Junior Nationals Day One and Two - Metro on a Run

These posts will be fast and loose. Normally, I like to proof read an article three to four times before posting. It normally takes a couple days to actually post the articles. That would be too long for these.   <h1 class="wp-block-heading">Day One - Prep Dig National Show Case</h1>   There were over 20 girls from the DMV area participating in the first Prep Dig USAV Show Case. A number of them from the Metro 14 Open team. [player_tooltip player_id='877857' first='Asli' last='Anaz'] received a write up for the top right sides and [player_tooltip player_id='893943' first='Mila' last='Smith'] received one as an outside. [player_tooltip player_id='998146' first='Mattie' last='Gentry'] also received a write up for the right side. As far as I know she is not yet affiliated with a club.   While I tried to catch all the girls in action trying to match the number with the player was difficult. [player_tooltip player_id='777558' first='Kayla' last='R Tutoni'] was first noticed by me when she crashed into a bunch of folding chairs in an attempt to get to a shanked pass. She also made some good out of system sets, including using her hands to almost send a ball through the roof. Kayla shocked me with the news that she will transfer to Paul VI this year. That will certainly strengthen the Panthers back row.   [player_tooltip player_id='897643' first='Julia' last='Ferguson'] is a 6'0" left side who plays for [program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'] Black 14. She showed a good ability to play six rotations. There was one hit she got caught standing too straight up a down and it whizzed past her as she tried to bend down get low to dig it. She also played six rotations during the first day of the tournament.   [player_tooltip player_id='941769' first='Gabriella' last='Scott'] looked good hitting the slides and quick tempo sets during warmups at the showcase. During the tournament she hammered a number of quick tempo sets to lead Metro 14 to a 3-0 record in the Open.   <h1 class="wp-block-heading">Day One of Tournament Highlights</h1>   I got to see every team but five. I will see them tomorrow. Below are just some of the players who stood out in providing success for her team. After the tournament is done and I'm comfortably at home I will develop a more extensive list of players who shined at the tournament.    They are playing TAV Houston. Those Texas teams are always tough to beat, although in the first set Metro handled them well 25-9. The second set was a nail biter if you were a parent. While Metro thought they carried a comfortable 22-18 lead in the second set, no lead is comfortable in Open. TAV Houston battled back to pull within one 24-23.   With a beautiful pass everyone was expecting a set to one of Metro's bangers on the left side. However, [player_tooltip player_id='888185' first='Abigail' last='Chang'] had other ideas and flipped back a meaty backset to [player_tooltip player_id='941779' first='Jordin' last='Guthrie']. She tooled it off the block for a 25-23 set and match win.     Sometimes you just never know who is going to step up to win a big game. In the second set against the Hawaii team PVA Elite Metro won the first set 25-18. The second set was a little more of a challenge.   Metro took a 24-23 lead after an excellent, but unexpected dig by middle [player_tooltip player_id='941769' first='Gabriella' last='Scott'] followed up by a kill from [player_tooltip player_id='941763' first='Sai' last='Herndon-Brown']. Despite the celebration the set was not over yet with a tip kill by PVA to tie it. A hit into the net gave Metro a one point lead.   Coming into serve for match point [player_tooltip player_id='948024' first='Kaila' last='Banks']. As far as I know she had yet to enter the game. No worries. She threw down a big ace that died in the middle of the court to give Metro the 26-24 win.    Only watched the first set of Metro's 24-26 loss to Academy Daimond. I left to watch another match but Metro squeezed it out 25-21, 18-16 to finish 3-0 on the day.    Metro National wound up in a tough USA Division. In their opening match against LV Avoli they lost a tough first set 27-25.   The second set looked pretty bleak until [player_tooltip player_id='762829' first='Angela' last='Zhang'] took charge. At 5'10" she is not particularly tall but she brings a decent vertical that gets her to 9'9" with her approach jump.   Angela zinged a couple of big kills in the second set to help Metro National split the series with a 25-22 win. In the third set she delivered eight kills, including five kills to give Metro the last five points in their 15-10 win.   The floor captain is a solid six rotation player.     [player_tooltip player_id='622282' first='Emerson' last='Wolfe'] is a recent Houston commit. She is a 2028 playing a year down for Metro 14. Some college coaches carry a bias towards those players who play a year down. Their loss is Houston's gain.   Emerson showed you don't have to hit the ball hard to make it hit the floor. In their first set against Synergy Force she delivered back to back roll shots to give Metro a 24-22 lead. Needless to say, the Synergy coach was livid.   When Synergy pulled to within one Emerson got the set again. Instead of a roll shot she swung away. The ball looked like it was going out but Synergy tried to play it and it went off a player's hands to fly further out of bounds. That proved critical after Metro lost the second set 22-25 but pulled out the third set 15-8.     Julia attended our Prep Dig showcase on the first day. On the second day she helped East Coast win a match.   After losing to Dallas Skyline White in the first set 25-22 they bounced back in the second set to win 25-22. Julia got the kill that gave them a 24-20 lead. She plays all six rotations for East Coast.   In the third set she hit a down ball into the net and East Coast fell behind 1-4. She also had an opportunity to seal the game but her hit down the line just went out. With ECVC up 14-12 she went down the line again however this time she was successful to generate a 15-12 win.   ECVC also won their second match to finish the first day undefeated.     Bava Blaze had a big day winning two matches rather easily. In the set I watched A'Vielle buried five balls to the floor to give them an easy 25-13 win. [player_tooltip player_id='787925' first='Camryn' last='Bedell'] is their other left side who can also make dents in the floor.   In the set I watched Camryn played six rotations while A'Vielle played just three. When you have a defensive specialist as good as [player_tooltip player_id='781700' first='Gianna' last='Bonnett'] you find a spot for her in the back row. BAVA also has possibly the top 2030 libero in [player_tooltip player_id='932773' first='Jemma' last='Peterson']. With Gianna and Jemma taking care of the back court and Camryn and A'Vielle contributing to the offense BAVA could go far.

These posts will be fast and loose. Normally, I like to proof read an article three to four times before posting. It normally takes a couple days to actually post the articles. That would be too long for these.