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Post by Scott Zanni on Aug 22, 2018 14:46:15 GMT -5
Hi everyone, the 2018 season is now two weeks old with the first matches two weeks away. Seems like a good time to start previewing teams and the season. In the coming days we will start posting threads for all 25 MCPS teams so that each team has a place to highlight the individuals on their teams, their matches, statistics or anything else that parents, players and fans want to post for their respective high schools. We will cover 1-2 teams each day until all 25 teams are done. This will start tomorrow and conclude before the first matches start after Labor Day.
In the meantime in this thread, please feel free to post early season thoughts, predictions, results from practices, questions about the season and scrimmage and scrimmage tournaments.
Finally, please pass along this website to all the players, parents and fans in your community. There is no longer local media to cover high school sports and the Washington Post has 300 high schools to cover with a few reporters. So this site is designed to be a place where people can discuss the local high school volleyball scene. Pass it along to anyone who might be interested.
Additionally I'm working on trying to do a weekly poll that people can fill out. We've had requests for those for some years and we'll give it a try this year.
So who's got some predictions and thoughts for the 2018 season? Fire away.....
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Post by Scott Zanni on Sept 6, 2018 21:18:54 GMT -5
The 2018 season is well underway. We encourage parents, players, fans, etc. to post short bios on their team that highlight key players and/or write up match summaries for contests. Hoping to get more people posting and visiting the site.
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Post by Cat on Sept 13, 2018 13:06:52 GMT -5
Can people write short summaries of matches they are at? It’s fun to hear what’s happening.
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Post by Me on Sept 14, 2018 1:08:02 GMT -5
In the Magruder vs Churchill match on Wed Sept 12, Magruder won in 3. Magruder played at a high level during the entire match. Churchill had many ups and downs. Magruder's setter did a nice job of moving the ball around. We all know they have great hitters and they did shine. And their serve receive was very good. Magruder should do really well throughout the season.
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Post by mhsparent on Sept 14, 2018 6:46:33 GMT -5
In the Magruder vs Churchill match on Wed Sept 12, Magruder won in 3. Magruder played at a high level during the entire match. Churchill had many ups and downs. Magruder's setter did a nice job of moving the ball around. We all know they have great hitters and they did shine. And their serve receive was very good. Magruder should do really well throughout the season. That is a nice summary. The only thing I would add is Magruder did have a bit of a lapse towards the end of the third set and let Churchill back into the set a bit with some unforced errors and silly mistakes so Magruder could improve on finishing a bit better
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Post by vballfan on Sept 14, 2018 22:14:49 GMT -5
Bethesda-Chevy Chase defeated Whitman 3-1 on Fri Sep 14. BCC is a very strong team. They are big up front ... Kyra Feinauer and Malaina Galic are good pin hitters and overpowered and/or outsmarted the Whitman defense throughout the match; Bella Fleeger is steady all-around and played well; Jenny Feinauer is big in the middle (but seems to prefer tips to hits ... to her credit, the tips were working well tonight). Their relatively "weaknesses" are at setter and libero - Elizabeth Sharkey has size, but is a bit stiff and her placements are predictable; she is decent with the block on defense, but given her height it would have been nice to see her throw in some offense. Megan Bickel is an underclassmen (everyone else is a senior), so she may have been overwhelmed a bit by the moment/atmosphere/pressure; she looks to be a good athlete and has potential, but she struggled a bit tonight. Still, the Barons are a very good team and - while they may not be in Northwest's class - they really didn't look to me like they were too far behind. Just need to mix up the sets and improve the back row play a bit (though I will add that the "big girls" ... particularly Kyra and Malaina are VERY good passers). For Whitman, the Personeni sisters (Olivia OH and Ottavia Libero) were the two lone bright lights for the Vikings. Olivia looked to be the best player on the floor, but she was not getting set very well or often. Ottavia made some nice defensive players and was a good server. Whitman was weak in the middle; Julia Rubin did admirably when she was in there, but she did not play much. And even though the score was 3-1, coach Sam Pang played the third set entirely with his "second string"; other than a random couple of points, not a single "starter" played in the 3rd set. That was why it was 3-1 instead of 3-0. Was a packed gym and fun match to watch.
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Post by mocovb on Sept 15, 2018 20:55:40 GMT -5
Is there any interest in a college commitment thread? I would love to follow where some of our local girls will play college.
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Post by mocovb on Sept 17, 2018 23:17:36 GMT -5
Bethesda-Chevy Chase defeated RM 3-1. Pretty much the same result as Whitman. Kyra Feinauer sat tonight out to rest an injury and was replaced by Sophie Fleeger who stepped up to contribute blocks and kills for the Barons. As with previous matches the starters sat out the third set and then came back in to finish off RM in the forth. Leila Rogers pick up her share of kills, but RM lacks the size to score regularly against BCCs big front. I was impressed with several of their passers, they kept RM in the match at times.
