We have already released our 18s National Rankings. As well as our 17s National Rankings. Now vballrecruiter.com presents its 16s Top 50 National Rankings. At the conclusion of the national championships we will release our final rankings. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective.
The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all.
1. DYNASTY 16 BLACK
Comment: In our 17s National Rankings, picking a No. 1 left room for plenty of debate. That’s not the case in the 16s division. Dynasty is a clear-cut No. 1 after compiling 16 victories against the field compared to just two losses (TAV 16 Black and NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami.) Dynasty owns victories over both teams it has lost to, and has beaten 1st Alliance 16 Gold three times, KC Power 16-1 twice, as well as Wave 16 Brennan and A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe.
2. NKYVC 16-1 TSUNAMI
Comment: One of only two teams to have a victory over top-ranked Dynasty, NKYVC lands at No. 2. Along with beating Dynasty, NKYVC has an impressive lineup of wins that include A5, 1st Alliance, TAV, Circle City 16 Purple and Triangle 16 Black. Overall, NKYVC has 12 victories against Open qualifiers. It has quality losses to Dynasty, Wave, 1st Alliance and Circle City (twice). NKYVC does have two losses to a non-qualified Open team. One is to a strong Munciana 16 Moana team. The other is to HPSTL 16 Royal.
3. A5 MIZUNO 16 GABE
Comment: Losses to Dynasty and NKYVC place A5 at No. 3. But the Georgia club has clearly proven itself as one of the best with 19 victories against Open qualified teams. Two of the best ones came against TAV and Wave. It also has beaten Munciana twice. The only questionable loss for A5 came to AVC Cle Rox 16 Red, which is not qualified for Open. A5 has also lost to OT 16 Jason and Triangle, both of which are ranked in the Top 15.
4. CO JRS 16 SHERRI
Comment: Co Jrs is a good illustration of the challenge ranking teams can bring about. Co Jrs carries a modest 8-5 against the Open field, yet it has beaten both TAV and Wave, as well as Circle City. TAV and Wave are clear-cut Top 10 teams, and Circle City is borderline Top 10. Co Jrs does have a couple tough losses, one of them coming to Seal Beach 16 Black. Co Jrs has also lost to Metro 16 Travel, but we count that as a quality loss. Tri-State Elite 16 Blue also owns a victory over Co Jrs, as does Triangle and Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar (twice).
5. WAVE 16 BRENNAN
Comment: At the time of these rankings, Wave is 18-6 against the Open field. Two of those losses are to A5 and Dynasty. Another came against Triangle. Wave also lost to Coast 16-1 and Co Jrs 16 Sherri in PVL action. Among Wave’s victories are wins over NKYVC, TAV, OT Jason, Coast (three times) and Long Beach (three times).
6. TAV 16 BLACK
Comment: The rankings again are presenting difficulties. TAV has an argument to be higher than No. 6. TAV is one of only two teams to have defeated Dynasty to date. It’s one of 10 victories against the Open field. TAV has lost to Pohaku 16-1, a non-Open qualified team. Among its quality losses are setbacks to A5, NKYVC, Wave, Dynasty and Co Jrs.
7. 1ST ALLIANCE 16 GOLD
Comment: It’s been an interesting season for 1st Alliance, which has seen both sides of it often. The Illinois club is 10-11 against the Open field. Among its victories are KC Power (twice), Circle City, NKYVC and OT Jason. It has also lost to NKYVC, A5 (twice) and Dynasty (three times). It also has one setback against TVC 16 Black, which is not qualified for Open.
8. OT 16 JASON
Comment: Of the five losses against the Open field suffered by OT Jason, only one – to Triangle – has come to a team ranked outside the Top 10. The other four defeats are against NKYVC, 1st Alliance, A5 and Wave. OT also owns a victory over A5, as well as Coast, Metro and Long Beach. It has a mark of 10-5 against the Open field.
9. KC POWER 16-1
Comment: KC Power grabs one of the last spots in the Top 10 on strength of victories over clubs like TAV, Wave, Triangle and Munciana. Excluding Muncie, those are part of 10 victories against the Open qualified field. It also has eight losses against the Open field, with two each to 1st Alliance, Dynasty and Premier Nebraska 16 Gold, and one each to Circle City and A5.
