Ten Chesapeake Liberos to Note
The libero position is tough to measure. A player makes a diving play and it looks impressive, but was she out of position before making the play? What about the libero who is steady and can read an offense to…
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Continue ReadingThe libero position is tough to measure. A player makes a diving play and it looks impressive, but was she out of position before making the play? What about the libero who is steady and can read an offense to be in position to make a dig without the dive?
The most impressive liberos may be those who make the perfect passes and the boring digs without having to spend the majority of the game on the floor. Quick feet and fast movement to a spot on the floor to respond to a set and good reads to a serve that comes hard over the net are the things that should come natural to a libero. Hitting the floor and making spectacular digs is pretty cool too, but sometimes boring is better.
Below are ten liberos that were hard to ignore.
Kareena Rathnam (Winston Churchill/MVSA 15) – She appears very calm on the court. Passing appears to come so easy for her. If she makes a mistake you would not know it by her reaction on the court. Kareena may have been the libero I was most impressed with this season, especially because of her age and the way she carried herself on the court.
Natalia PeBenito (Good Counsel/Columbia Volleyball Academy Black 16) – She has the hands of a setter, which can be good when you are out of system. Her coach had so much confidence in her passing that Natalia took much of the court in a two passing system in at least one rotation. It would be no surprise me that the beach is part of her game. She is just so consistent.
Mailinh Godschall (Centennial/Metro 16) – It is hard to take note of her when you have girls 6’3 to 6’5″ burying balls on the other side of the court. But without her consistent passing and solid digs there would be no sets that allowed these giants to bury balls. Just a solid, all around player who knows her role.
Emma White Emma White 5'6" | DS/L Legacy Christian Academy | 2025 State VA (Legacy Christian Academy/Blue Ridge 16) – She has the energy on the court to keep her team motivated. There is a lot of enthusiasm in her game, which transfers to her teammates. Could be why they are 6-0 after the first two days at AAUs in Florida.
Caitlin O’Brien (Stonebridge/Vienna Elite 17-F) – She passed her high school team to their first state championship since 2015. Her passing also allowed Vienna Elite 17-Fs to qualify for an 18 National bid. Steady and consistent on the court.
Sadee Gedse (Annandale/St. James Navy 16) – She was sharing the position of libero at the start of the season, but by the end of the season the libero position was hers. Her precision passing and excellent defense allowed St. James Navy to go undefeated and win the East Coast championship in Pittsburgh. AAUs in Florida is next.
Sakura Shimozono (South Lake/Loudoun Elite 17) – A very steady passer. In the Chesapeake Regional against Metro 17 they stopped serving her after she was able to make perfect pass after perfect pass. She also stood her ground on defense, popping vicious kills straight up to the setter. She was one of the reasons Metro 17 struggled to beat them.
Jessica Chen (Thomas Wooten/MVSA Sparks 16) – It is a statement of the quality of your libero when you only have seven players and you still use that seventh player as the libero. Better to have her in the back row twice instead of just once. Sparks would not have won the Chesapeake Showdown without her precision passing and steady defense.
Kaiyana Rawlins (Paint Branch/Maryland Jrs. Yellow 16) – She has some length which she took advantage of when playing defense. Her passing seemed to come easy with good reads on the serve. What was most impressive was her hard serve which produced shank after shank and then a time out.
Iris Thea (Gaithersburg/MVSA Rebel 15) – At 5’6″ she may have been taller than her two outside hitters. Her passing was consistent and she was not afraid to hit the floor to make contact with the ball. She was a fun player to watch.
Worth a Mention
Evie Huang (Robinson/Metro 15) – I did not see her play this year, but I’ve seen her play previous years and she is excellent at playing the position.
Brenna Corbin Brenna Corbin 5'5" | DS/L James Wood | 2026 State VA (Blue Ridge 15 Blue) – She plays the position well and is deserving of this list, but as a class of 2026 she still has time to up her game. Brenna has quick feet that allows her to play the position with incredible ease. She is also playing for Blue Ridge 15.