Freshman To Know Before HS Season: DMV Freshman Showcase

This showcase is always interesting because we rarely know many players coming into it, we usually focus on the HS aged kids, and don't always know many of the MS aged kids about to transition. This year in doing prep, I had my list of kids to check on, some I've known since they were in Kindergarten, some I wanted to see because they were on really strong teams, and then I had to have an open mind because you don't know who you don't know. It was a very fascinating group. I'm going to empty the notebook here because I had my picks for Top Performers, which hopefully you follow PrepDig on IG and got to see, but I also had a group of kids I wanted to include, but just ran out of space.    Here's my first I'm Sorry. She was my favorite setter in the entire group, and I wanted to include her in my top performers group, but we had space constraints vs how many people we had overall and two scouts. Make no mistake, she deserved to be there. She had good hands and showed the best accuracy in the group at keeping the ball out of the net, but in range for the hitter to get a good shot at it. Her footwork was great, she set balls from all over the court over the course of the day and she kept getting the ball where it needed to be and under control, which for this group especially is important because the Freshman are usually a little shorter and the timing part is more important than when you have some extra height to adjust with in air. Maryvale is always in the championship mix, even if they have to go up against juggernaut AACS, and she could be a lot of help to get them back there. Looking forward to seeing more of her during HS and Club season this year.     Mattie looked really good hitting this weekend. She showed good power and ability to go line and cross both. I got to see a couple good block approaches but mostly caught her pounding the ball down through the block. [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] has another sneaky good pin on their hands, as a Freshman who may not be done growing yet either, people should really be keeping an eye on her and her development over the next year or two. She's the kind of player that is going to have a breakout year in 15s.     Ok, here's my second I'm Sorry, another setter, this one from [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'], she was my second favorite setter in the entire group, I just got squeezed for players in other places and couldn't get her in there, but she should be in the top couple setters for 2030s and will be worth watching this year. She showed good range and footwork getting to balls well out of target range and pulling them back into the play for her hitters. She looks like she's got a strong RS to pair with at [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] next year, and I know she's got one of my favorite MB/RS at Centerville if she gets a chance to play with [player_tooltip player_id='734791' first='Sophia' last='Jenkins'].     Pia was in a group of middles that I wasn't expecting to have so much talent as freshmen. Usually they are still growing and adjusting to that growth so it's usually a year or two later you really see the Middle development. As I was watching a couple of my other targets I caught a good look at her and she forced her way into my Top Performer group. She's got amazing height and length already as a 2030 and was using that to put balls down at the 10 foot line with authority. It's fairly rare to find combos of athletic middles and setters with the touch to set them this soon. I've found that usually starts to show up more at 15-16s, but in the right pairings here, Pia was a nightmare for blockers. She ran the slide with lethality, and was putting down both low, quick tempo balls and lighter touch, higher balls as well. She's a big part of why that [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] Jaz team dominated so much this year.     Brylee was a fun one. I had her marked to check her out since she plays for [program_tooltip program_id='484770' first='VA' last='Juniors'] and I spent a lot of time watching their teams this season. Being in the older brackets and her being in 14s we rarely were at the same weekends though, so I got my first real look at her here in Rockville, MD. She's a tweener if you know my terminology, but she closes that height gap easily with a strong vertical and good timing. She was one of the strongest pin hitters all weekend, both with good technique and with absolute monster strength. I watched her just absolutely FORCE a ball through two strong defenders who read the play and were waiting with the double block. Her vertical let her get balls down with good plane, and she had a bit of time to adjust on some off sets. She's another one that is going to get underestimated based on her height and then is going to absolutely make people pay in game, those are some of the most fun to watch.    I've got a few more notes to drop, so I'll follow up with a part two. Stay tuned.

This showcase is always interesting because we rarely know many players coming into it, we usually focus on the HS aged kids, and don't always know many of the MS aged kids about to transition. This year in doing prep, I had my list of kids to check on, some I've known since they were in Kindergarten, some I wanted to see because they were on really strong teams, and then I had to have an open mind because you don't know who you don't know. It was a very fascinating group. I'm going to empty the notebook here because I had my picks for Top Performers, which hopefully you follow PrepDig on IG and got to see, but I also had a group of kids I wanted to include, but just ran out of space.