It was a tale of two Kennedys. Lilly Kennedy Lilly Kennedy 5'5" | DS/L National Cathedral | 2026 State VA hit and set while Kennedy Williams Kennedy Williams 5'11" | OH National Cathedral | 2027 State VA hit National Cathedral to one of their best seasons in the ISL. Williams led the team in kills leading National Cathedral to a third place finish as well as a first ever win against Flint Hill. Williams led the way to that victory with 26 kills.

Metro took note of her accomplishments and convinced her to play for their newly formed Metro National team. That team fell just short of qualifying for Junior Nationals at the Chesapeake Regional Bid Championship. Now they have the remainder of the Qualifier season to accomplish that task.

Kennedy rose from 59-52 in the rankings

Kennedy was a standout for her National Cathedral team. She and Lilly Kennedy Lilly Kennedy 5'5" | DS/L National Cathedral | 2026 State VA combined to lead the high school to a 17-6 record and third place finish in the ISL, even pulling off a major upset over Flint Hil. Kennedy led the team in kills and played a six rotation left side.

I finally got to see her play in a local Maryland Juniors Open tournament. I was not disappointed She lists at 5’11 with an approach jump just short of 10 feet. A first team ISL selection and a second team All DC selection.

The Metro National team has a number of interesting prospects with nice athletic skills at the pins who have yet to commit. As a team they would be worth the look.

Kennedy made some huge developmental strides last year, improving her defense and serve receive to be able to play all around 6. Her hitting and power have always been her bread and butter though, and those have been key to the success of this team. She’s a veteran high level player, coming from Maryland Juniors, she’s been playing against the Paramount and Metro Travel girls for years now. The athleticism is nice, the power is handy, but the real steal to Kennedy is that she’s such a wonderful person too, any team is lucky to have her.

Kennedy rose from 76 to 59. I did not get a chance to see her play but the coaches I talked to spoke about her dominance. National Cathedral perhaps had their best season in school history and Kennedy was a key part of that.

She led the team in kills, was second on the team in blocks and service aces, third in digs and one of the primary passers in serve receive. She did it all. Perhaps their first time in school history they beat Flint Hill, taking them in five sets. Kennedy finished with 26 kills, 5 blocks and 19 digs.

This year she will move from Maryland Juniors to play for Metro. That should raise her game up a level.

I touched earlier on athletic all around sixes, and Kennedy is one of the better in the class of 2027. She is still fairly new to OH, let alone playing around, as she spent time playing middle a few years ago, as one of those shorter middles who uses her vertical and athleticism to play the position. She’s been developing constantly since then, and when a star player ahead of her moved on to a new club, it offered her the chance to really shine and show what she can do. Her offense can be terrifying at times, powerful, and accurate, she puts shots away with authority, and knows when to tip or roll instead of going through someone. Defensively she’s really focused herself on improving this season since she’s been playing all around, and start to finish you can see real improvement on her digs, her serve receive and her passing. When she gets focused on something, watch out, she’s got elite athlete level determination and work ethic, and that’s going to help her shore up those areas she is new to and really jump up some rankings lists this next season.