DMV Top Ten Prospects for the Class of 2030

Establishing a new class is kind of fun. You debate about it for a couple months before it becomes official. Creating the top ten may be the easiest task in the rankings. Filtering in the players behind them becomes more difficult. This is also the first appearance of this ranking. New players have yet to be discovered. Hard work and dedication will lead to vast improvement from some players. The next time this ranking appears it may look vastly different. However, one thing remains very consistent. Breaking into the top ten in future edits of this draft is never easy. It takes hard work and commitment.    The start of the season for the Knights begins on Thursday September 3. The Knights have already played three scrimmages. In two of those three scrimmages Nadia led the team in kills, including one match where she hit over .600 with 28 kills and one hitting error.   She certainly does not play like a frosh. With [player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray'] hitting on the left side and [player_tooltip player_id='746506' first='Carolyn' last='Maria'] and [player_tooltip player_id='750056' first='Kiera' last='Jordan'] attacking the right side the Knights are loaded at the pins. The middles with [player_tooltip player_id='488812' first='Olivia' last='Boggs'] and [player_tooltip player_id='755129' first='Lillian' last='Battcock'] have also been impactful. Lillian has strung together 6 blocks in each of her last two matches.   Regardless of who is in the lineup any one of those players can beat you, including the frosh [player_tooltip player_id='753097' first='Nadia' last='Wooten']. Not many players in this area receive invites to attend Nebraska camps.     St. Johns lost their 6'2" middle [player_tooltip player_id='625593' first='Cairo' last='Turner'] when she transferred to Paul VI. The loss was lessoned when Gabreilla stepped up to take over the vacant middle spot. She played on the same Metro 14 team as [player_tooltip player_id='753097' first='Nadia' last='Wooten'].   St. Johns played their first game against National Cathedral yesterday. They won in three with Gabriella accumulating seven kills and four blocks. The seven kills were second on the team while the four solo blocks were first.   Gabriella stands 6'1" with a jump touch reaching 9'10". As she grows and gains muscle mass those numbers should increase.     A couple of her recruiting sites have listed her high school as Ocean Lakes or First Colonial. I watched First Colonial play this past weekend and she appeared absent there. This weekend I will watch Ocean Lakes. In a conversation with her mother she said she would attend Ocean Lakes.   Arina is one of those rare taller players who show a good arm swing that can put the ball away with fire. She has the timing to run the quick tempo sets with the speed to run slides to the right side. Her hands also get high over the net to create a powerful block.   Her parents moved here from Belarus when she was four years old. Ocean Lakes has started the season off with three straight wins, all of them sweeps. The Dolphins do bring back two strong middles in [player_tooltip player_id='618590' first='Lyla' last='Shannon'] and [player_tooltip player_id='891350' first='Kennedy' last='Walls'].     A third middle in our top four. She earned a spot on the Junior National All tournament team and also the Prep Dig all tournament team. She earned a spot on the Forest Park varsity as the starter.   Another middle with height who when given a set can put the ball away with authority. Her jump touch for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] reaches 9'10". Combine that with her arm extension and she can hit over many blocks.   An athletic middle who competed in many other sports before settling on volleyball. Forest Park lost their opener to North Stafford but Liana finished the game with six kills, 5 blocks and 4 aces.     Sai has made the varsity for Bullis. Already she has made an impact. Bullis has won their first two matches this season, which is one less than they won all last season. Sai leads the teams in kills averaging close to four a set.   As a frosh she still makes her fair share of hitting errors but when you have a six rotation player who can lead the team in digs, serve reception and kills you tolerate the occasional error.   This past season she combined with [player_tooltip player_id='753097' first='Nadia' last='Wooten'] to make an impact on the left side for Metro 14. They are clearly the most talented team in the Metro area.     Pia is attending the new school Sky View, which will not participate in athletics their first season. Don't know if they will form a club team that plays scrimmages. This first year they have no senior class.   If not playing this will give Pia an opportunity to attend clinics to work on her game. This forces her to miss on critical match play but can focus on other attributes such as strength training.   She was a player that impressed me right away with her middle play for Libero 14. Now she plays for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''].     Even as a 2030 she may be one of the top liberos in the DMV area. She stood out as a 13 when she played up for the BAVA 14 team, passing them to a bid in junior nationals. Her game continues to improve as her maturity grows. A good teammate to have on the floor.   She recently became the first libero to win our MVP award at a Prep Dig showcase this past summer. She will play for a Crofton team this fall. As a frosh she should make the varsity to compete for the libero position, however the Cardinals do have four returning defensive specialists. No rosters available yet for Crofton.     She won a top performer award at the Prep Dig Junior Nationals showcase with her ability to put power on the ball hitting outside. Her play shined at the Junior Nationals as the outside hitter for [program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club']. She plays with middle [player_tooltip player_id='1000565' first='Arina' last='Huseva'], another player who appears number three on this top ten list.   Since First Colonial does not have a Junior Varsity or Frosh team there is no doubt she will make the Varsity. It does appear that she was hitting left side for First Colonial at the Colgan Jamboree. She is a six rotation player who can create offense for you whether she is playing front or back row.   First Colonial has started their season off 3-0.     South County has started the season out 4-0. This is much better than their 7-17 record from last season. One of the reasons appears to be frosh setter [player_tooltip player_id='768588' first='Eliana' last='Butler'], who sets a 6/2 for them. She also appears to stay right side to hit listing fourth on the team in kills.   Eliana sets for Metro 14 feeding three of the pins that appear on this top ten list, [player_tooltip player_id='753097' first='Nadia' last='Wooten'], [player_tooltip player_id='941763' first='Sai' last='Herndon-Brown'] and her South County teammate [player_tooltip player_id='941779' first='Jordin' last='Guthrie']. She leads the team in hitting percentage, digs and is second in aces. That is excellent production from your frosh.   Their biggest victory was beating Alexandria City yesterday in five. Eliana led the team in digs and assists, picking up 23 in each category.     For Metro 14 [player_tooltip player_id='941779' first='Jordin' last='Guthrie']s hits right side, yielding the left side to [player_tooltip player_id='753097' first='Nadia' last='Wooten'] and [player_tooltip player_id='941763' first='Sai' last='Herndon-Brown']. She lists as both a right side and outside on the South County roster. Another Metro player [player_tooltip player_id='917866' first='Sloan' last='Tann'] takes one of the left side positions while senior Payton Boateng takes the other. Those two are second and third on the team in kills. Sitting atop the leader board in kills by a wide margin is [player_tooltip player_id='941779' first='Jordin' last='Guthrie'].   Whether she is banging the ball from the left or right side Jordin is also having an impact on the South County team as a frosh. In their most recent match against Alexandria City Jordin led the team in kills with 17   They also have setter [player_tooltip player_id='586523' first='Victoria' last='Hobson'], who sets for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last='']. This is a team strong on club experience.

Establishing a new class is kind of fun. You debate about it for a couple months before it becomes official. Creating the top ten may be the easiest task in the rankings. Filtering in the players behind them becomes more difficult. This is also the first appearance of this ranking. New players have yet to be discovered. Hard work and dedication will lead to vast improvement from some players. The next time this ranking appears it may look vastly different. However, one thing remains very consistent. Breaking into the top ten in future edits of this draft is never easy. It takes hard work and commitment.