Day 4 – Metro 15 National Champions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In all the years I have been coaching and following the Chesapeake Region I am not aware of any club team winning a national championship at any Division level. Consider that in the past. Metro 15 won the National Championship in the National Division. They made it look easy without being easy. A roller coaster ride with many peaks and valleys. When it all ended the ride was the thrill of a lifetime.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The morning ride did not go well to start the tournament. Uncharacteristically, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='612399' first='Riley' last='Ko']</strong> shanked three passes against SG Elite Rashambo to fall behind 5-0. Despite this momentary burst of the yips Riley would recover enough to earn a spot on the All tournament team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From that deficit no matter how much Metro battled back they could not take the lead. They would pull to within one and Rashambo would pounce back for two unanswered points to pull ahead by three. Down 19-23 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] </strong>made a great dig and<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='787533' first='Chika' last='Onukwugha']</strong> turned it into a kill. A tide of momentum shifted. Chika went back to serve and gathered an ace to put Metro down by only two again 21-23. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] </strong>rejected a spike to put Metro to within one, but just when there appeared hope Metro hit another valley in their ride as Chika served it into the net giving Rashambo set point and another two point lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The MVP of the 15 National Division <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] </strong>did not feel defeated. She blasted a set off the block to pull Metro to within one again 23-24. She also buried to the floor an out of system set from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='625589' first='Lauren' last='Wagner']</strong> to tie the set, the first time they reached that level since a 9-9 ages ago. A tip by Rashambo tailed out and another Mitchell kill gave Metro the victory. 26-24 victory</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second set Metro missed their first two serves and again found themselves looking at a 1-5 deficit. They battled back and took their first lead of the match in regular time at 13-12 but that did not last long. It took two aces on the jump spin serve by [player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] that reacquired the lead at 19-18. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='612397' first='Eliana' last='Koram']</strong> contributed a kill and a block to put Metro up 24-22. <strong> [player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] </strong>finished it off with a kill.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Next on the schedule was KC Power, who had yet to lose a match and lost just one set all tournament. <strong>Mya Lee</strong> proved difficult to stop. While Metro led throughout the first set the lead was never more than three. A lot of trading side outs. Again, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] </strong>strung together three kills to put Metro on the precipice of victory 24-21. A <strong>Mya Lee</strong> kill in the middle and a net on Metro pulled KC Power to within one. As the nerves began to build a KC Power serve sailed out. Metro hung on again to win the first set 25-23.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second set also went back and forth with both teams trading side outs. While Metro jumped out to an early 4-0 lead KC Power quickly tied it 4-4. After that no lead was greater than three. With Metro ahead 23-21 a hit appeared to go off the hands of a Metro player. The down ref ruled that it came back to touch the KC Power player or perhaps hit the antennae before finding the hands. The head official conferred with the down ref and the line judge to determine what happened. After much consultation the call stood. The KC Power coach was not happy,</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This seemed to motivate KC Power as they scored the next two points to pull within one. Again, just when things started looking bleak a back row kill by who else<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] </strong>ended the set at 25-23. A sweep like the previous match but the points did not come easy.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Of course, the championship match on center court against Club Sand did not start well for Metro. Again, they fell behind early 5-1 but eventually battled back to tie it 7-7. [player_tooltip player_id='787533' first='Chika' last='Onukwugha'] powered the kill to level the set. After that no team captured a lead by more than one until an ace by [player_tooltip player_id='612399' first='Riley' last='Ko'] gave Metro a 24-22 lead. Chika and Koram put up a combo block to end the first set 25-22.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The last set Metro pulled ahead by four 19-15 on a Mitchell kill. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='625574' first='Ashley' last='Nguyen']</strong> put the dagger on the match with her setter dump after a long rally to put Metro up 20-15. An <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536721' first='Ana' last='Woods'] </strong>block at the net would end the set 25-16 and begin the pile on. Both <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='625574' first='Ashley' last='Nguyen']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536724' first='Ariel' last='Callwood'] </strong>deserve praise for their masterful setting. While they used Chika and Katherine a lot on the outside the middles <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='612397' first='Eliana' last='Koram']</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id='625593' first='Cairo' last='Turner'] were used extensively to prevent the blockers from cheating too much towards the left side. They also fed the right sides <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536728' first='Lalah' last='Washington']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536721' first='Ana' last='Woods'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='721145' first='Claire' last='Tepper'] </strong>enough that they got easy kills with single blocks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":787823,"width":"446px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/06/IMG_4214-rotated.jpg?w=768" alt="" class="wp-image-787823" style="width:446px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: [player_tooltip player_id='612399' first='Riley' last='Ko'], MVP [player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] and [player_tooltip player_id='787533' first='Chika' last='Onukwugha']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='612399' first='Riley' last='Ko'] and [player_tooltip player_id='787533' first='Chika' last='Onukwugha'] were voted to the all tournament team. [player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] earned the MVP award. It was a wow moment for everyone who witnessed this championship ride, including their previous 14s coach who stood proud in the background as he watched his former players celebrate a victory that he helped create with his coaching the previous year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] Cozad Finishes Strong</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] Cozad 14 made a remarkable comeback against LAV National Black in the semi-final match of Flight 4. Two aces by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='752431' first='Kayla' last='Chang'] </strong>put [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] within one 23-24. An <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='755134' first='Ava' last='Ewald']</strong> kill and another ace from Kayla gave them a 25-24 lead. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='747302' first='Kayleigh' last='Francis']</strong> ended the set with a right side kill for the 26-24 first set win. Although they would lose the second set 16-25 they would bounce back to take the third 15-8. They then went on to sweep MKE Sting 25-20, 25-16 to capture the Flight 4 bracket play championship. After starting out slow [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] Cozad won their last four matches.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Shout Out to [player_tooltip player_id='534842' first='Sloane' last='Rattay'] and Oklahoma Peak</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"id":760451,"width":"394px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/03/gardner-and-Rattay-teammates.jpg?w=962" alt="" class="wp-image-760451" style="width:394px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: [player_tooltip player_id='210539' first='Emma' last='Gardner'], [player_tooltip player_id='317563' first='Taylor' last='Rattay'] and [player_tooltip player_id='534842' first='Sloane' last='Rattay']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Following the National Division championship was the American Division championship. Oklahoma Peak was playing against Adversity GP. Now what does that have to do with Virginia? The left side for Oklahoma Peak is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='534842' first='Sloane' last='Rattay'].</strong> She played her first volleyball for me as a ten year old on a 12 team for [program_tooltip program_id='511606' first='Vienna' last='Elite']. It was the COVID year so the season got cancelled early. She did not get a lot of playing time because her swing was wild and a little undisciplined. She now is the number one prospect in the state of Oklahoma for the class of 2028. It looks like that swing has gotten a little more disciplined.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Oklahoma Peak had beaten Adversity earlier when they swept them on the third day. This time it was Adversity that swept Oklahoma Peak. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='534842' first='Sloane' last='Rattay']</strong> did earn a spot on the All Tournament team. I did joke with Sloane's mom that if they stayed in Virginia perhaps she would have won a national championship with Metro.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->