Blue Ridge 17 Shocks Metro in First Tournament

To some on the outside this would appear like a David and Goliath event. Metro 17 carries six players who stand 6'0" or greater. Blue Ridge has possibly two. Metro carries seven players who can reach 10 feet or above on their approach jump. Blue Ridge could have a couple, but they do not publicize that accomplishment.

What Blue Ridge does have is a roster filled with players who carry a high volleyball IQ. That can overcome a lot of physical shortcomings. This is not the first time a Blue Ridge team with Kennedy Spaid Kennedy Spaid 5'11" | OH James Wood | 2026 State #157 Nation VA and Brenna Corbin Brenna Corbin 5'5" | DS/L James Wood | 2026 State #166 Nation VA beat a Metro team. The two have been playing together since they were at least 14 years old both indoor and on the beach. They even attend the same high school. Since their arrival at James Wood as frosh the school has won three state championships. Prior to their arrival the school won zero.

So while Blue Ridge may lack the height and the approach jump of the Metro players they certainly do not lack that volleyball IQ to overcome that. Brenna Corbin Brenna Corbin 5'5" | DS/L James Wood | 2026 State #166 Nation VA seemed to read almost every ball the Metro hitters were swinging at. It was as if she was playing pepper with them in the back row. She would dig spike after spike until the hitters bombed one out, frustrated by their inability to find the floor. She has committed to James Madison. Kennedy Spaid Kennedy Spaid 5'11" | OH James Wood | 2026 State #157 Nation VA is excellent with the diversity in the locations of her spikes. She often finds the open floor with a variety of different shots. She has committed to Arizona State to play beach.

Both teams started pool play sweeping their matches. Blue Ridge had a tight first match against MVSA Blaze winning by identical 25-23 scores. After that they swept past Maryland Jrs Elite Black and Metro North without giving up more than 20 points. For the most part Lauren Hobbs Lauren Hobbs 5'7" | S North Hagerstown | 2025 State VA led the offense setting a 5/1. Avery Lefman Avery Lefman 5'6" | S Heritage | 2026 State VA also came in to set as well. In addition to Brenna Alycia Miller Alycia Miller 5'3" | DS/L Musselman | 2026 State VA also covered the back row as a defensive specialist. When Brenna played a year up Alycia normally wore the different colored jersey.

Tenley Mattison Tenley Mattison 5'10" | MB James Woods | 2026 State VA blocks one of the middles. She has played with Kennedy and Brenna at James Wood the last two seasons. Last year James Wood did not use a libero and played Tenley in the back row. Lauren Hobbs Lauren Hobbs 5'7" | S North Hagerstown | 2025 State VA won a state championship for North Hagerstown this past season setting a 5/1. One of the players she set frequently is Metro left side Caydence Doolan Caydence Doolan 5'11" | OH North Hagerstown | 2026 State #87 Nation VA .

Dreu Patterson Dreu Patterson 6'0" | MB Millbrook | 2026 State VA and Colette Marcker share the other middle or move to the right side. Colette only started playing volleyball as a frosh in high school when she tried out for the Woodgrove volleyball team. They took her because of her height. Like Dreu, Colette stands around 6'0". She has developed some skills quickly. Olivia Smith Olivia Smith 5'7" | OH Clear Spring | 2026 State VA hits left side and the lefty swinging Addison Ziegler Addison Ziegler 5'11" | RS Clear Spring | 2025 State VA hammers kills from the right side. One has to wonder if any of those players tried out for Metro this year would they have made the team.

For Metro perhaps this is a wake up call. Even the Blue Ridge coach felt fortunate that Metro brought a bad match to the final. At O'Connell we were devastated after back to back losses to Holy Cross and Flint Hill during the season. Those losses were quickly forgotten once we beat Holy Cross in the WCAC championships and Flint Hill in the VISAA state championships.

Metro carries too much talent to make this loss define them. Half their players represent the top ten in our class of 2026. Claire Mo Claire Mo 5'9" | S Langley | 2026 State VA is new to the team but she may be the top setter in the area. Caydence Doolan Caydence Doolan 5'11" | OH North Hagerstown | 2026 State #87 Nation VA won a state championship with North Hagerstown while Nadiya Johnson Nadiya Johnson 6'2" | RS/OH Riverside | 2026 State #38 Nation VA rostered for the national team. Teodora Stamenkovic Teodora Stamenkovic 6'3" | MB Bishop O'Connell | 2026 State VA and Morgan Williams Morgan Williams 6'4" | OH/RS Lake Braddock | 2026 State #85 Nation VA round out the five. Caydence has a commitment to Marquette, Morgan for Tennesse and Nadiya for Baylor. Bryah Breaux Bryah Breaux 6'4" | RS Garrison Forest | 2026 State VA , a raw 6'4" pin has a commitment for Kentucky. It is clear others recognized talent in this group.

