Blue Ridge Earns Two USA Bids at Sunshine Classic Qualifier

In the past when [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] would earn a USA bid they would turn it down to play in AAUs. This time it appears they accepted the two bids. [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] also played well, with four teams making it to Gold in the American but only the first place team earns a bid. This year they separated the Qualifier into two American Divisions, a Red and a Blue so there were two teams that earned bids. Below is a summary of the teams who fell close to achieving a bid, as well as [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] who won bids in two different age groups.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] - Earns Two Bids in USA</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/06/19-Avery-Curtis.jpg?w=850" alt="" class="wp-image-781848" style="aspect-ratio:0.8300907911802854;width:389px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='749349' first='Avery' last='Curtis']</figcaption></figure>   While Metro earned two open bids at the Sunshine Classic, one at 16s and the other at 15s [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] also earned two bids, but in the USA Division. One was earned at the 15 and the other at 14. Four bids in one tournament for the DMV is quite the accomplishment.   The first match of the day [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 15 won a three set match over Miami Hype 25-23, 14-25, 15-12. After that they swept through their next four matches, before losing in three against OK Charge 25-21, 18-25 and 13-15. It dropped them to second place in their pool. This still earned them a spot in the gold bracket as the 10th seed.   Once in the gold bracket they swept past their first two opponents, winning the last set in the second match against Omni 28-26. A5 Victor, who ultimately won the tournament beat [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] in the semi-finals 25-18, 25-21.   For [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 15 they are ranked 6 regionally, according to AES. In an Open local tournament they lost to the Metro National and Travel teams to finish in third place. They won an AAU River City tournament defeating teams like 540 and MOCO Menace. At Capitol Hill Classic they finished 5th going 7-1. Their only loss came against 3DGE Gold 25-22, 20-25, 8-15. If they had won that match they would have played Metro Travel in the semi-final. Metro Travel won Capitol Hill without losing a set while also winning the Open in the Sunshine Classic. Quite a successful beginning to the season for [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] thus far,   [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] is led by middle [player_tooltip player_id='749349' first='Avery' last='Curtis']. At 5'10" she has the athleticism to hit the higher sets in the middle and still put the ball away. [player_tooltip player_id='749353' first='Brielle' last='Wolf'] is also 5'10" but she does most of her damage from the left side. At 5'8" [player_tooltip player_id='878688' first='Mckenna' last='Homans'] may give up some height playing right side, but she can hammer the ball. [player_tooltip player_id='877850' first='Kennedi' last='Bower'] also plays the right side, easily putting balls away. They combine this offensive prowess with solid fundamentals, rarely making errors in a match.   The [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 14 team also earned a USA bid. They too only lost one match, almost sweeping past their opponents the first two days. In their last match against Boss Cle they lost the first set 25-7. Don't know what happened there but they were able to recover to squeeze past them in the final two sets 26-24, 17-15.   In the gold bracket play on the third day [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] won the first match 25-23, 17-25, 15-13. Their tourney ended like the 15 team with a loss against A5 MoBetty 25-20, 25-19. A5 MoBetty would go on to win the tournament.   A nice tourney from a team I've seen do battle in the finals against Metro 14 at Capitol Hill Classic in D.C. and Charm City in Baltimore. Metro was playing in the Boston Qualifier so they did not extend their rivalry. Metro and [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] are probably the top two teams in the Region since [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] has beaten [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] Jaz, who is listed second in AES.   [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] 14 is led by [player_tooltip player_id='941767' first='Veronica' last='Barvick'] and [player_tooltip player_id='941768' first='Randilyn' last='Hancock'] on the outside. [player_tooltip player_id='941768' first='Randilyn' last='Hancock'] is one of those smaller outsides that can really find the holes. It will be interesting if she can sustain that success as she plays against the higher competition. [player_tooltip player_id='941775' first='Charlotte' last='Barvick'] and [player_tooltip player_id='947272' first='Claire' last='Marshall'] are two additional pin hitters who can put the ball away.   It appears [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] is intent on playing in the Junior Nationals in Indianapolis this year. Normally, they turn down the USA bids to play in AAU in Florida. They are scheduled to play in the Chesapeake Regional Bid championships in a couple weeks. The highest Division they can win in the Regional tournaments is the National Division.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Falls Short of Earning a Bid</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/01/7-Gillian-Cook.jpg?w=684" alt="" class="wp-image-935596" style="width:311px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='801817' first='Gillian' last='Cook']</figcaption></figure>   A number of [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] teams travelled to the Sunshine State to compete in the American Division. Four of those teams battled into the Gold Division, two at the 17 and two at the 15 age group. The challenge with the American Division is that in order to earn a bid you need to win the tournament. All four teams fell short of that goal.   At the 17 level both [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Quintin and Tony swung their way into Gold, Quintin playing in American Blue while Tony played in American Red. [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Quintin actually swept all their matches until they got into the quarterfinals of the gold bracket where they played Aspire Premier. The two teams split their first two matches with Aspire winning the first 27-25 and [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] winning the second 26-24. Aspire then controlled the third set 15-10. Aspire would then lose their next match in three sets to finish third in the tournament.   