March 12, 2023

The path to the Open bids is clear with just the final day remaining of the Red Rock Rave qualifier in Las Vegas. While the top-ranked teams are still in contention in 16 Open, the same can’t be said about 17 Open after the Day 2 results shook up the final-day pairings. We knew something had to give in Pool 1 in 17 Open, as national No. 3 Drive Nation 17 Red, No. 13 Hou Skyline 17 Royal and No. 14 AZ Sky 17G shared the same four-team pool. It came down to Hou Skyline sweeping AZ Sky for second place behind Drive Nation. AZ Sky is the highest-ranked team in 17 Open out of contention but not by much. Momentous 17 Dan – ranked No. 15 nationally – was upset by both unranked A4 Volley 17 Tyler and No. 35 SG Elite 17 Rosh and finished third in its pool. Momentous had a chance to advance after losing to A4 but fell to SG in three games. Had Momentous defeated SG it would’ve earned the second-place tiebreaker over A4 but instead joins AZ Sky in the exit line. The winners of Monday’s four three-team pools advance to the four-team gold bracket where the Open bids will be ultimately determined. Hou Skyline, the only team with a bid so far, is in Pool 4 with No. 16 Wave 17 Juliana and No. 22 SCVC 17 Roxy. If Hou Skyline wins its pool, the other three pool winners will pick up bids before playing a gold-bracket match. But if Hou Skyline fails to advance, then teams must win in the semifinals and/or third-place match to qualify. Drive Nation is matched with Absolute 17 Black and Seal Beach 17 Black in Pool 1. It’s Arizona Storm 17 Thunder, Vision 17 Gold and A4 in Pool 2. Pool 3 is likely to come down to SG Elite and Coast 17-1, but TAV Houston 17 Adidas is certainly capable of the upsets. It was calmer in 16 Open, at least in regards to the national rankings. On Day 1, No. 35 Absolute 16 Black was the highest-ranked team to be eliminated. On Sunday, it was No. 28 Madfrog 16 Green being shown the door after losing to No. 21 AVA TX 16 Adidas. In addition, No. 49 AZ Sky 16G was also eliminated Sunday. It leaves all the top-ranked teams in the hunt for Monday. Pool 1 is an all-So Cal fight between No. 1 Surfside 16 PV Legends, No. 13 Coast 16-1 and No. 26 Wave 16 Kevin. Coast was upset by Temecula Viper 16-1 Costa in pool play and needed to beat Muscle 16-1 in crossover action to advance. Wave, meanwhile, finished in a three-way tie at 1-2 with A4 Volley 16 Cassie and AZ Rev 16 Premier but managed to take second based on tiebreakers. Seventh-ranked Arizona Storm 16 Thunder is favored in Pool 2 with No. 27 ID Crush 16 Bower and unranked Vision 16 Gold. Vision took Drive Nation 16 Red to three games in pool play before falling Sunday and will look to play spoiler on Day 3. As for Drive Nation, the third-ranked team in the country is in Pool 3 with Temecula and AVA TX. The final pool is No. 6 HJV 16 Elite, No. 10 TAV 16 Black and unranked Club One 16 Platinum. HJV is 1-0 against TAV this season, so TAV will look to even the score and win the pool. There is no trickle down in 16 Open, so teams must win the pool and advance to the gold bracket to stay alive. *** DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS Sophia Meyer L/DS Coast 17-1: Coast is still in the mix but worked for it after beating both Tx Peformance 16-1 and Club V 17 Ren Matthew in three games before losing to SCVC in crossover. Meyer was solid throughout, holding down the back row and consistently making plays. Makayla Gates OH Momentous 17 Dan: Gates is a six-rotation outside who gets off the ground well and has a fluid swing. The 6-0 outside was doing well tooling blocks. Cymarah Gordon RS Momentous 17 Dan: A 4-star right side, Gordon puts up a massive block! She gets her hands over the net and forms a wall. She can also turn it around and send down booming kills. Victoria Leyva L/DS TX Performance 17-1: Leyva helped TX Performance upset Club V in pool play but was eventually eliminated with a loss to Absolute 17 Black in crossover. She is an energetic libero who is fast and makes up ground quickly. Amar’e Stout RS TX Performance 17-1: Stout’s big arm is a key part of the attack. Defenders need to be ready because Stout will get the ball and isn’t afraid to go for it. Maya Evens L/DS Wave 17 Juliana: Evens was part of a perfect 3-0 day as Wave didn’t drop a set. The 4-star recruit from the Class of 2025 scoops up everything near her in the back row and is a lights-out passer in serve receive. Taylor Deckert L/DS SCVC 17 Roxy: Another 4-star recruit from the Class of 2025, Deckert is a cool character in the back row. She’s always under control and doesn’t rattle while making plays look effortless. Kendall Beshear OH SCVC 17 Roxy: A 3-star recruit, Beshear explodes on the attack and hits a heavy ball. Beshear carried a big load as SCVC went 3-0 on the day and remains in the running for a bid. Zada Sanger OH Absolute 17 Black: It was a tough go for Absolute in pool play with losses to SCVC and Vision but Sanger and company beat Tx Performance in crossover to stay alive. Sanger was taking aggressive swings and not backing down. Dylan Whisenant L/DS Absolute 17 Black: Whisenant was getting after it defensively with lots of hustle and keeping rallies going. *** Grace Carroll RS Drive Nation 17 Red: Drive Nation didn’t lose a set in going 3-0 and