Players Driving DMV High Schools to Perform Above Expectations

While Ayla Sayd Ayla Sayd 6'0" | OH Marshall-Falls Church | 2027 State VA is driving the offense leading the team in kills contributions are coming from unexpected places. Setters Ellie Nguyen Ellie Nguyen 5'5" | S/DS/L George C Marshall | 2027 State VA and Kaitlyn Ng are veteran seniors making the right choices with their setting. Libero Lily Davison Lily Davison 5'4" | DS/L Marshall-Falls Church | 2028 State VA is keeping the team in system with solid passing while senior middle Elise Yashar leads the team in blocking.

Perhaps the biggest impact is being made by Samantha Apgar Samantha Apgar 5'11" | OH VA who is second on the team in kills while also playing an important part in serve receive. She shows her versatility by being able to play middle, left side and right side. Last year she played for St. James with Lily Davison Lily Davison 5'4" | DS/L Marshall-Falls Church | 2028 State VA . As a junior she appears in bloom as a player with volleyball skills to watch.

The Lightning have a good mixture of club players contributing to their success. Gia Molfino Gia Molfino 5'5" | OH Lightridge | 2028 VA creates the offense from the left side while libero Sofia Gelston Sofia Gelston 5'7" | DS/L Lightridgescho | 2028 State VA handles the back row.

The difference maker has to be their 6'3" middle Giuliana Mastrangelo Giuliana Mastrangelo 6'3" | MB Lightridge | 2028 State VA , who teamed with Sofia to lead Paramount 16 to a second place finish in the National Division at Junior Nationals. Her play earned her a spot on the All Tournament team. Now she is whacking the ball in the middle on offense, leading their team in kills while also putting up blocks to shore up the defense. At 6'3" she has the height to make a difference.

Giuliana ranks at number 25 in our class of 2028 however, a championship run could change that quickly. Stilly a mystery why some college has not latched on to her talent.

This team is well balanced with Raegan Giuliani Raegan Giuliani 5'11" | S/RS The Potomac School | 2029 State VA the primary setter, Lily Gurney Lily Gurney 5'4" | DS/L The Potomac School | 2028 State VA at libero, Annika Warren Annika Warren 6'2" | MB/RS The Potomac School | 2029 State VA plugging up one of the middles and Avery Nierenberg Avery Nierenberg 6'0" | OH The Potomac School | 2029 State VA flashing her skills at one of the outsides. A little more depth on the roster and this team would be dangerous.

Their most powerful outside hitter is the 5'8" Maya Peery Maya Peery 5'9" | OH/RS The Potomac School | 2029 State VA . She may be undersized at 5'8", but she brings a powerful jump and a strong right arm to the left side position. She can reach 9'11" with her approach jump. Raegan was her setter at Virginia Elite so they already have that connection.

The ISL could turn into a three team race with Flint Hill and Georgetown Day. The ISL winner two years ago, Bullis, has dropped down to the "A" division. In my opinion the "AA' is wide open.

They have some solid players on mid sized clubs that make them tough. Kamilla Hendrix Kamilla Hendrix 5'8" | S/RS Freedom-South Riding | 2027 State VA sets for Loudoun elite, Rawan Salem Rawan Salem 5'5" | DS/L Freedom-South Riding | 2028 State VA plays libero for Metro National and then you have the undersized Irina Padden Irina Padden 5'6" | OH/DS/L Freedom-South Riding | 2028 State VA who plays for Libero. The trio plays scrappy, not allowing the ball to hit the floor.

Irina may only list as 5'6" but her play makes her height much greater. She swings hard at every set, hustles for every ball. Once she begins thinking about college the transition to libero should not be difficult. She is a gamer that does what it takes to win.

Playing for Paramount , normally Victoria would be trying to beat her Metro opponents. For South County she has three Metro players on her team. Standing only 5'4" with an approach jump not reaching 9 feet she needs a partner in a 6/2. That is where Eliana Butler Eliana Butler 5'8" | S/RS South County | 2030 State VA comes in. She has a little more height than Victoria at 5'8" with an approach jump of 9'3". That is high enough that Eliana can stay in the front row to hit while running a 6/2 in high school.

Victoris showed off her setting skills at a Prep Dig showcase. She can move the ball around, finding her hitters at various areas of the net. She can run a quick offense if given the players to do so. With Jordin Guthrie Jordin Guthrie 6'0" | RS/OH South County | 2030 State VA and Sloan Tann Sloan Tann 5'8" | OH South County | 2029 State VA that gives her some good ammo. Add in the lefty swinging Peyton Boteng and she will keep the opposing blockers guessing where that ball will be directed. She brings to the court good leadership qualities.

In an ideal world she would use her volleyball skills to help her pursue her education in the pre-med biology world. That will probably play better at a smaller Division III school. She certainly appears to have the intellect and volleyball skills to do both.

Last year had to be a challenging year for Katelyn. During their championship season when they won the ISL with a 24-2 record Katelyn tutored under Megan Phan who set a 5/1. Megan had a slew of weapons in her arsenal such as Alexis Ewing, Alexa Telly Alexa Telly 5'11" | OH Georgetown Day | 2027 State VA and Sydney Mayfield. All those players either graduated or transferred to another school.

Megan Phan stayed on the team last year but with a commitment to Brown she turned the setting opportunities over to Katelyn and Jazmin Washington. Jazmin is no longer on the roster this year allowing the offense to belong to Katelyn. At 6'0" she has excellent height to run a 5/1. She also has some weapons at her disposal in the two frosh Sai Herndon-Brown Sai Herndon-Brown 5'11" | OH The Bullis School | 2030 State VA and Kaila Banks Kaila Banks 5'10" | OH/RS VA .