For [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Quintin they are now ranked fifth locally in AES. They did struggle when playing in the Capitol Hill Classic Open Division finishing 2-5, winning their first two matches of the day while losing their last five. A second place finish in a weaker National Harbor tournament was a success but most of the stronger clubs were playing in Baltimore at the Charm City Classic.   The [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] players tend to fall near the lower levels of the rankings with left side [player_tooltip player_id='536741' first='Lacey' last='Bogues'] (67) the highest ranked player in the class of 2027. At 5'8" she is undersized for a front row player, but she brings the volleyball IQ to power the ball around the blocks. After Lacey, [player_tooltip player_id='445966' first='Emerson' last='Barbrow'] at 5'11" has good height for a right side but falls just outside the top 100. [player_tooltip player_id='937494' first='Delia' last='Brooks Terceros'] also brings an offensive presence. She currently sits on the watch list but should slip into the rankings when they are updated in late March. [player_tooltip player_id='778213' first='Ellie' last='Nguyen'] (175) and [player_tooltip player_id='444617' first='Kamilla' last='Hendrix'] (137) are the two setters responsible for running the offense. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='760189' first='Era' last='Rruka-Stanton'] covers the back row with [player_tooltip player_id='754934' first='Addison' last='Lopez'] (189). Era is also currently on the watch list.   [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Tony 17 played in the American Red Division. They had a much harder push to the gold, finishing second in their pool on both days. While this got them into the gold bracket it brought them a lower seed, which meant facing a higher seed in the playoffs. They lost to the second seed Cajun Elite in the first round 25-15, 25-20. Cajun Elite would ultimately finish second in the tournament.   [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Tony falls just outside the top ten in AES. At Capitol Hill Classic they played in the Premier Division and finished fifth. For National Harbor they played in the Open Division and finished 11th. Based on their record you could call them a second team but they still carry a number of ranked players on their team. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='701939' first='Josephine' last='Pairel'] (129) is ranked higher than the two setters on the Quintin team. Left side [player_tooltip player_id='530394' first='Christine' last='Baybayan'] (127) and back row players [player_tooltip player_id='801817' first='Gillian' last='Cook'] (193) and [player_tooltip player_id='719026' first='Ella' last='Jaques'] (194) also slip toward the end of the rankings.   A Division III school will find some talent by taking a look at their rosters. The club does a good job of attracting players who may not be superstars but they can still compete at a high level. It will be interesting how many of their teams are selected to play in the Chesapeake Region Bid championships in a couple weeks. Last year they qualified a couple teams to Junior Nationals.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/01/83-Makenna-Stocks.jpg?w=684" alt="" class="wp-image-935658" style="width:322px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='895641' first='Makenna' last='Stocks']</figcaption></figure>   At the 15 level [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Moralez and [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Tony made it to the gold but both lost in the first round to finish in ninth place. Neither team has a player listed in our class of 2029 rankings but setter [player_tooltip player_id='899005' first='Adelena' last='Akers'] and pin [player_tooltip player_id='895641' first='Makenna' last='Stocks'] both play for Tony and appear on our watch list. A good chance they will appear in the rankings when they are updated at the end of this month. One accomplishment from their high finish is it places them on the radar to identify the players responsible for their success.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Other Local Clubs Performing Well at the Sunshine Classic</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/01/80-Olivia-Baick.jpg?w=684" alt="" class="wp-image-935656" style="width:341px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='756342' first='Olivia' last='Baick']</figcaption></figure>   Virginia Juniors 15 just missed earning an American bid, finishing second in the American Red Division. They lost a heartbreaker to A5 Jeannie in the finals 25-22, 21-25, 14-16. They have a very talented roster with the powerful swing of left side [player_tooltip player_id='754650' first='Madison' last='Meiring']. She ranks number 12 in our class of 2029 rankings. She started for Oakton as a frosh and was one of the better offensive players, although her consistency at finding the court needs some improvement. Back row players [player_tooltip player_id='756342' first='Olivia' last='Baick'] and [player_tooltip player_id='887998' first='Jenevieve' last='Crowder'] leave the team in system to allow them to run an offense with pin hitters [player_tooltip player_id='763150' first='Samantha' last='Napiwocki'], [player_tooltip player_id='762226' first='Makayla' last='Simms'] and [player_tooltip player_id='881356' first='Summer' last='Syed']. Ela Peay is a middle to watch with setter [player_tooltip player_id='763155' first='Angelina' last='Yan'] taking the responsibility that everything works.   Not a surprise with this talent that they advanced as far as they did. At the Chesapeake Bid Regional Championships they should contend for an American bid now that Metro Travel and [program_tooltip program_id='494409' first='Blue' last='Ridge'] have captured Open and USA bids.   [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Morales finished ninth in the American Blue Division. Their only loss came in the first match of the gold bracket against A5 Myca 25-20, 24-26 and 11-15. They do not yet have any player ranked in the class of 2029.   [program_tooltip program_id='450416' first='East' last='Coast Volleyball Club'] Pink is normally the second team. They had two strong finishes. The 15 team finished ninth in the Liberty Division. Despite playing on the second team left side [player_tooltip player_id='881134' first='Jaycee' last='Plumley'] ranks at number 110 in the class of 2029. She lists only 5'7" but there could be room for growth. The 14 team took fifth place in the American Blue Division. Not familiar with the girls on the roster since I have yet to see them play.

In the past when Blue Ridge would earn a USA bid they would turn it down to play in AAUs. This time it appears they accepted the two bids. Loudoun Elite also played well, with four teams making it to Gold in the American but only the first place team earns a bid. This year they separated the Qualifier into two American Divisions, a Red and a Blue so there were two teams that earned bids. Below is a summary of the teams who fell close to achieving a bid, as well as Blue Ridge who won bids in two different age groups.