Ranking the Chesapeake Clubs for 2023

The travel season has ended. Time to rank the top clubs in the various age groups for the Chesapeake Region. Before making a decision about where your daughter will play remember her skill level. These were the best performing clubs based on data collected by the Automated Event System (AES). The first grouping is the local. The second grouping is the national ranking, with where they are ranked in parenthesis.

These teams get a lot of exposure by playing in national qualifiers. But the exposure means nothing if playing time does not exist.

18's

Local - 1) Metro, 2) Virginia Jrs, 3) Columbia Black, 4) EC Power Delaware and 5) Vienna Elite Blue

National - 1) Metro (17), 2) Paramount (25), 3) EC Power Delaware (281), 4) Virginia Juniors (312) and 5) Columbia (324)

The two top teams from this age group clearly belonged to Metro and Paramount. Metro rostered UC Santa Barbara commit Milan Rex, who set as well as hit. Milan also earned Gatorade Player of the Year and Prep Dig Virginia High School player of the year. Paramount carried class of 2023 Prep Dig club player of the year Gracie Maria. Grace could pass, block and hit with the best. The 6'2" outside actually played libero in one qualifier while their 5'8" libero Hannah Howard hit outside. When these two teams battled Metro usually came out on top. Ultimately, at the end of the season Paramount finished fifth in the Junior National championship Open Division while Metro settled for 17th.

Virginia Juniors won the Chesapeake Regional Qualifier, mainly because Metro and Paramount did not play. They had already qualified for an Open Division slot. Middle Jasmine Okeoma led Juniors to their success. She will be joining 2021-2022 Virginia Gatorade player of the year Akasha Anderson at Auburn.

Vienna Elite Blue surprised by qualifying for Junior Nationals. A lot of unknowns about there players at the start of the season. That changed as the season progressed. Vienna Elite relied on basketball player Prinzez Zeck, to play middle and she turned them into a powerhouse. They played in the Freedom Division at Junior Nationals.

17's

Local - 1) Blue Ridge, 2) Metro, 3) Paramount, 4) Maryland Jrs Black and 5) MVSA Starz

National - 1) Metro (17), 2) Maryland Jrs. Black (168), 3) Paramount (204), 4) Virginia Jrs. (292) and 5) Blue Ridge (307)

Metro clearly stood out as the top team from this age group. They upset a very strong Wave team in the Junior Nationals to get to the gold bracket in the Open Division, ultimately losing in the first round to finish in fifth place. They were led by Ohio State commit [player_tooltip player_id='180288' first='Emerson' last='Sellman'], who is now playing for the U.S. National U19 and U21 team at the FIVB World Championships. Class of 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='181297' first='Lameen' last='Mambu'] really shined playing up, taking the spot formerly occupied by Macaria Spears last year.

Blue Ridge ranked first locally based on their success playing in local tournaments. Both Metro and Paramount played more at the National level. Blue Ridge won the Chesapeake Regional Qualifier, defeating Paramount in the finals. This was the first year Blue Ridge focused on competing in the USAV qualifiers and they made an impact. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='233008' first='Greta' last='Barvick'] and outside [player_tooltip player_id='243771' first='Berkeley' last='Konrady'] led this team to their success. Berkeley belongs to the class of 2025.

University of Virginia commit [player_tooltip player_id='180294' first='Kiylah' last='Presley'] led Paramount. She moved from middle to outside and it took her some time to become familiar with the position. By the time they qualified for Junior Nationals the position seemed to flow naturally for her and Paramount finished 13th in the American Division. Fairfield commit [player_tooltip player_id='209795' first='Harlan' last='Wyche'] really blossomed playing middle.

Maryland Juniors also finished in 13th place in the American Division in Junior Nationals. They won three local tournaments and were competitive in the qualifiers. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='309026' first='Lindsay' last='Kelley'] and right side [player_tooltip player_id='309025' first='Payton' last='Swinton'] were the main contributors to the team.

MVSA Starz played in AAUs. Middle [player_tooltip player_id='352784' first='Christina' last='Lockett'] stood out as a difficult person to contain in the offense.

16's

Local - 1) Blue Ridge, 2) Metro, 3) Paramount, 4) Premier Edge and 5) MVSA Sparks

National - Metro (79), Blue Ridge (127), Paramount (203), Premier Edge (221) and Virginia Jrs (306)

Blue Ridge won a couple of local tournaments and even upset Metro in the Capital Hill Classic. Metro got even with them by beating Blue Ridge in the Chesapeake Regional Qualifiers. Blue Ridge carries two quality outside hitters in [player_tooltip player_id='181299' first='Ada' last='McCoy'] and [player_tooltip player_id='181302' first='Kennedy' last='Spaid']. Both players were critical in leading their team to state championships despite their youth, McCoy for Musselman and Spaid for James Wood.