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Post by Scott Zanni on Sept 27, 2018 10:31:51 GMT -5
There are some big matches tonight in MCPS. Damascus and Northwest play while Churchill and BCC play.
This weekend is also the Battle of Bethesda.
Hope to see some summaries of these!
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Post by NoVert on Sept 28, 2018 21:40:03 GMT -5
Northwest was just too big and skilled for a game Damascus squad, sweeping them in three. The first two sets were not close, but Damascus picked up their game in the third, and NW made some uncharacteristic errors to make the set competitive.
Having seen Wootton, WJ and Magruder play, I think there is still a large gap between NW and the other MCPS teams. I haven't seen B-CC play yet, and they may have the size to compete with NW. Holy Cross vs NW would be an interesting matchup.
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Post by mhsparent on Oct 1, 2018 7:10:52 GMT -5
Northwest was just too big and skilled for a game Damascus squad, sweeping them in three. The first two sets were not close, but Damascus picked up their game in the third, and NW made some uncharacteristic errors to make the set competitive. Having seen Wootton, WJ and Magruder play, I think there is still a large gap between NW and the other MCPS teams. I haven't seen B-CC play yet, and they may have the size to compete with NW. Holy Cross vs NW would be an interesting matchup. Curious what match(es) you have seen Magruder play because they really have not been pushed yet during the season so it is a little hard to judge their level. Magruder did scrimmage AHC during preseason and it was very competitive but AHC was missing some key players that day. BCC lost to AHC 2-1 this past weekend during the Battle of Bethesda tournament though. Would be interesting to see those set scores. It is too bad NW, BCC and Magruder do not play each during the season...
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Post by NoVert on Oct 1, 2018 12:01:46 GMT -5
I saw Magruder/Churchill early in the season. Magruder dominated the first two sets, but got a bit sloppy in the third to make it competitive. They were also not playing with their starting libero. At that point, Churchill looked like they were still trying to get comfortable with each other on the court. They looked better this weekend at Battle of Bethesda.
I agree that Magruder's schedule is not that difficult. Damascus and Sherwood may push them a bit. If Magruder can receive serve, they can generate a lot of offense.
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Post by mhsparent on Oct 1, 2018 17:37:52 GMT -5
I saw Magruder/Churchill early in the season. Magruder dominated the first two sets, but got a bit sloppy in the third to make it competitive. They were also not playing with their starting libero. At that point, Churchill looked like they were still trying to get comfortable with each other on the court. They looked better this weekend at Battle of Bethesda. I agree that Magruder's schedule is not that difficult. Damascus and Sherwood may push them a bit. If Magruder can receive serve, they can generate a lot of offense. I agree with your assessment regarding the Churchill match as I made similar comments earlier in this thread (see above). Also in the Magruder thread another poster said the key to Magruder this season will be serve receive as they clearly have multiple hitters who can finish so it looks like from your one match you are in agreement with others who follow Magruder. Magruder plays Blair tomorrow and Sherwood this Thursday so it will be interesting to see what happens after this week. It is nice to see 3 MCPS teams represented in the WaPo Volleyball Top 10
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Post by NoVert on Oct 15, 2018 21:57:54 GMT -5
Great match tonight between Wootton and NW. Wootton came out playing at a very high level in the first set, jumped out to a big lead and held on to take the set. It was the best I had seen them play all season. The second set was a blowout by NW, as they picked their game up, and Wootton couldn’t sustain their level of their play. NW’s pin hitters stepped up and starting racking up kills. This trend continued at the beginning of the third set. NW took the early lead, but Wootton walked them down and took the set. The fourth set, like the second, was a blowout for NW. The fifth set was dramatic, with NW jumping out to an early lead, Wootton walking them down and winning 15-13.
The back row defense was exceptional for both teams. NW has great speed, and court coverage. Wootton dug a lot of bombs hit by the NW pin hitters, and Chloe Hum was outstanding. Great night of volleyball.
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Post by mhsparent on Oct 16, 2018 5:12:52 GMT -5
Great match tonight between Wootton and NW. Wootton came out playing at a very high level in the first set, jumped out to a big lead and held on to take the set. It was the best I had seen them play all season. The second set was a blowout by NW, as they picked their game up, and Wootton couldn’t sustain their level of their play. NW’s pin hitters stepped up and starting racking up kills. This trend continued at the beginning of the third set. NW took the early lead, but Wootton walked them down and took the set. The fourth set, like the second, was a blowout for NW. The fifth set was dramatic, with NW jumping out to an early lead, Wootton walking them down and winning 15-13. The back row defense was exceptional for both teams. NW has great speed, and court coverage. Wootton dug a lot of bombs hit by the NW pin hitters, and Chloe Hum was outstanding. Great night of volleyball. Thanks for posting that game summary. Sounds like a really exciting match and also show why volleyball is interesting as clearly NW won the majority of the points, probably by a wide margin, but it is when you win the points is what matters for the sets and match, not total points won.
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