Class of 2028 Players Rising in the Draft

Improvement happens quickly. Especially among the younger players. The 18 players below made significant advances in the rankings. Hopefully the club season will bring the same advances.    Arianna won a top performer award at our frosh showcase. Her performances at Sidwell Friends does not get her a lot of attention. Last year she led the team in kills. This year she only played the first two matches, accumulating 35 kills before her season ended.   Not that this would normally earn you a bump up in the rankings. Now though, it appears she will play with Metro 16 travel which last year won the National Division at the USAV Junior National championships.   While this is a great opportunity for her, she has three very good pin hitters ranked ahead of her who also play for the team. No official rosters have been posted yet by Metro but they seem to have dominated the top ten in the class of 2028. Our next post will talk about that.   Ariana moved up from 15 to 10 in the ranking.    76-19 - [player_tooltip player_id='755134' first='Ava' last='Ewald'] OH/RS (Kettle Run/[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last='']) - She was the primary offensive force for Kettle Run this year as they made their chase for a Class 3 championship. They fell short of the championship, losing in the semi-final to the eventual champion Abingdon. For her efforts Ava was named the Class 3 player of the year for her Region. For states she made the first team making her the youngest player on the team. Ava will be playing for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 16 this year. At 6'1" she brings good height to the outside hitting position. Ava is listed as a right side/outside with [player_tooltip player_id='569865' first='Eireni' last='Scott'] and [player_tooltip player_id='554770' first='Rujuta' last='Singh'] listed as the outsides/right sides. Looks like some fluidity is in store this year for Paramount.   129-31 - [player_tooltip player_id='829552' first='Anna' last='Fiedler'] OH (Howard/Colombia) - Anna was added to our rankings February of last year. She hit outside for Colombia. I watched her a little bit in the Junior Nationals and she looked pretty good then. It appears she sprouted a couple inches since and if you look at her frame she could sprout a little more. She currently lists at 5'11" but her legs show room for growth and she gets excellent arm extension when she swings at the ball. While she finished third on the team in kills she was one of their main hitters towards the end of the season. In the championship match against North Hagerstown, she finished second on the team in kills with 16. Still, for the most part she plays three rotations but that should improve with time.    She moved from 52 to 32 in our ranking. Another one of our top performers from a Prep Dig showcase. Last year she earned some setting opportunities for Paul VI as a frosh. This year she was their main setter, leading the team to the WCAC playoff championship and a second place finish in the VISAA. She earned a spot on the VISAA second team as well.   This year she will set for the [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 16 team. At 5'8" she has decent size for a setter. She also brings a great attitude on the court. Watch for continued advances from her game.     Last year she impressed me playing a year up for [program_tooltip program_id='549544' first='Club' last='757'] 16 at the Mid-Atlantic Power League. She was hitting right side then. When I watched her at the Endless Summer tournament she hit left side.   For Landstown she leads the team in kills. Her back row play has improved to the extent that she will play some six rotation ball. Her frosh season she did not play any back row.   An athletic player who can generate a pretty good jump for her blocking assignments. Definitely a player to track for the future.    69-45 Sahana Cashman MB (Meridian) - Sahana was one of the top performers for Meridian. Listed at 6'1" she has good height to play middle. Meridian earned a spot in the Class 3 Virginia state bracket but lost in the first round to New Kent. For her play Sahana earned first team honors in the Northwestern District, just one of three sophomores to make the team. Last year she played for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last='']. This year her name was not on their roster. Too big a talent not to play for one of the top teams. Perhaps Metro National or travel came onto the radar.   128-46 [player_tooltip player_id='721737' first='Kaisy' last='Custer'] OH (Clear Spring) - At 5'7" she might be undersized for an outside. However, when she hits the ball, it has got some juice. She led Clear Spring to the Maryland Class 1 state championship with her team leading 21 kills and 17 digs. Despite her height she was also able to put up one solo block. Kaisy just beat out her left side counterpart [player_tooltip player_id='525340' first='Olivia' last='Smith'] for the team lead in kills. She also finished second on the team in digs and second in service aces. As a six rotation left side it is possible she could make a smooth transition to libero if a large Division I school showed interest.    She did not move up a lot in the rankings, going from 57-50 but her impact for Flint Hill was immense. Last year she played on the Metro 15 team that won the gold in the National Division. As I remember it, she did not get a lot of opportunity to play. She did however stand out in the national Prep Dig showcase in Dallas as a top performer as well as at the Sunshine Classic.   For Flint Hill she got named as one of the two captains, despite only being a sophomore. That takes some respect. The Huskies struggled early in the season because of inconsistency on the outside. Despite her 5'5" height Delaney moved from a defensive specialist to a left side hitter. In the championship match against Paul VI Delaney finished second in kills with eight and second in digs with 12. Flint Hill shocked the VISAA volleyball community by winning the state championship.   Her presence on the court and all around solid play earned her a selection to the first team in Division I VISAA, the only sophomore to make the team. A national championship and now a state championship. Overall, a very good year for Delaney.       Zalikah played quite a stellar back row in the state championship match against Howard. North Hagerstown eventually lost in four but Zalikah played her heart out.   In the fourth set she collided with her teammate on a dig, struggled to get up, then crashed to the floor again when she tried to return to her position. You could hear the crowd gasp in unison. It seemed she lay on the floor for an eternity. The coach called a time out, stalling for time. As she was cared for on the sideline the officials counted the seconds off the clock. The buzzer sounded. It was time to go back on the court.   