Metro will bounce back from the 25-17 and 25-19 loss that Blue Ridge gave them. Unfortunately, I was watching the Metro 16/Virginia Elite finals and only caught the last four points of the Blue Ridge win. For the first tournament of the year it was a shocker. That was one of the most talked about results at the Vienna Elite 17 Open on Sunday. Almost everyone I spoke to knew about the result.

Maryland Jrs 14 on a Mission

Last year Maryland Juniors won the bronze medal in the Junior Nationals playing in the National Division at the 13 level. They lost their first match in the tournament in three and finally lost their final match as well in three. In between they strung together eight straight wins. A year later they have brought back almost the same cast of characters in an attempt to finish where they fell short. Perhaps even qualifying for the Open Division.

The top player clearly is left side Emerson Wolfe Emerson Wolfe 5'11" | OH/RS Holy Cross | 2028 State VA . She started as a frosh for Holy Cross last year, showing she can power the ball against 18 year olds. It seems almost unfair to see her go against 14 year olds. She also won a top performer award at the Prep Dig showcase this year. One of the newbies to the team is her left side counter part Sierra Thomas Sierra Thomas 5'11" | OH Bishop McNamara | 2029 State VA . She hits the ball almost with the same velocity and consistency as Emerson, even though she belongs to the class of 2029. At 5'11" Sierra has an inch more in height over Emerson.

The two returning middles Paetyn Brown Paetyn Brown 5'10" | MB Annapolis Area Christian | 2029 State VA and Azana Saheed Azana Saheed 5'9" | MB/RS Long Reach | 2029 State VA run the quick tempo sets better than most high school teams. Perhaps that lies in the fact their setters remain the same from last year. Eva Bujanauskas Eva Bujanauskas 5'7" | S/DS/L Glenelg | 2028 State VA sets the front row while Katherine Liu Katherine Liu 5'6" | S River Hill | 2029 State VA sets the back row. It would not surprise me that either could set a 5/1. Returning right side Scarlett Netherton also stands out as a potent offensive weapon while returning libero Harper Walker Harper Walker 5'6" | DS/L Anapolis Area Christian | 2029 State VA keeps the team in system.

In their first tournament to start the 2025 season they easily disposed of their opponents. They finished with an impressive 2.027 point percentage in bracket play, not giving up more than 17 points. That becomes even more impressive when you realize the sets begin with the score at 4-4. In the playoffs they rolled past MVSA Force 25-8 and 25-14. Blue Ridge gave them a bit of a battle in the finals, becoming the first team to score 20 in the tournament, losing 25-15 and 25-20. Maryland Juniors 14 will be a fun team to watch as the year progresses. A lot of impressive talent on the roster.

Metro 16 Wins Their Gold

The younger sisters from Metro did their job rolling over their competition. They may not have been as dominating as Maryland Jrs 14, but they got the job done with an impressive point percentage of 1.57. They were led by middle Hunter Ross Hunter Ross 6'2" | MB/OH Flint Hill | 2027 State #76 Nation VA who buried balls to the floor from the middle. Metro 16 swept through bracket play. They also disposed of Blue Ridge 25-16, 25-18 in the first round of the playoffs. In the finals they toasted Virginia Elite 25-13, 25-21.

This team may not bring the height of Metro 17 but they are still loaded. With Kieran Rhoton Kieran Rhoton 6'0" | RS/OH Independence | 2027 State VA and Olivia Garey Olivia Garey 6'2" | RS West Potomac | 2027 State VA dominating the right side and Macie Murray Macie Murray 5'11" | OH Bishop O'Connell | 2027 State VA , Alexa Telly Alexa Telly 5'11" | OH Georgetown Day | 2027 State VA , Zora Dimbo Zora Dimbo 5'10" | OH Georgetown Day | 2027 State VA and Jasmin Tucker Jasmin Tucker 6'0" | RS/OH St. Pauls School For Girls | 2027 State VA doing the same from the left they were overwhelming their opponents. This team is blessed with a huge amount of depth. Barrett Bolter Barrett Bolter 5'8" | S Broadneck | 2027 State VA and Caycee Chhum Caycee Chhum 5'7" | S Georgetown Day | 2027 State VA take on the responsibility of sharing the setting duties to make them shine as hitters.

Virginia Elite was led by Eva Collingham Eva Collingham 6'0" | OH South Lakes Reston | 2027 State VA , who once starred for Paramount at the 14 age group a couple years ago. She lost her starting spot the next season but for Virginia Elite she plays all six rotations, showing the ability to block, pass, play defense and most importantly put the ball away. It was good to see her back in the spotlight again gaining some exposure. For Caroline Semko Caroline Semko 5'7" | DS/L Bishop O'Connell | 2027 State VA , she got an opportunity to play libero. During the high school season last year she was forced to play a lot of right side because Flint Hill had a shortage of pin hitters. Coming into this tournament she ranked at number 113. She improved her stock with some excellent libero play, though she could quiet her platform a bit to lower the height of some of her passes.

