July 22, 2022

The final National Rankings release party continues on with the 15s divisions below. You can find the 18s, 17s and 16s that were already put out by clicking on the links. 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. There are power league results, qualifier results, national tournaments like Triple Crown and of course the USAV Girls Junior Nationals and AAU national championships. All these come into play. We put more weight on what happened at Junior Nationals than a qualifier because the whole season is built toward peaking at JN’s. We also had one steadfast rule we didn’t break no matter the circumstances. That rule was if Team A defeated Team B in a gold challenge match or gold bracket match at JN’s, Team A is always going to be ranked ahead of Team B. That’s because everyone comes to JN’s to win a gold medal and if Team A eliminates Team B from contention, it won at the absolute right time. It can make for some skewed overall rankings as a team might be too high or low overall but what’s the point if the biggest head-to-head matches of the season aren’t the most important ones? 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. ALAMO 15 PREMIER (19 – previous ranking) Alamo is the perfect example of the beauty that is Junior Nationals. The only at-large team in the field, Alamo stormed its way to the 15 Open gold medal. Alamo showed flashes during the season. One instance was taking fifth at the Salt Lake City qualifier. Alamo also finished seventh at the Sunshine Classic, but came in 11th at the Lone Star Classic and 17th at Triple Crown. While Alamo was most assuredly deserving of the lone at-large, there was hardly a case to be made for Alamo winning it all. The Lone Star Region club came into the tourney with a 9-14 mark against the Open field then reeled off nine victories to finish on top, including beating Arizona Storm 15 Thunder in the championship match. Alamo ends the year with a 18-17 mark against Open teams. 2. ARIZONA STORM 15 THUNDER (1) There’s no doubt Storm was the best, most consistent team throughout the club season. However, Storm’s only loss at Junior Nationals happened to come in the championship match to Alamo. Storm’s year included a ninth-place finish at Triple Crown and winning both the Salt Lake City and Red Rock Rave qualifiers, as well as the JVA West Coast Cup. Storm lost just four matches to teams in its age group – Dynasty 15 Black, Aspire 15 Premier, Seal Beach 15 Black and Alamo. It finishes the season with a 30-2 record against Open opponents. 3. TAV 15 BLACK (3) TAV is well deserving of a Top 5 ranking after the season it turned in. The North Texas Region club wrapped up an incredible year with a bronze medal at Junior Nationals after falling to Storm in the semis. It capped a year in which TAV never finished lower than fifth place, which came at the Lone Star Classic. TAV finished first at NEQ and third at Red Rock and finishes with an impressive 28-7 clip against Open-qualified clubs. 4. DRIVE NATION 15 RED (21) With its remarkable run at Junior Nationals, Drive Nation makes a huge leap in our final rankings and climbs inside the Top 5 after taking home the bronze medal in Indy. Drive Nation upset Hou Skyline 15 Royal in the quarterfinals before falling to Alamo. Along with Alamo winning gold, it was one of the most surprising results in 15 Open. Drive Nation entered JNs with a 5-14 mark against the Open field but reminded everyone that it’s not how many but when the victories come that matters most. Drive Nation finishes the season with an 11-19 mark against Open teams, but most importantly it earned itself hardware. 5. HOU SKYLINE 15 ROYAL (2) For Hou Skyline it was simply a case of losing at the wrong time as the Lone Star Region club was upended by Drive Nation in the quarterfinals and settled for a fifth-place finish at Junior Nationals. Regardless, it was an incredible year for Hou Skyline, which never finished lower than fifth place. It included coming in first at both the Northern Lights and Sunshine qualifiers, as well as a third at Lone Star and fifth at Triple Crown. Hou Skyline ends with a hefty 20-6 record against Open teams. 6. 1ST ALLIANCE 15 BLACK (6) Another club which showed tremendous consistency all season, 1st Alliance was in position to medal at Junior Nationals but came in fifth after falling to Alamo in the quarterfinals. Among the results this past spring for 1st Alliance include winning Triple Crown, taking second at MEQ, third at Windy City and fifth at Sunshine. 1st Alliance finishes with a great 20-8 mark playing Open opponents. 7. LEGACY 15 ADIDAS (8) The AAU 15 Open champions had its medal hopes dashed at Junior Nationals after losing to TAV in the challenge round. Overall, Legacy turned in a strong year, coming in third at Triple Crown, second at the Sunshine Classic and fourth at MEQ, as well as winning the JVA SummerFest. Legacy went 22-13 against Open teams. 8. OT 15 RANDY (7) OT Randy finished with a silver medal in 15 Open at AAU before heading to Junior Nationals, where it came in fifth after going down to Arizona Storm in the quarterfinals. This is another club that was steady and consistent throughout the season, never finishing lower than fifth. It featured winning the Big South qualifier, as well as taking second at Triple Crown, third at Sunshine and fifth at MEQ. On the