Natalie Nguyen currently plays there. She set for Flint Hill, Metro and for a 13 team I coached when she was a 12U. Libero Karis Park is another player who played on a 13U team I coached that played for Georgetown. The other current local player still on the roster is Maria Flippova who played for Metro/MVSA and Northwest. Amanda will be the third [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite'] player competing for Georgetown.     Ryann did not appear in our rankings until May of this year. With [player_tooltip player_id='768375' first='Alexis' last='VerMeer'] on my radar Ryann also impressed me with her ability as a setter using all areas of the net to run her offense. At 5'10" she brings the height to play front row however in the games I watched she set a 6/2 and rotated out once in the front row.   While she appeared in our rankings at number 83 it was the highest debut ranking for the class of 2028. She was a fun setter to watch use her craft setting "2"s in the middle when setting the outsides and pushing slides out to the middles.   Ryann committed to Liberty. Interesting to note that no Virginia players will compete for Liberty this year. Last year Amelia Tomlinson played for Liberty as the Libero. She went to Western Albermarle high school. She finished at #25 in our class of 2024 rankings. This year Ameila transferred to North Alabama to play beach. Nice that Liberty went local to sign a player.     A special shout out to [player_tooltip player_id='586930' first='Ellie' last='Ayala'], who came all the way up from Georgia to participate in a Prep Dig Frosh Showcase in Rockville, Maryland a couple years ago. She earned a top performer award at that event. She also earned a vote as one of the three setters on the All Prep Dig Frosh Tournament Team that covers the last three years.   What first impressed me about her was the velocity of her spikes when she was hitting the ball. My first thought was I should know this girl who can hit the ball that hard. When I asked her what club she played for she said she was from Savannah and she was a setter.   She showed some excellent hands setting easily earning a top performer award. Congrats on her commitment to UNC Ashville.

My philosophy has always been that before committing to a school choose one for the education. As my niece learned, once an injury occurs and your volleyball career ends will you continue with your education at that school. My niece committed to Utah to play indoor volleyball, suffered her seventh or so concussion and the athletic trainer informed her that she would not clear her to play next year. She left Utah after her first year.