The Mighty Hoppers Win the Endless Summer

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the championship bracket of the Endless Summer tournament <strong>Georgetown Day </strong>defeated five strong teams to take home the championship trophy. Included in those wins was one over Flint Hill, the first time in school history they have ever accomplished that feat against their ISL counterpart. They also did this without two main contributors to their team offense who were unable to participate in the event.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Georgetown Day</strong> started the day a little sluggish, losing their only set in the tournament against <strong>Spring Mills</strong> 25-15 in the second set. They were able to recover from that setback to win set three in a nail biter 15-13. After that they dominated the tournament, sweeping all their opponents. They won their match against <strong>Flint Hill</strong> 25-23, 25-21.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["472234"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66e7a19f9346c"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Tessa has the height and athleticism to play a quick middle. While it is still early in the season Tessa sits fourth on the team in kills, tied with her other middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='355124' first='Fiona' last='McDermott'].</strong> Those seven kills come with a .750 hitting percentage. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At the Endless Summer tournament she finished with 12 kills and four blocks, two of them against Flint Hill. Her hitting percentage was still an impressive .346. When Tessa gets set the ball usually finds the floor.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Mighty Hoppers were led by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181763' first='Jada' last='Aksu']</strong> hitting from the right side and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='248705' first='Zoe' last='Ryu']</strong> from the left. Jada finished with a team high 57 kills for the tournament, including 10 in their match against Flint Hill. Zoe contributed 9 kills, including 11 digs and two aces against Flint Hill. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='472234' first='Tessa' last='Fergusson'] </strong>held one of the middle spots while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='321676' first='Gabrielle' last='Wigglesworth']</strong> came back from injury to take over the other. Despite listing only 5'10 she managed to tie for the team lead in blocks with four, including two against Flint Hill.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With Gigi taking over for <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='355124' first='Fiona' last='McDermott']</strong> at the middle another player had to step up at a left side with the absence of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='437985' first='Zora' last='Dimbo']</strong>. Sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='744458' first='Arielle' last='Stopak']</strong> took on that responsibility. During the last club season Arielle played middle for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] so hitting outside created a new position for her. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='292644' first='Caycee' last='Chhum']</strong> for the most part set a 5/1 in the sets I watched. She averaged 9.7 assists per set while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='326533' first='Shiraz' last='Benyoucef'] </strong>played some quality libero to keep rallies alive. She even showed some good hands on an out of system set from behind the ten foot line. Shiraz passed a strong 2.2 for the day and strung together 34 digs, nine against Flint Hill.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Flint Hill</strong> finished in second place. They downed the two strong Virginia Beach teams <strong>Kellam </strong>and <strong>Frank Cox</strong> to prove they will still be a factor in the Independent School League (ISL) and the VISAA state championships. <strong> [player_tooltip player_id='181303' first='Isabelle' last='Bardin'] </strong>showed she can be a powerful force on offense, in addition to her ability to set. At 6'3" she was called for two back row attacks when she jump set the ball, then with two hands dumped it over the net. Only a player 6'3" will get a call like that. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='437441' first='Hunter' last='Ross']</strong> also played an offensive role, switching between middle, right and left side to give the defense different looks. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='465301' first='Audrey' last='Sealock']</strong> showed much improvement in her game hitting left side, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='181279' first='Kadi' last='Pynchon']</strong> ranks as one of the top liberos in the game. Despite the loss of a number of skilled players talent still exists on this roster to compete.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Frank Cox</strong> is a team I had yet to see play. Coming into this tournament they were 6-0. Their top offensive producer sits with left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='545710' first='Avery' last='Osler']</strong>, who led the team in kills at this tournament while her counterpart <strong>Camdyn Millisitz</strong>, powered 9 kills in a losing effort against Flint Hill. The Falcons are not restricted to offense on the left side. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='693822' first='Lucille' last='Tignor'] </strong>runs nice tempo sets in the middle, putting away 11 balls against <strong>Phillip Barbour</strong> in the opening match. Libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='664966' first='Penny' last='Savino'] </strong>impressed with her passing and defense. She dug 18 balls in the Falcons three set loss against Flint Hill. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='670784' first='Olivia' last='Fortier']</strong> did a nice job setting a 5/1, including a nice pineapple kill when in the front row (a one handed dump backward into zone 4). Love to see that play from a setter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the Varsity One Division <strong>Bishop O'Connell</strong> took their first loss of the season to <strong>Poinciana,</strong> a team from Kissimmee, Florida. The Knights seem to struggle against the Florida teams, finishing 1-5 in a Florida tournament last year to start the season. O'Connell was able to take the first set 25-22 but lost the last two sets 25-19, 25-23. Poinciana would go on to win the Varsity One Division sweeping past <strong>Marshall</strong> in the semi-finals and <strong>NW Bilingual </strong>(Puerto Rico) in the finals. The only set they lost in the tournament was the set to O'Connell.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>O'Connell played without middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='238341' first='Teodora' last='Stamenkovic']</strong>, who contributed 19 kills in her last two matches. This forced the Knights to be too reliant on their outsides <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='475116' first='Jocelyn' last='Pye']</strong> for their offense. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235322' first='Avery' last='Prendergast']</strong> distributed close to 80 percent of her sets to the outsides. The Knights would go on to sweep Grafton 25-19, 25-12 in the finals to win the silver bracket. On the Friday before the tournament Avery reached the 1,000 assist mark, much of them picked up from her last two years with St. Johns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Grafton</strong> lost to NW Bilingual in pool play to drop into the silver bracket. They also went into this tournament undefeated. They have a taller team than normal with the 6'1" <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='465315' first='Ana' last='Breckons']</strong> playing right side and the 6'2" <strong>McKenzie Smith</strong> playing middle. When the two are packed side by side it creates challenges for the left side to hit the ball past their block. McKenzie and Ana are one/two in kills and blocks. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='238858' first='Allyson' last='Burke']</strong> fills the libero role, averaging about six digs per set.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["397545"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66e7a19f934f0"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">She impressed with her middle play at the Endless Summer tournament. Katelyn has good height at 6'4" with an approach touch of 9'3". A little more work on improving that jump would certainly improve her game and raise her stock. What impressed me most about her game was her serve that lines like a bullet across the net and then takes a big dip into the court. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Katelyn leads the team in kills and blocks and fits second in aces.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Georgetown Visitation</strong> had the misfortune of being thrown in the same pool as Bishop O'Connell and Poinciana, perhaps the top two teams in the Varsity One Division. They battled Poinciana in one set before ultimately losing 32-30. They dropped to the bronze bracket where they lost to Smithsburg in two in the finals. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='397545' first='Katelyn' last='Strike']</strong> at 6'4" can produce some offense in the middle. She has a long reach that could be enhanced by an improvement in jump. Her height also gives her a vicious serve that drops down once it crosses the net. She leads the team in kills and blocks and is second in aces. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='473872' first='Jocelyn' last='Gill'] </strong>is another middle who lacks the height of Katelyn but has the athletic ability to jump and power the ball over the net. Jocelyn ranks second on the team in kills.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='374420' first='Sadie' last='Fester']</strong> ran a 5'1". She appears to bring good leadership qualities to the court. A bit more jump setting could add more deception to her game bringing the blockers up. At 5'9" some may consider her undersized but she ranks second on the team in blocks. The libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='250613' first='Olivia' last='Shank'] </strong>was solid in the back row. She came in for the two outsides while two different defensive specialists came in for the middles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Finally, <strong>Massaponax</strong>, a team that came into the tournament with only two losses, one against <strong>Midlothian</strong> and the other against <strong>First Colonial</strong> played in the Varsity Division II-b. After losing <strong>Carley Coghill </strong>to graduation one would expect a down year from them. Not so. They carry some tall middles in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='577515' first='Sierra' last='Beaver'] </strong>and <strong>Felicity Younts.</strong> Both can hit the ball well. Setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235304' first='Addison' last='Higgins']</strong> stays in the front row and plays right side. She also hits the ball well from that position. The defensive specialist <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='235323' first='Cameron' last='Cox']</strong> put together a good service run. They appear to have a veteran team despite the loss of Coghill that should do well this year. The Panthers finished in third place after losing to <strong>New Kent </strong>in the semi-finals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->