MD Jrs and Club 540 Win East Coast Championship | Prep Dig (2024)

The Maryland Juniors 15 and Club 540 16 teams both won the Beast of the East Division in the East Coast Championships in Pittsburgh over Memorial Day Weekend. In that same age grouping the Virginia Juniors 15 finished third and Virginia Wave 16 finished second. River Valley Juniors won the 18 Select Division.

While I tried to see as many games as possible my main mission at this tournament involved coaching a bunch of 13 year old girls in the game of volleyball. These girls have yet to win a medal this year despite playing in a number of tournaments. While it may have been one of the lower brackets our team managed to earn a gold. These girls did not care the name of the bracket. It was their first medal of the year while also winning their last three matches to capture that gold. What a way to end the year. Tears of happiness were flowing in many eyes after we won the third set of the championship match 16-14 after being down 10-4. Wow.

Below are some of the high lights from the 15-16 age groups. More to follow with the next post.

15 Beast of the East

Maryland Juniors went undefeated in their run to the championship, justifying their second seed to start the tournament. The teams were broken out into four six team pools. Five matches were played over two days and a crossover match added. Maryland Juniors had a rough go of it early on the first day with two of their first three matches going three sets. They won the opening third set match against Downstate Black 15-8. In their third match of the day they beat Liberty Elite by the same score.

On the second day they had a tough opener against the Durham Rebels. Libero Victoria Small Victoria Small 5'3" | DS/L Maryvale | 2027 State VA ended the first set with an ace to give Juniors a 28-26 win. That gave them momentum for the second set where they rolled 25-7. After sweeping Niagara Frontier they played a three set match in the crossover against the Canadian team Venom Vipers. The Vipers throttled Mayland Juniors 25-15 in the second set. However, Juniors was able to recover to salvage the match with a third set victory 15-9.

The gold bracket went just as expected, with the first seed Virginia Juniors and Maryland Juniors taking opposite ends of the bracket. Maryland Juniors swept past MVSA Charge 25-22 and 25-19. They lost a second set to a strong 757 National team 25-23 but recovered to take the third 15-10. Virginia Juniors swept past Niagara Frontier, but the Venom Vipers created trouble for them in the semi-finals. They swept past Juniors 25-18, 25-17.

That resulted in a rematch between the Canadian team Venom Vipers and Maryland Juniors. The Vipers came into the tournament as the fifth seed. They also went undefeated in their pool play (5-0) while not losing a set. The loss to Maryland Juniors in the crossover match stood out as their first in the tournament. Time to seek revenge.

Annika Dandridge Annika Dandridge 5'11" | OH TCHS Of Baltimore | 2027 State VA dominated the second set. She contributed five kills, two blocks and two aces in the 25-19 win. She was not too happy with her last kill since it hit the top of the net and rolled to the floor. Most of her kills were missiles that bruised the floor. Juniors jumped out to an early 7-1 lead that extended to a 20-9 lead after a Dandridge statement ill down the line.

While Virginia Juniors 15 team finished third in the tournament they presented a team with excellent talent. Except for a match against River City, Virginia Juniors swept their opponents in pool play, not allowing more than 18 points in any of their sets. Against River City they lost the second set 25-23 and pulled out the third set 15-13.

In the crossover they lost the first set to a strong 757 National team 25-17. They then bounced back to win the last two sets 25-15 and 15-9. The loss to Venom Vipers had to be a heartbreaker, especially when you look at the scores 25-18, 25-17. Virginia Juniors will bounce back. Too much talent on this team.

With Coco Lewis Coco Lewis 6'2" | OH Herndon | 2027 State VA hitting outside they may have one of the top left sides in the country for the class of 2027. She plays six rotations, moving her 6’2″ frame smoothly through the back row. Definitely the type of player who can dominate the game whether hitting back row or front row. Ayla Sayd Ayla Sayd 6'0" | OH Marshall | 2027 State VA is another strong left side who stands 6’0″ with further growth anticipated. She powers rockets into the back court. The middles Ava Gill Ava Gill 6'2" | MB St. Johns | 2027 State VA and Julia Horan Julia Horan OH VA also provide length. with both appearing to stand north of 6 foot. Horan belongs to the class of 2026. Kinsley Zebatto Kinsley Zebatto 6'1" | MB Battlefield | 2027 State VA plays right side and also stands north of 6 foot. Megan Phan Megan Phan 5'7" | S Bullis | 2026 State VA is the only regular player who sees the front row who stands less than six feet. She runs a 5/1 sorting out the offense with quick sets in a variety of directions. You don’t see a lot of that in 15U teams.

