Fall 2026 Preview: Montgomery County Field Hockey and Volleyball!

FIELD HOCKEY 🏑

Last fall saw six teams finish with double-digit wins with one team reaching as far as the state semifinals! Click this link or scroll down to read more about how several of last year’s best teams are shaping up to head into the 2026 field hockey season!

Churchill lost seven seniors including Bates College commit Mane Cerda Salazar and RPI commit Nora O’Connor. Two time MPSSAA field hockey coach of the year Cay Miller will lead the team in her 16th season as head coach. The Bulldogs will rematch the James Madison Warhawks on the road in Vienna, Virginia, on opening day, seeking revenge on the team that handed them their only regular season loss in 2025.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase lost five seniors including first team all county midfielder Amelia Morton, but the team will return a trio who were selected to the MoCo squad. Julia Foster was selected to the first all county team while Adalia Wilcox and Juliet Kelliher made the second squad. 2026 marks head coach Colby Wright’s ninth season leading the 13x state champion Barons who hope to make it past the state semifinals for the first time since 2014.

Damascus lost 12 seniors including first all division midfielder Maddie Powell and second all division goalie Remy Cooperstein. This season will showcase a pair of college commits leading the team including Mary Miller (Belmont Abbey College) and Katie Roberts (Roberts Wesleyan University). Junior forward Nia Marshall will also have a large role on the team after making the first all-division team in 2025.

Whitman lost nine seniors including Emma Foscarini to Villanova University and Leila Watson to McDaniel College. The big story for the Vikings this year will be sophomore forward Antonia Parrado who will enter this fall after a spring season on the USA U16 national team. Kimi Dickman will also return after making the second all division team as a freshman. Head coach Krishna Jaitly will return for her fifth season leading Whitman’s program.

The Blazers had a very successful 2025 season, finishing with an 11-4 overall record, but this season will see Blair’s roster without their trio of top talent. Washington and Jefferson College commit Lilah Coleman, Haverford College commit Juliet Craig, and Clark University commit Ruth Wajda-Gotwals each had significant contributions to last year’s team, but none will be back in 2026. These losses could pose challenges for the Blazers down the line.

Wootton lost five seniors including defender Nicole Subiela who made the Washington Post All-Met team. Jia Micalizzi will return for her senior season following an honorable mention all-county selection. Midfielder Kate Bardill was a 4A west second team in her junior year in 2025. This year will be head coach Gina Britton’s third leading the varsity team.

Sherwood lost 12 seniors including goalie Lilah Boig, who made the second all county team. and all county honorable mention Charleigh Robinson. This year’s squad will be led by forward Sophia Kaser, who was an all state honorable mention, along with rising sophomore Carson Frye who was an all-county honorable mention in her freshman season last fall.

Einstein lost seven seniors including Lucy Stenger to Dickinson College and a pair of all county honorable mentions, Ellen Bluey and Lena Fleschner. They’ll be led this year by Asha Goodall, all county honorable mention and first team all division.

VOLLEYBALL 🏐

12 different MoCo schools finished with 10 or more wins in 2025, but several schools not only lost college commits, but lost NCAA Division I commits! Click this link or scroll down to read more about how several of last year’s best teams are shaping up to head into the 2026 volleyball season!

Wootton graduated the Montgomery County player of the year in setter Taryn Su who will continue her career at Stony Brook University. The Patriots will also be without Kirsten Sinkler who was previously committed to play at Virginia Union University. Head coach Tony Malinauskas has no shortage of experience dealing with major losses in his dozen years leading volleyball teams, both girls and boys, at Wootton.

Richard Montgomery lost Ellie Mitchell to Salisbury University, but University of Minnesota commit Katie Mitchell will return after a first team all-Met selection. Saesha Dhote and Kinsley Flores will also return this fall after surpassing 100 career kills in the 2025 season. Flores, along with Ana Djordjevic and Ellyn Kim were selected to the all-county honorable mention list.

Sherwood will return junior setter Ariel Callwood, who was selected to the all-met honorable mention team, and rising senior Claire Strosnider who was a Montgomery County honorable mention. This comes as the Warriors lost just three athletes from last year’s team, setting this year’s roster up for even more success than their 13-3 overall record from 2025.

The Quince Orchard Cougars graduated seven athletes including a pair of college commits including Eden Tardy to the University of Mary Washington and Elly VanLandingham to UMBC. QO won their regular season game against Churchill but lost to the Bulldogs in their first playoff game last fall. The team will look for revenge in their fourth game of their season on the road as they face Churchill.

Whitman will be led by Lulu Giesecke, an outside hitter committed to Gettysburg College, but they lost a pair of college commits including Raegen Lentz to Amherst College and Eliza Lowe to Middlebury College. After a pair of losses against Churchill, one in the regular season and one in the playoffs, the Vikings await their fifth game of the season on September 25 as they seek revenge on the Bulldogs.

Magruder lost three seniors including libero Sonia Bing who made the second all-county team. Rising senior setter Chloe Tanseco was also selected to the second MCPS squad. Head coach Victoria Creamer is a Magruder alumna and is entering her fifth year leading the program. The Colonels are looking ahead to a road match on October 20 against Rockville who eliminated them from the postseason last fall.

Walter Johnson graduated four seniors, led by Celiana Caraballo who was a Montgomery County honorable mention in 2025. Emilia Zhang was selected to the second all-county team and will play her senior season for the Wildcats this fall. Sara Williams was the previous head coach for Walter Johnson’s JV squad, but stepped up last season following the departure of Jackie Krampf to fill the varsity vacancy. WJ took Whitman to five sets in the game that eliminated them from the playoffs, but the two are set to face off on September 26 in a home game for the Wildcats.

Poolesville lost four seniors including Hood College commit Jaylin Anderson and Chatham University commit Scarlett Hunter. Head coach Steve Lostoski is entering his sixth season leading the Falcons. Montgomery County’s lone 2A team will not have a shot at revenge against Williamsport in the regular season, but the teams are slated to face off against each of the four teams that handed them regular season losses in 2025.

Rockville graduated three seniors including one of the county’s top volleyball commits Maddie Pankowski, who will play at Harvard this fall. The Rams’ schedule looks nearly identical from last fall to this season, and the team will have a shot at postseason revenge, facing Wootton in their third game of the season at home on September 14.

Churchill’s eight graduates from 2025 were led by second team all county selectee Charlotte Deraleau and senior all star Laila Specht. Rising seniors Lucile Deraleau and Siyena Fitsum were both selected to the first all-county squad and will return to support their squad this season. Cindy Hillard has led the Bulldogs for the past 15 seasons to two straight state semifinals appearances and four total since 2019.

PROGRAMMING NOTE 💭

Stay tuned to County Sports Zone for more preview articles and power rankings for Montgomery County high school sports in the coming weeks! Practices kick off on August 12 before the regular season gets underway on September 4.

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