10. TRI-STATE ELITE 16 BLUE
Comment: Tri-State Elite isn’t part of the Open bid chase and is focused on playing JVA events and AAUs at the end of the year. Still, it has been able to produce some big wins that earned the club a spot at No. 10. Among them are beating Munciana (three times), Co Jrs and Circle City. Other victories over Open qualified teams include beating MKE Sting 16 Gold and OT 16 Roberto. Some of the losses have included ones to NKYVC, Wave and Vision 16 Gold, as well as splitting a pair of matches with both Elevation 16 Butcher and Team Indiana Elite 16.1.
11. MUNCIANA 16 MOANA
Comment: There’s been some solid victories so far for Muncie, including owning six victories over Open qualified teams in OT 16 Will, MKE Sting, Drive Nation 16 Red, Top Select 16 Elite, Circle City and NKYVC. It has also lost to Top Select, KC Power, Adidas KiVA 16 Red, and A5 (twice).
12. CIRCLE CITY 16 PURPLE
Comment: Circle City has posted an 8-4 mark against the Open field, including two victories over NKYVC and one each against KC Power and Triangle. That was enough to land Circle City at No. 12 despite some tough losses. Among its setbacks are losses to Bolier Jrs 16 Gold, SPVB 16 Elite and Union 16 Asics. Circle City did help offset some of that with two wins over Boilers Jrs. Some of Circle City’s quality losses include to Munciana, Tri-State Elite, NKYVC, 1st Alliance and Co Jrs.
13. METRO 16 TRAVEL
Comment: Like Circle City, Metro is also 8-4 against the Open field. It has three victories over Triangle, as well as one each against Top-10 opponents in NKYVC and Co Jrs. It has three quality losses to A5, OT Jason and 1st Alliance, and one tough one to Flyers 16 Dylan.
14. TRIANGLE 16 BLACK
Comment: If not for Triangle losing three times to Metro it would have likely cracked the Top 10. That’s because Triangle owns victories over Co Jrs, Wave and A5, all of which are in the Top 10. Overall, Triangle has 15 victories against the Open field compared to 10 losses. It has also lost to unqualified Momentous 16 Dan.
15. MIZUNO LONG BEACH 15 ROCKSTAR
Comment: Long Beach has gone 17-14 against the Open field. That includes two victories over Co Jrs, plus beating Coast four times. Long Beach might have been ranked higher except for some losses against teams that didn’t qualify for Open in City Volleyball 16 Gold (twice), Temecula Viper 16 Mauro, SCVC 16 Roxy and OP2 16-1. At the same time, Long Beach has also defeated City twice, as well as Viper and SCVC once each.
16. COAST 16-1
Comment: Going 17-11, Coast has one of the best records of any team remaining against Open qualified opponents. However, Coast isn’t ranked higher because of its four losses to Long Beach. It has three more to Wave. Coast has also gone 2-1 against both SCVC and City, two teams not qualified for Open. Some of its victories though include beating Wave once, as well as Triangle.
17. AZ STORM 16 THUNDER
Comment: Storm received the lone at-large bid into the Open field, and for good reason. It has an 8-7 record against the Open field. It has a 1-2 mark against Coast, and a 1-1 record against Rev Fury 16-1, which is a non-Open team. Others victories include beating 1st Alliance and OT 16 Roberto. Some quality losses have occurred to A5, KC Power, Co Jrs and Long Beach.
18. PREMIER NEBRASKA 16 GOLD
Comment: Premier Nebraska also carries an 8-7 record against the field. It features beating both KC Power and OT Roberto twice. Premier has also split a pair of matches with MKE Sting and Skyline 16 Royal. It has lost to non-Open teams in AZ Rev 16 Premier, Six Pack 16-1 and Momentous. Among its quality losses are TAV, A5 and Circle City.
19. VISION 16 GOLD
Comment: Included among Vision’s top victories are ones over Tri-State Elite, Coast and Long Beach. It’s part of an 8-7 mark against the Open field. There are a couple questionable losses to unqualified teams in Excel 16 National Red and TAV Houston 16 Adidas.
20. AJV 16 ADIDAS
Comment: We are getting to the point of the rankings where almost all the teams left have sub-.500 marks against the Open field. AJV is 11-13. It includes two victories over Skyline. It has also gone 1-1 against Drive Nation, Madfrog and TAV Houston, which is not in the Open field. AJV carries a win over Premier Nebraska as well, but has some tough losses that include Momentous, HJV 16 Elite, Absolute Black 16-1 and Xcel 16 Adidas.
21. SKYLINE 16 ROYAL
Comment: Working in Skyline’s favor are victories against Premier Nebraska, Madfrog, Drive Nation (twice) and Flyers. The losses working against Skyline are ones to City, OVA 16 Black, Momentous, Absolute and NE Elite 16 Lokahi. All of those are against unqualified teams.