Five players ran to the floor. One spot was still empty. The crowd applauded when the last player [player_tooltip player_id='731631' first='Zalikah' last='Pabalan'] ran on the court. To make matters even more dramatic, the team earned a sideout. Whose turn was it to serve? [player_tooltip player_id='731631' first='Zalikah' last='Pabalan']. The crowd was silent as she bounced the ball on the court. They were hoping she could at least get the ball over the net. She did better than that. She bombed an ace across the net to huge applause.   Unfortunately, in that set there was no Rocky ending. Howard still won the set and the match. However, Zalikah's performance will always be remembered. In that championship match she scooped up 19 digs. For the year she finished with an average of more than four digs per set. That stood out as tops on the team. The Hubs are in good shape with at least two more years of libero play from Zalikah.     Elizabeth jumped from 93 to 54 in our rankings. She hit right side for Langley this year. During the summer she also won a top performer award at a Prep Dig showcase.   At 6'0" she hits the ball pretty hard from the right side. Then, when you consider this is only her second year of volleyball it leaves you even more impressed. Three years ago she was playing shortstop for her travel team. Spiking was not a skill she had yet acquired. A year later, at the Prep Dig showcase she won a top performer award. She even broke out her hands to set. Don't sell her short on any skill.   Langley is graduating their two setters this year. It will be interesting to see if Elizabeth can claim one of those positions. It appears she will play for Metro this year.     Trinity moved up from 120 to 90 in the rankings. To start the season Holy Cross lost both of their setters, one to graduation and the other to transfer. The two new setters brought on board, [player_tooltip player_id='887098' first='Vivian' last='Blue'] and [player_tooltip player_id='623199' first='Trinity' last='Rowles'] did not play for the varsity last year.   Despite that inexperience Holy Cross lost only one match all season with the duo controlling the setting. That loss came against St. Johns in a semi-final WCAC playoff match. Unfortunately, it eliminated them from the playoffs, the first time in over 12 years they did not make it to the finals. Other than that, they were 27-1-1 beating Bishop O'Connell and Paul VI.   Trinity topped the team in assists. In the loss to St. Johns she finished the match with 30 assists. When I watched Holy Cross play at the Tiger Paws tournament Trinity could not play because of injury. She also did not play in the match against O'Connell a few days after that. Overall, the Tartans did not miss a beat this season with Trinity helping to run the offense.   Next year she will gain one more year of experience.    WL - 131 [player_tooltip player_id='754662' first='Abigail' last='Rekhtman'] OH (Walt Whitman) - She appeared on the watch list based on her appearance making the varsity team as a frosh. At that point I had yet to see her play. Her performance at the National Harbor tournament where she showered spikes over the net from the back row and front row earned her a bump off the watch list. Her 5'9" height is a bit undersized for an outside, but she still has room to grow a couple inches. The bottom line is she can hit.    Teagan was listed as the setter for John Handley over [player_tooltip player_id='511457' first='Breeze' last='Johnson']. They lost to Millbrook in the quarter finals of the Region.   Teagan shows strong hands for setting, not afraid to use all her weapons at her disposal. Left side, right side, middle she uses them all. She also plays a strong defense, knowing when to break for the set as opposed to standing your ground to dig a ball up. The beach is also part of her game, which enhances her quickness when she applies her craft to the hard court.   [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] players strength is always their solid fundamentals and Teagen carries a strong example of that.     Annandale was one of the surprise teams this year. They qualified for the Regionals but lost in the first round to Alexandria City. Miah earned second team honors in the National District for her libero play.   At the Hawks Invitational it was her serving against Hayfield that allowed them to come back from a 20-23 deficit to win 25-23. She shows a big drop in her serve as it travels over the net making it difficult to pass. She also shows good hustle in the back row on defense.   Miah does not appear on the Braddock Road rosters for this year. She bumped up from watch list to 150 in the rankings.    WL - 156 [player_tooltip player_id='779506' first='Feliza' last='Faradonez'] OH (Northwest) - She only stands 5'5" and her club won only one match in the East Coast championships. However, Feliza showed me some skills on the court. Despite her height and her team's inability to win she was a one woman wrecking crew, delivering kills from the front and back row. Despite the team struggles Feliza never wavered in her efforts to get her team another victory. That deserves an appearance in our rankings.   WL - 170 [player_tooltip player_id='755857' first='Caitlin' last='Sallee'] RS (Broad Run) - Last year Caitlin played some good defense in the back row and hit a couple nice shots from the right side. She showed good enthusiasm while on the court. For this year she will play for [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite']. When playing for Broad Run she finished third on her team in kills and was used in the back row. Her 5'7" height makes her a bit undersized for the front row.   WL - 171 [player_tooltip player_id='764676' first='Isabella' last='Spinelli'] MB (Smithsburg) - At 5'7" she does not carry incredible height to block middle, but she did solo block the 6'2" [player_tooltip player_id='536736' first='Alexis' last='Stephens'] in a tournament. Alexa is ranked at number 24 in the class of 2028. That should count for something. Smithsburg was ultimately swept by South Carroll in the Regional final.   WL - 172 [player_tooltip player_id='768535' first='Hannah' last='Tran'] DS/L (Robinson) - A defensive specialist who whipped out a good serve and played a good back row. She returns to Braddock Road for another season.

Improvement happens quickly. Especially among the younger players. The 18 players below made significant advances in the rankings. Hopefully the club season will bring the same advances.