Two other players who looked strong for Virginia Elite were setter Kai Gorman Kai Gorman 5'11" | S State VA and middle Shannon Treloar Shannon Treloar 6'1" | MB Heritage | 2027 State VA . Kai fractured an ankle a couple years ago during Nationals and really struggled healing from that. She appears to have her strength back which in turn has bolstered her confidence. Shannon peppered some quick tempo sets in the middle. Ideally, she should look at reducing the tips to the left and perhaps tip more over the block in the middle of the court. She might find more success there. When she swings at the ball it usually finds the floor.

Blue Ridge 18 Gives the Club Two Gold Medals

The older Blue Ridge girls struggled early in this tournament. They topped MVSA Chaos in the opener with two 25-23 wins then split with Columbia in their second match. After that the team steamrolled past their opponents. They got to play against MVSA Chaos again in the finals and disposed of them easily 25-15, 25-17.

Berkeley Konrady Berkeley Konrady 6'1" | OH Millbrook | 2025 State VA and Ada McCoy Ada McCoy 6'0" | OH Musselman (WVA) | 2025 State VA led the team from the left side. Ada earned the Max Prep player of the year for the state of West Virginia. Allie Lynch Allie Lynch 5'10" | S Clarke County | 2025 State VA did an excellent job setting. For Clark County high school Allie strung together over 2,000 assists. That earned her a spot on the Class 2 first team All State. Last year Emma White Emma White 5'6" | DS/L Legacy Christian Academy | 2025 State VA shared the setting duties with Allie, but this year she appears to have returned to her more comfortable libero position. It appears Allie will set a 5/1 while Emma will act as the emergency setter.

MOJO Wins the Vienna Elite 17 Open

Another ex- Paramount player shined in the Vienna Elite 17 Open. Piper Xeller Piper Xeller 5'11" | OH Herndon | 2026 State VA played six rotations, pounding spikes into the deep alleys to lead MOJO to a sweep over Loudoun Elite Marissa. It was almost not to be. In bracket play MOJO finished in a three way tie for first place, splitting with Braddock Road and Delaware Juniors in match play. Fortunately for MOJO they earned first as a result of the tie breaker while Delaware Juniors had to drop down to the Silver Bracket.

MOJO first had to get past Academy in the semi-finals. In the opener they escaped from a thin 19-18 lead as a result of four aces from Gabriela Cid Gabriela Cid DS/L Langley | 2026 VA and a kill by middle Avery Byrnes Avery Byrnes 5'11" | MB The Potomac School | 2026 State VA , expanding their lead to 24-18. Academy came back to come within three but lost 25-21 after a setter dump from Macey Warshaw Macey Warshaw 5'5" | S Langley | 2026 VA . The second set appeared to be a walk over as MOJO pulled ahead 21-9. Academy roared back with seven unanswered points to pull within 16-21. They missed their last three serves after that and those sideouts were enough to give MOJO the 25-22 win.

Piper Xeller Piper Xeller 5'11" | OH Herndon | 2026 State VA was the big stick for MOJO in the finals against Loudoun Elite . She strung together three kills on a cut shot, tip and deep kill to give MOJO an early 7-3 lead. Avery Byrnes Avery Byrnes 5'11" | MB The Potomac School | 2026 State VA added two aces and Piper produced an ace to increase the MOJO lead to13-5. They won easily 25-16. In the second set Piper strung together two aces and two kills to give MOJO an early 14-3 lead. They won easily 25-11.

Casey Yuh Casey Yuh 5'4" | S Yorktown | 2026 State VA and Macey Warshaw Macey Warshaw 5'5" | S Langley | 2026 VA shared the setting duties. Addison Guerra Addison Guerra 5'8" | OH/RS Woodson | 2026 VA assisted Piper from the left side and acted as the cheerleader on the court. Gabriela Cid Gabriela Cid DS/L Langley | 2026 VA and Valen M Hanson Valen M Hanson 5'4" | DS/L West Potomac | 2026 VA shared the libero duties. Valen showed no fear hitting the floor to come up with two incredible one handed digs to keep rallies alive.

A player who impressed me from Loudoun Elite was Kamora Mack Kamora Mack 5'8" | S/DS/L Holton Arms | 2026 State VA . The last time I watched her play was at the Prep Dig event in Las Vegas. While her hands were good her quickness came up a little short. Since that Las Vegas event she has transformed herself into a different player, improving her quickness to get to the more. She set Holton Arms to the ISL AA championship and earned first team honors on the All League team. Nina Schweigert Nina Schweigert 5'7" | OH West Springfield | 2026 State VA looked good from the left side. She also broke out a jump spin serve that proved difficult to handle. Other players impressed but rosters are not complete yet for Loudoun Elite .