For me, the highlight was watching the 757 National team play. Another big wow. This team fills the court with talent. It would not surprise me to see some of these players make the next ranking for the class of 2027.

Their libero Ryan Bothof plays with great intensity and confidence. Definitely a player who takes control over the back court. She played the game like many of her teammates, relying on solid fundamentals with sharp passing and good defense. While they did not hit the ball hard or were blessed with height the team volleyball IQ jumped off the charts. Elisa Chamness was one of those players who shined with her passing and stellar defense. While she does not pass the sight test when you think of a typical right side (under 6 feet with excellent back row hustle and quickness) she hammered a number of balls to the floor. Elisa also creates offense with her hits from the back row.

757 uses two setters in the same spot, with Savanna Legrand running the offense in the front row and Emmie Irving working the offense while playing the back row. Their prime target appears to be left side Avery Osler, who doesn’t necessarily crush the ball, but there is enough velocity to allow balls to find the floor. She hits her spots well, including getting a first set ending kill in a 25-23 win over Fusion. Middle Lyla Shannon scattered the court with aces.

For the tournament 757 went 6-1 in sets won by two points. The Advanced Event System (AES) ranks them as the top 15U team in the Old Dominion Region. They took Maryland Juniors to three games in the semi-final, but came up short in the last set 15-10.

540 Academy Elite

Last year at the Beast of the East for the most part this same group of girls from 540 Academy lost in the finals to MVSA Charge. A year later and their focus turns to winning the championship. Mission accomplished

They got a chance at revenge playing a first round gold bracket playoff match against MVSA Sparks, which is MVSA Charge one year older. 540 Academy had just experienced their first loss to Force VC in a crossover match, which ruined their opportunity at the first seed. At the start of the tournament 540 ranked as a sixth seed while Force VC earned a first seed ranking. Force won their pool, losing just one set to Maryland Juniors. A crossover win would have made Club 540 a first seed.

The defending champion MVSA Sparks came into the tournament as the seventh seed, having lost three critical players from last year’s team to Paramount . Absent those three players made them no match for 540 Academy, losing 25-15, 25-20. This put 540 up against Virginia Juniors.

540 sneaked past Virginia Juniors in the opener 27-25. In the second set Alyssa Kumah Alyssa Kumah 6'0" | MB Mountain View | 2027 State VA showed how dominant she can perform as an outside. Normally she plays middle, but for this match she hit outside. She may have hit outside for the whole tournament since I did not see Lindsey Canty Lindsey Canty 5'10" | OH North Stafford | 2026 State VA the normal left side, on the sidelines.

Alyssa played six rotations, passed well and played good defense. She put up a good dig in the back row that extended a rally giving Club 540 a 24-20 lead in set two. Juniors rallied back to turn it into a one point game at 23-24. Jordan Ellis proved critical in this set. With Alyssa and Jasmine Williams Jasmine Williams 5'11" | MB Colonial Forge | 2026 State VA their two main middles her playing time has been limited. Given the opportunity to play she contributed two slide kills and one block late in the game. After Juniors scored three points and were gaining momentum Aubrey Parker Aubrey Parker 5'11" | S Riverbend | 2026 State VA hit Ellis with a quick set in the middle for the kill to finish off Virginia Juniors 25-23. As John Fogerty would say “Put me in coach I’m ready to play today”.

Aubrey Parker Aubrey Parker 5'11" | S Riverbend | 2026 State VA (photo above) ran a 5/1. She brings good height to the position and with her jump set she can keep defenses guessing. She also sets her middles well and attempts to run a varied offense. It is a complex offense with quick sets placed along various locations along the net. Sometimes she misses the hitter, but that is the risk of keeping the opponent off balance.

The number one seed Force got upset by Virginia Wave getting burned by duplicate 25-19 scores. In the championship match Wave took 540 Club to three sets but lost the third set 15-11.

Next week I will talk about some of the other teams and the players who stood out at the tournament, despite my responsibilities as a coach first and a scout second.