22. MADFROG 16 GREEN
Comment: Madfrog has its share of quality losses. They include A5, Dynasty, NKYVC, OT Jason, TAV and Coast. It has only two losses to teams not in the Open field. Those are to Tejas 16 Black and Momentous. Some of its victories have come against Vision, SG Elite, Long Beach and AJV, which it is 1-1 against.
23. SG ELITE 16 ROSH
Comment: SG Elite has been producing better results as the season wears on. It is 10-16 overall against the Open field. Ten of those setbacks have come against three teams – Wave (five times, Coast (three times) and Long Beach (twice). It is also 1-1 against Seal Beach; 2-3 against SCVC; and 1-3 against Momentous. Some of its better victories include a win over Long Beach, two over Vision and one against MKE Sting.
24. OT 16 ROBERTO
Comment: OT has had its share of questionable losses. Among them are setbacks to USA South 16 Purple, HPSTL (twice), OVA and Paramount VBC 16. It has quality losses to Tri-State Elite, 1st Alliance, A5, Dynasty (twice), KC Power (twice), NKYVC, TAV and Triangle. Among its victories against the field include Vision, TAV and Skyline.
25. MKE STING 16 GOLD
Comment: Sting has produced a few solid victories, beating the likes of 1st Alliance (twice), Long Beach and Premier Nebraska, which it is 1-1 against. Some of Sting’s tough losses are to Academy 16 Yeti, VCNebraska 16 Black and FC Elite 16 Navy (twice), as well as Six Pack (twice). It has beaten Six Pack once.
***
26. DRIVE NATION 16 RED
27. TOP SELECT 16 ELITE
28. FLYERS 16 DYLAN
29. GAINESVILLE 16 BLACK
30. ROCKWOOD THUNDER 16 ELITE
31. HPSTL 16 ROYAL
Comment: This first non-Open team to crack the list is High Performance. It owns six victories against the Open field, including going 2-2 against Rockwood Thunder. It also has beaten the likes of Seal Beach, NKYVC and OT Roberto (twice).
32. POHAKU 16-1
Comment: Pohaku is another team that wasn’t able to qualify for Open but deserves to be ranked. Some of its best victories include ones over Flyers, Skyline, Drive Nation and TAV.
33. MOMENTOUS 16 DAN
Comment: Momentous continues the streak of non-Open teams in the rankings. The So Cal club carries eight victories against the Open field. Those include beating SG Elite (three times), Madfrog, AJV, Triangle, Skyline and Premier Nebraska.
34. CLUB V 16 REN WAYNE
35. NE ELITE 16 LOKAHI
Comment: The best victory of the season for NE Elite is beating TAV. NE Elite also has downed Hou Skyline and Skyline for three wins against the Open field.
36. ABSOLUTE BLACK 16-1
Comment: Absolute was a playoff set to 15 points away from qualifying for Open. Victories against the field include beating Norco, AJV, OJVA and Skyline.
37. CITY VOLLEYBAL 16 GOLD
Comment: Another team that is hard to figure out. City owns eight victories against Open-qualified teams. But it also has 14 losses to the Open field. Plus, setbacks to non-Open teams like Temecula Viper, Academy Yeti, Absolute and Rage 16 Garren.
38. SEAL BEACH 16 BLACK
39. SCVC 16 ROXY
40. ELEVATION 16 BUTCHER
41. NORCO 16 BLACK
Comment: Norco qualified for Open, yet carries only three victories against the field in Vision, Rockwood Thunder and Triangle. It has some tough losses too, going down to five teams without Open bids, including to the 2s teams from both Premier Nebraska and MAVS.
42. OT 16 WILL
43. HOU SKYLINE 16 ROYAL
44. OJVA 16 GOLD
45. MAVC KC 16-1
46. HJV 16 ELITE
47. SIX PACK 16
48. TRIBE 16 ELITE
49. REV FURY 16-1
Comment: Helping Rev Fury crack the Top 50 are victories over Open qualified teams in Top Select, AZ Storm, OT Will, Seal Beach and Rockwood Thunder.
50. BOILER JRS 16 GOLD
***
ON THE CUSP
Alamo 16 Premier
TAV Houston 16 Adidas
AVC Cle Rox 16 Red
Excel 16 National Red
Mintonette m.61
Athena 16 Gold
Upward Stars 16 Amy
Legacy 16-1 Adidas
Academy 16 Yeti
Rocky 16 National
Miami Hype 16 Emilio
VCNebraska 16 Black
