September 3, 2022

In a smaller, 15-team field like the CA Challenge one might expect a smooth Day 1 ride but that was not the case Friday in San Diego as teams contended for one of the eight spots for Saturday’s gold bracket. While the four top seeds all advanced by winning their respective pools, it wasn’t so simple for one of them. La Costa Canyon (CA)– the No. 1 team in Pool 2 – was upstaged by Kahuku (HI) in the 1 v 4 match and had to battle back against Santa Fe Christian (CA) in the 1 v 2 contest. LCC’s head-to-head victory over SFC afforded the Mavericks first place in the pool after both finished 2-1 and advanced. Top-seeded Torrey Pines (CA), No. 3 San Marcos (CA) and No. 4 Eastlake (CA) combined to go 8-0 with only Eastlake dropping a set along the way. Torrey Pines was part of a three-team pool and played just two matches, though they were best-of-five. Great Oak (CA) moved on along with Torrey Pines out of Pool 1. In Pool 3, the No. 3 team Buchanan (CA) finished 2-1 to make the gold bracket with San Marcos. And in Pool 4, there was a three-way tie at 1-2 behind Eastlake. Los Gatos (CA), Mission Vista (CA) and Frontier (CA) knotted up but Los Gatos received the tiebreaker for second place to stay in contention. *** UNDER THE RADAR PLAYERS We’ll have our normal Show Stoppers after the tournament concludes highlighting the top players we saw during the two days of action. Below, we bring you players who have flown under the radar but caught our eye on Day 1. Isabella Akanoa SR S/RS Kahuku (HI) Meghan Kagehiro JR L St. Mary’s (CA) Keely Hummel JR OH St. Mary’s (CA) Avery Banaag SR L Eastlake (CA) Lily Stewart JROH Eastlake (CA) MJ Martin JR S Mission Vista (CA) Kristine Zhou SR S Santa Fe Christian (CA) Kate Phillips L Santa Fe Christian (CA) Emma Bambe SR L La Costa Canyon (CA) Sienna Manning JR MB La Costa Canyon (CA) Portia Zeidler FR MB Los Gatos (CA) Stevie Yursik SR OH Frontier (CA) Emma Heckman SR RS Point Loma (CA) Kathryn Cherrington SR OH Ironwood Ridge (AZ) Melanie Merrill SR OH Ironwood Ridge (AZ) Sarah Wilson SR OH Great Oak (CA) Zayda Fuertez JR L Great Oak (CA) Sophia Duguid FR RS Great Oak (CA) Lauren Feller SO RS San Marcos (CA) Charlee Ellena JR OH San Marcos (CA) Cameron Holcomb FR L San Marcos (CA)

I have been covering Texas tournaments this past month so it was great to be given the opportunity to travel to Florida to cover this tournament here in Tampa Bay! vballrecruiter.com wrote a preview of the Nike TOC Southeast tournament that highlighted the athletes and programs that would be in attendance. Let’s take a quick look at the top headlines from Friday, followed by team spotlights and under the radar players. Pool A in the National Division was definitely a fun one to watch. Lafayette (MO) ended up winning the pool by upsetting the top seed Ponte Vedra (FL). Pool F in National had an upset with Venice (FL) winning the pool. Pool H in the National Division had another upset with Tampa Prep (FL) beating Bishop Gorman (NV) to capture the top seed. TEAM SPOTLIGHTS Cornerstone Christian (TX) is just so deep. It’s fun to watch them work together out there. And with a outside hitter like Nayeli Gonzalez doubling as a middle blocker sometimes it definitely changes the offense in a pinch. Lafayette was the team that prevailed in an incredibly talented pool of teams. Outside Maya Witherspoon and Allison Risley were hitting some heavy balls consistently throughout the day. Layne Witherspoon and Ellie Emms helped balance the attack in the middle. Bishop Gorman is a team to reckon with. Their physicality and energy are fun to watch. Names to remember are Lellia Talloa and Ayanna Watson. UNDER THE RADAR PLAYERS We’ve watched many of the top tier players during club season and are very likely to see the top teams in action on Days 2, so instead of highlighting those girls as part of our normal Show Stoppers, let’s mix it up a bit and present a few players who fly under the radar but caught our attention on Day 1 nevertheless. Emily Ortiz, SR L, Winter Park Bree Rivas, SR OH, Seacrest Country Day Sarah Gooch, SR OH, Lake Brantley (West Virginia) Morgan Burke, SR OH, Skutt Catholic (Michigan) Madison Smith, SR OH, West Orange Abigayle Dickinson, SR OH, Olympia (Texas Tech) Reese Burry, SR L, Windermere Prep Madi Hartman, SR L, Lafayette (Arkansas Tech) Anna Grace Sparks, SR OH, McGill Toolen (Queens Univ of Charlotte) Rylee Busse, SR OH, Cornerstone Christian (Memphis) Devereaux Hoxsie, JR OH, Kings Academy Mae Mae Lacey, JR MB, Mountain Brook Raegan Richardson, JR S, Jensen Beach Tatum Thompson, JR L, Bishop Gorman Hannah Hankerson, SO OH, Berkeley Prep Ada McCoy, SO OH, Musselman Rylee Tanner, SO OH, Winter Haven Isabella Medeiros, SO S, Pine Crest Anna Cathcart, SO OH, Oviedo Meme Davis, JR OH, Gainesville Audryana Colon, SO OH, Niceville Morgen Talley, SO MB, Calvary Christian Aracelys Sanchez, SO OH, Vero Beach Eva Goodson, FR OH, Florida High Leilani Lawrence, FR OH, Tampa Prep