March 17, 2023

With the Red Rock Rave national qualifier ending with Wave 16 Kevin finishing on top of 16 Open, it was one of those What Just Happened?!? moments we all love in volleyball. The latest edition of What Just Happened is on the other end of spectrum unfortunately. It features HPSTL 16 Royal, which started as the No. 2 overall seed in 16 Open at MEQ in Indianapolis. HPSTL is one of three teams already owning an Open bid after earning one at Sunshine Classic. However, after HPSTL was eliminated on Day 1 after going 1-2, the question must be asked, what just happened?!? In the preview I wrote I had a hunch we wouldn’t see any of the qualified teams – GP 16 Rox and Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal being the other two – factoring into any possible trickle down but I hardly thought we would see any of them gone after Day 1? Coming into Sunshine two weeks ago, HPSTL hadn’t taken any poor losses. The main issue was it wasn’t picking up any quality victories either except for one over Austin Skyline 16 Royal and avenging a loss to Tri-State Elite 16 Blue. Both those results happened at Triple Crown. HP picked up big wins at Sunshine over A5 16 Gabe, GP, Tribe, Skyline 16 Royal and Mich Elite 16 Mizuno on its way to qualifying. That not only inspired hope of HPSTL finding its groove, but is what gave HPSTL the No. 2 overall seed here in Indy. It was so shocking I haven’t even mentioned the teams to beat HPSTL yet, which were unranked CUVC 16 Beast and USA South 16 Premier. CUVC went 3-0 as the No. 2 team in the pool to take over the overall No. 2 seed. USA South went 2-1 and grabbed second. Tons of credit to both those clubs for picking up such a quality victory! It was a wild day elsewhere in 16 Open as well, including No. 9 seed Team Pineapple 16 Black eliminated after going 1-2. I actually had Team Pineapple, at No. 29 nationally, ranked one spot ahead of No. 30 HPSTL in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50. Both No. 38 Co Jrs 16 Shannon and unranked Union 16-1 UA upset Team Pineapple. Co Jrs was upset by unranked MOD Elite 16 Blue but still won the pool at 2-1 after finishing in a two-way tie with Union. Adidas KiVA 16 Red – seeded No. 3 overall and ranked No. 23 in the nation – was upset by unranked Boiler Jrs 16 Gold. Boiler Jrs won the pool at 3-0 while KiVA went 2-1. KiVA was not the highest-ranked team to lose from our Top 50 however. Dynasty 16 Black – ranked No. 15 – and No. 17 Austin Skyline 16 Royal were in the same pool on Day 1, so something had to give. Dynasty won the pool at 3-0 as the No. 2 team. Austin Skyline moved on at 2-1 as those two flip seeds. We’ll consider that a win for the national rankings over the seedings. The rest of the top-ranked teams all finished 3-0, including No. 8 A5, No. 11 Circle City 16 Purple, No. 12 Mich Elite, No. 14 MKE Sting 16 Gold, No. 16 Legacy 16-1 Adidas and No. 18 Tribe. The other big news from 16 Open was unranked Adrenaline 16 Doug going 3-0 as the No. 3 team in Pool 8. Adrenaline upset both No. 40 NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami and No. 44 GP. GP went 2-1 and finished second while NKYVC went 1-2 and was knocked out of contention. Also, unranked Adversity 16 Adidas upset No. 31 Alamo 16 Premier in Pool 10. That was key because Adversity advanced as the No. 3 team while Alamo finished 1-2 and was eliminated as the No. 2 team in the pool. The results from 17 Open were not as all over the place. The No. 11 overall seed and No. 1 team in Pool 11 in Alamo 17 Premier went 1-2 and finished in third. Both No. 41 Boiler Jrs 17 Gold and Michio 17 National uprooted Alamo. Boiler Jrs finished 3-0 to win the pool. Considering I don’t have Alamo ranked in the Top 50, it didn’t come as that much of a surprise to see Boiler Jrs win the pool. While Alamo was the only No. 1 team from a pool not to advance, a few No. 2 teams didn’t move on either. Team Pineapple 17 Black – ranked No. 50 – Union 17-1 UA, HPSTL 17 Royal and CHAVC 17 Black all finished at 1-2 as No. 2 teams in their respective pools and are out of contention. A couple of other upsets didn’t eliminate teams but will shake up the seedings for Day 2. Pohaku 17-1, ranked No. 48, took down No. 19 Metro 17 Travel. Metro is one of three teams already owning a bid in the field. Also, No. 37 Elevation 17 Ulland upset No. 21 Academy 17 Tsunami to win Pool 7. Beyond that, the top-ranked teams all fared well. Second-ranked Dynasty 17 Black, No. 5 Triangle 17 Black – both which have bids already – No. 7 1st Alliance 17 Gold, No. 8 Co Jrs 17 Kevin, No. 9 NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami, No. 11 Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite and No. 17 KC Power 17 Black all finished 3-0 and won their respective pools. *** DAY 1 SHOW STOPPERS Larsen Terrill S Mintonette Sports m.61: A 3-star recruit, Terrill is a smooth operator. She locates well on the regular and sets a consistent, clean ball. Callie Krueger L/DS Austin Skyline 16 Royal: Krueger – a 4-star recruit – commands the back row. She showed great range, covered well and was passing dimes. Makayla White MB Austin Skyline 16 Royal: White was making herself known in the middle. She was touching balls blocking and turning around and giving her team a scoring threat on the other side. Katie Gielas OH Elevation 16 Goller: Gielas –