Central Zone Preview And Predictions
Part of the vballrecruiter.com team is headed to the Central Zone Invitational on Saturday and Sunday in Indianapolis. Over the years this tournament has really grown in strength and once again boasts a loaded, loaded field, especially for the younger age groups. I’m personally super excited, because in my years of covering club volleyball I’ve never attended this event! That’s about to change and I’m eager to get to see these teams playing in the new year. Below are rundowns on the 15-18 Open divisions as we look at nationally-ranked teams in the field, top recruits and offer thoughts and predictions on those age groups. 15 OPEN Number of Teams: 32 vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (14): 1. Boiler Jrs 15 Gold 3. Mintonette Sports m.51 7. Elevation 15 Tony 11. Legacy 15-1 Adidas 12. HPSTL 15 Royal 13. MKE Sting 15 Gold 16. NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami 21. A5 15 Bob 29. AVC Cle 15 Red 34. Rev 15-1 Fuego 43. Tri-State Elite 15 Blue 44. Circle City 15 Purple 45. TVC 15 Black 49. Team Pineapple 15 Black *** 5-Star Athletes Kayla Nwabueze MB Legacy 15-1 Adidas Gabi DiVita OH Legacy 15-1 Adidas Bennett Raterman MB HPSTL 15 Royal 4-Star Athletes Margaret Czajka MB MKE Sting 15 Gold Ellie Hepler L/DS Boiler Jrs 15 Gold Cali Foster OH Boiler Jrs 15 Gold Reese Resmer MB Boiler Jrs 15 Gold Meredith Martin L/DS Legacy 15-1 Adidas Lexi Shondell S Boiler Jrs 15 Gold Emma Cugino L/DS Mintonette Sports m.51 Audrey Dyas MB NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami Addison Haberthy S Circle City 15 Purple Kalyssa Taggart S/RS A5 15 Bob Outlook/Prediction: There is no way this division can disappoint, can it? I don’t believe it can, not with 14 of the 32 teams ranked in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 National Rankings. It includes top-ranked Boiler Jrs 15 Gold, one of three Top-10 clubs in the field, and one of seven Top-20 teams vying for the championship. Also in the field is No. 3 Mintonette Sports m.51 – the defending 14 Open gold medalist from Indy last summer – and No. 7 Elevation 15 Tony, which earned bronze last summer in 14 Open. Another team to follow is No. 11 Legacy 15-1 Adidas. Legacy captured the 15 Open title at the JVA Rock’N Rumble earlier this month, where it defeated No. 29 AVC Cle 15 Red in the finals. Given the youth and depth of the division, anything can and probably will happen. Certainly, I’m expecting the higher-ranked teams in the field to excel, but it’s likely someone else is going to rise up and surprise by making a deep run. In the end though, the pick is Boiler Jrs beating Legacy in the final. *** 16 OPEN Number of Teams: 32 vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (13): 4. A5 16 Gabe 9. Circle City 16 Purple 10. 1st Alliance 16 Gold 12. Mich Elite 16 Mizuno 14. HPSTL 16 Royal 15. Legacy 16-1 Adidas 27. MKE Sting 16 Gold 33. Mintonette Sports m.61 39. Adidas KiVA 16 Red 41. AVC Cle 16 Red 42. NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami 49. Elevation 16 Goller 50. Tri-State Elite 16 Blue *** 5-Star Athletes Campbell Flynn S Legacy 16-1 Adidas Addison Tindall OH Team Pineapple 16 Black Annabelle Groomes S/RS AVC Cle 16 Red Abby Vander Wal OH 1st Alliance 16 Gold 4-Star Athletes Ava Tilden OH/RS NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami Logan Bell OH Circle City 16 Purple Julia Grace L/DS NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami Francesca Popescu L/DS A5 16 Gabe Asia Harvey OH A5 16 Gabe Riley McCloskey OH/RS NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami Addison Makun MB Adidas KiVA 16 Red Madison Quest OH MKE Sting 16 Gold Abigail Li S A5 16 Gabe Ava Harris S Team Pineapple 16 Black Outlook/Prediction: With 13 of the 32 teams appearing in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 National Rankings, the 16 Open Division figures to be very competitive as well. Part of that is the field features seven teams ranked in our Top 15, including No. 4 A5 16 Gabe, No. 9 Circle City 15 Purple and No. 10 1st Alliance 16 Gold, which starts off as the top seed. I really expect the depth of this division to show up over the two days, with some unexpected results and upsets taking place throughout. A lot of the teams are bunched together in the rankings and there isn’t much separating many of them. It should produce a lot of close, three-setters as this is going to be the most competitive tournament teams have played in so far as they begin gearing up for qualifying season. When the dust settles, the pick is 1st Alliance over Mich Elite 16 Mizuno for the gold. *** 17 OPEN Number of Teams: 27 vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (8): 12. NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami 16. Circle City 17 Purple 18. Tri-State Elite 17 Blue 33. HPSTL 17 Royal 37. Rev 17-1 Raptors 42. Adidas KiVA 17 Red 43. Mintonette Sports m.71 49. Boiler Jrs 17 Gold *** 5-Star Athletes Ava Utterback OH Circle City 17 Purple Allie Shondell S Boiler Jrs 17 Gold Lauren Harden OH Rev 17-1 Raptors 4-Star Athletes Riley Whitlock RS Boiler Jrs 17 Gold Mallory Bohl MB Legacy 17-1 Adidas Elizabeth Tabeling L/DS NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami Julia Hunt MB NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami Alexis Maesch RS Circle City 17 Purple Outlook/Prediction: Though no clubs from our Top 10 is in attendance, there is still eight clubs from the Top 50. Our rankings follow the top three seeds, as No. 12 NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami, No. 16 Circle City 17 Purple and No. 18 Tri-State Elite 17 Blue open as the top three seeds respectively. While those teams figure to make it deep into Sunday’s action, there’s a great chance for someone else to come on and surprise. One could be HPSTL 17 Royal, which is looking to make the jump to Open this season. Rev 17-1 Raptors and Adidas KiVA 17 Red are two more who could get hot and pull off upsets. Two teams we don’t