Metro defeated Paramount in the finals of the Chesapeake Qualifier. They played well in the National Division of Junior Nationals, qualifying for the Gold Bracket, but losing in the first round to finish fifth. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='181303' first='Isabelle' last='Bardin'] orchestrates this offense. Her 6'2" height makes her a presence at the net.

Paramount did well at the Sunshine Qualifier, finishing second to qualify for the USA Division. While losing to Metro in the Chesapeake Regional Qualifier may have been a disappointment, some believe that the USA Division still remains the stronger division because of their national qualifier requirements. Paramount just missed qualifying for the gold but won the Silver B bracket. [player_tooltip player_id='238357' first='Claire' last='Mo'] set a 5/1 for Paramount in the Junior Nationals, clicking well with middles [player_tooltip player_id='181309' first='Brianna' last='Holladay'] and [player_tooltip player_id='225187' first='Simone' last='Schaefer'].

MVSA Sparks proved a tough team to beat, led by outside [player_tooltip player_id='235748' first='Ema' last='Djordjevic']. Her left handed swing plays well at either pin.

15's

Local - 1) Blue Ridge, 2) Metro, 3) Paramount, 4) MVSA Charge and 5) Delaware United Navy

National - 1) Metro (76), 2) Paramount (110), 3) Blue Ridge (181), 4) MVSA Charge (182) and 5) Delaware United Navy (270)

This was the third age group for Blue Ridge to come out on top in the local division. They won the Shamrock Showdown and finished in the top five in most of the tournaments they entered. The two outsides [player_tooltip player_id='309027' first='Skylar' last='Norris'] and [player_tooltip player_id='309028' first='Gracelyn' last='Brown'] were the igniters to the team offense.

Metro brought some serious length to the court with their pin hitters, starting with 6'3" [player_tooltip player_id='227251' first='Morgan' last='D. Williams'], 6'2" [player_tooltip player_id='210539' first='Emma' last='Gardner'], 6'1" [player_tooltip player_id='220923' first='Soleil' last='Rancourt'] and [player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson']. Perhaps their best pin hitter may be the 5'11" [player_tooltip player_id='303701' first='Caydence' last='Doolan'].

Paramount brought a solid team to the court with outsides [player_tooltip player_id='238341' first='Teodora' last='Stamenkovic'] and [player_tooltip player_id='249330' first='Charlotte' last='Arrington']. They won the Chesapeake Regional Qualifier then hit a bump in Junior Nationals. They also finished fifth in the Open Division at the Northeast Qualifier and fifth in the USA Division at the Sunshine Classic.

MVSA Charge shocked some teams. They won the East Coast championships and led all Chesapeake teams with 64 recorded wins in AES. Outside [player_tooltip player_id='322107' first='Eden' last='Tardy'] and middle [player_tooltip player_id='325599' first='Raegan' last='Lentz'] sparked the offense.

Four teams falling within the top 200 nationally stood out as the best representation for the Chesapeake Region.

14's

Local - 1) Paramount, 2) Metro, 3) Blue Ridge, 4) MVSA Force and 5) Maryland Juniors Black

National - 1) Paramount (72), 2) Metro (135), 3) Blue Ridge (151), 4) MVSA Force (190) and Maryland Juniors Black (255)

This was the only age group where Metro was not the number one team in the Chesapeake Region, based on National rankings. Paramount won the Chesapeake Regional Championships and the Shamrock Showdown. In the Junior Nationals they won their first six games but lost their last three once bracket play commenced. Middle [player_tooltip player_id='296486' first='Taylor' last='Harrington'] ranked as the top club player in the class of 2027. Loads of young talent on their roster.

Metro fell short of the Top 100 in the National ranking. They played in a couple qualifiers but finished in the middle of the pack. The pins [player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray'] and [player_tooltip player_id='290176' first='Kieran' last='Rhoton'] stood out as the offensive firepower for Metro. Another team overflowing with young talent.

Blue Ridge relied on class of 2028 setter Breeze Johnson to lead their offense. Even as a setter she stood out also as one of their top hitters when she played front row. At the Junior Nationals she set a 5/1. Blue Ridge won the Charm City Classic in Baltimore and the Hampton Mid Atlantic Power League. They also finished second to Paramount in the Chesapeake Regional Qualifier, but slumped a bit in the Junior Nationals.

Another team that showed some spunk was MVSA Force. They earned first place finishes in the Chesapeake and Shamrock showdowns. They also pulled off a second place finish in the East Coast championship. Another class of 2028, middle Ana Woods proved to be their most productive player.

Another age group that saw four clubs finish in the top 200 in the National rankings.

Overall, our top five for the season when you combine all age groups would be 1) Metro, 2) Paramount, 3) Blue Ridge, 4) MVSA and 5) Virginia Juniors.