Thoughts from the East Championship in Pittsburgh

First day of competition is complete. Today was the day to see as many local teams as possible. Tomorrow the focus will center on teams making it into the first Division. This may open it up to teams in the Select Division. Below are some thoughts on the tournament.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Love the Food</h2>     Lots of variety with club sandwiches, walking tacos and normal tacos, chicken tenders and one of my favorite places to visit, the fudge booth. This booth serves more than fudge with so many different varieties of desserts. If all tournaments could prepare food like this I would not complain about the prices.     They also set up tables outside the playing area where you can sit down to eat without the worry of volleyballs collapsing on your hamburger. You can look out the window at the river that flows by.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Virginia Elite 18 Junior National Collapse Explained</h2>     In my last post I ranked my top five 18 U Club teams. Virginia Elite 18 made the list however I wrote that I couldn't understand their collapse at the Junior Nationals, finishing 0-7 and 47th place out of 48 teams. They did not even win a set.     It appears Virginia Elite had only one setter available for the tournament. She was injured the first match. After that they tried a number of people in the setter role, including middle Tessa Furgusson. However, finding someone else to set was not their only problem. They also experienced a number of other early injures until they were down to just seven players to finish the tournament. The coach commented that it got so bad that when they scored a point they cheered as hard as if they had won a set.     That's a nice thing about going to tournaments. You learn things.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='465322' first='Siyena' last='Fitsum'] Now Playing Right Side</h2>     At 6'3 Siyena can be a force at the net. Last year she played middle. This year they moved her to right side. What that has accomplished is provide some big time offense on the right side. Siyena sees more sets on the right side than the middle and puts the ball away more frequently. When running quick tempo sets in the middle, she frequently tipped balls over the blocker instead of hitting a hard driven ball.     It also provides a more solid block against the left side hitter. As a middle she was not always on time when trying to close the block. Playing right side allows her to worry only about one side. She can put up a wall on that side. She can also vary her attacks with hits in the middle as well as right side.     [player_tooltip player_id='529444' first='Kathryn' last='Giesecke'], who played on the second team last year took her spot in the middle. Despite that, she still managed to get a ranking at 141 in the class of 2027. She earned a spot in the rankings back in 2024 when I saw her play for Whitman High. She listed 6'0", played right side but her game was raw. When her mechanics clicked she put the ball down harder than many. Now she plays middle for MVSA Blaze. Two players worth a second look.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Breaking Out the Top Spin Serve</h2>   [player_tooltip player_id='438053' first='Lucille' last='Deraleau'] is a 5'7" pin ranked 94 in our class of 2027. Not one like [player_tooltip player_id='536719' first='Katherine' last='Mitchell'] who is ranked number 1 because of her ability to create offense with her powerful right arm. Or maybe she is. Lucille broke out a top spin serve every bit as good as what Katherine can string together. She served five straight aces blistering the ball over the net.     It is interesting that when the next game started and it was Lucille's time to serve she tossed up a normal jump serve and the ball travelled into the net.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Watched One Team from Select Play</h2>     The Saint James 16 Navy coach asked me to watch their team play. She mentioned that she had three players she thought I might like. The two defensive specialists and her setter. She was correct. Libero Lily Davison, defensive specialist [player_tooltip player_id='760223' first='Miah' last='Henderson'] and setter Sariyah Sadler played well. More about them when I write about players who impressed after the tournament. I also came away impressed with right side Peiton Harris, left side [player_tooltip player_id='744665' first='Emerson' last='Salerno'] and middle [player_tooltip player_id='888546' first='Scarlett' last='Sikorski'].     If you as a coach you think I'm missing someone who should be ranked drop me a line. I'll try to take a look at your team play. Miah is already ranked at 142 based on her play for Annandale. Scarlet is another player I have ranked at 133 based on what I saw of her playing for Fairfax.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Local Teams Playing Well</h2>     The Beast of the East is still finishing up pool play on Sunday. Teams who have gone 3-0 include:     14 BOE     MVSA Force, MVSA Dynamite, and possibly [program_tooltip program_id='489547' first='540' last='Volleyball Academy'] Elite, who is 2-0 with one match still not recorded.     15 BOE     Virginia Juniors, [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Tony, MOCO Menace, [program_tooltip program_id='489547' first='540' last='Volleyball Academy'] Elite     16 BOE     MVSA Sparks, Virginia Juniors, Libero Huskies     17 BOE     [program_tooltip program_id='498081' first='Loudoun' last='Elite'] Quintin, Virginia Elite, [program_tooltip program_id='489547' first='540' last='Volleyball Academy'] Elite, MVSA Blaze     That is all reporting from Pittsburgh.

First day of competition is complete. Today was the day to see as many local teams as possible. Tomorrow the focus will center on teams making it into the first Division. This may open it up to teams in the Select Division. Below are some thoughts on the tournament.