March 18, 2023

MEQ: Day 2 Show Stoppers And More

It’s not unusual to see disparity in pools on the second day of a national qualifier, as was the case Saturday at MEQ in Indianapolis. The luck of draw played a factor as teams competed for spots in gold pools on the final day. Let’s look at 16 Open, where Pool 1 was gnarly. Circle City 16 Purple, the top seed overall and ranked No. 11 in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50, went 3-0 on Day 1 and was “rewarded” by drawing both No. 17 Austin Skyline 16 Royal and No. 19 AVC Cle 16 Red. With only room for two, someone was going to be left out. After all three finished tied at 2-1, it was Circle City advancing in first place followed by Austin Skyline in second. Austin Skyline opened the pool with a clutch victory over Circle City but lost control of the pool when it fell to AVC before downing USA South 16 Purple. Circle City earned first by sweeping AVC in the 1 v 2 contest and thus eliminating AVC. Pools 4 and 5 were two more pools that were tougher than others. Pool 4 featured No. 8 A5 16 Gabe, No. 12 Mich Elite 16 Mizuno and No. 23 Adidas KiVA 16 Red. It was another case of one must go and it turned out to be the highest-ranked of the trio in A5, which finished 1-2 after losing to both Mich Elite and KiVA. Mich Elite made it out on top at 3-0, followed by KiVA at 2-1. Somewhat surprisingly, Mich Elite beating KiVA in three sets was the only match of the six from the pool to go the distance. It was No. 14 MKE Sting 16 Gold, No. 16 Legacy 16-1 Adidas and No. 44 GP 16 Rox together in Pool 5. GP had a safety net known as already having a bid which it earned at the Sunshine Classic. It was Sting coming out ahead, grabbing first at 3-0. Legacy followed at 2-1, leaving GP at 1-2 and now out of contention for creating any trickle down. With GP and HPSTL 16 Royal – which went 1-2 on Day 1 and was eliminated – not among Day 3’s gold pools, it leaves No. 18 Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal as the lone previously-qualified team. That’s big in that we now know trickle down in 16 Open can’t exceed fourth place, so teams must win their gold pools at the very least to have a chance at qualifying. Tribe went 3-0 in Pool 6 on Day 3. Some of the other pools in 16 Open opened the door and allowed teams to take advantage. One such case was Pool 3, which was composed of unranked Boiler Jrs 16 Gold, No. 38 Co Jrs 16 Shannon, unranked Adversity 16 Adidas and unranked EliteVBTC 16 Black. It was the No. 4 team in EliteVBTC rising up and going 3-0. Co Jrs was second at 2-1 as both advanced. In Pool 2, No. 15 Dynasty 15 Black and No. 43 No Name 16 Sarah were with unranked foes in CUVC 16 Beast and KC Power 16 Black. While it seemed like Dynasty’s pool to win, it was actually No Name (at 3-0) and CUVC (at 2-1) advancing while Dynasty was knocked out after going 1-2 with losses to both. In 17 Open, it was a different story as the top five seeds combined to go 15-0. Only Pohaku 17-1 lost as the No. 1 team in a pool, but managed to advance still after taking second in a three-way tie at 2-1. Pohaku tied with both No. 11 Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite and No. 21 Academy 17 Tsunami. Rockwood Thunder was the odd team out based on tiebreakers and took third. It makes Rockwood Thunder the highest-ranked team from our Top 50 missing out on gold pools. Both Pools 2 and 5 came down to three-way ties at 1-2 behind the first-place finishers. While No. 8 Co Jrs 17 Kevin went 3-0 in Pool 2, No. 40 Adidas KiVA 17 Red and unranked teams in Michio 17 National and Mintonette Sports m.71 tied at 1-2. KiVA earned second based on the best set percentage of the trio. Second-ranked Dynasty 17 Black went 3-0 in Pool 5, where No. 19 Metro 17 Travel, No. 37 Elevation 17 Ulland and No. 38 Circle City 17 Purple all finished at 1-2 behind Dynasty. Elevation took second on tiebreakers, leaving Metro eliminated. Metro – along with Dynasty and No. 5 Triangle 17 Black – owned a bid prior to MEQ. While Metro being bumped won’t impact Metro it does eliminate another possible trickle-down spot. And with Dynasty and Triangle positioned to win their Day 3 pools, that would have trickle down extend to fifth place. *** DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS Reese Messer S Dynasty 17 Black: A 5-star recruit from the Class of 2025, Messer is silky smooth with her delivery and sets at a high-level from her hands to her placement. She connects well with all her hitters and moves the ball around as well as any setter. Jada Ingram MB Dynasty 17 Black: A 4-star UNLV commit, Ingram was having a big day in the middle. She seemed close to unstoppable, beating defenders on 1s and slides while banging down balls. Ava Grevengoed OH Michio 17 National: Grevengoed is a bit undersized on the left but takes plenty of swings as one of the main attackers. She has a nice arm and did well helping her team compete against higher-ranked opponents. Gabriella Woltman RS Michio 17 National: Woltman held it down on the right. She adds some power to the lineup and was taking hard swings. Renee Jones RS Metro 17 Travel: Jones – a 3-star recruit – puts up a wall of a block and can be imposing for smaller attackers. She’s also part of the offensive plans, able to deliver points with her lefty swing. Izzy Starck S/RS Co Jrs 17 Kevin: Starck – a 5-star

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MEQ: Day 2 Show Stoppers And More

It’s not unusual to see disparity in pools on the second day of a national qualifier, as was the case Saturday at MEQ in Indianapolis. The luck of draw played a factor as teams competed for spots in gold pools on the final day. Let’s look at 16 Open, where Pool 1 was gnarly. Circle City 16 Purple, the top seed overall and ranked No. 11 in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50, went 3-0 on Day 1 and was “rewarded” by drawing both No. 17 Austin Skyline 16 Royal and No. 19 AVC Cle 16 Red. With only room for two, someone was going to be left out. After all three finished tied at 2-1, it was Circle City advancing in first place followed by Austin Skyline in second. Austin Skyline opened the pool with a clutch victory over Circle City but lost control of the pool when it fell to AVC before downing USA South 16 Purple. Circle City earned first by sweeping AVC in the 1 v 2 contest and thus eliminating AVC. Pools 4 and 5 were two more pools that were tougher than others. Pool 4 featured No. 8 A5 16 Gabe, No. 12 Mich Elite 16 Mizuno and No. 23 Adidas KiVA 16 Red. It was another case of one must go and it turned out to be the highest-ranked of the trio in A5, which finished 1-2 after losing to both Mich Elite and KiVA. Mich Elite made it out on top at 3-0, followed by KiVA at 2-1. Somewhat surprisingly, Mich Elite beating KiVA in three sets was the only match of the six from the pool to go the distance. It was No. 14 MKE Sting 16 Gold, No. 16 Legacy 16-1 Adidas and No. 44 GP 16 Rox together in Pool 5. GP had a safety net known as already having a bid which it earned at the Sunshine Classic. It was Sting coming out ahead, grabbing first at 3-0. Legacy followed at 2-1, leaving GP at 1-2 and now out of contention for creating any trickle down. With GP and HPSTL 16 Royal – which went 1-2 on Day 1 and was eliminated – not among Day 3’s gold pools, it leaves No. 18 Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal as the lone previously-qualified team. That’s big in that we now know trickle down in 16 Open can’t exceed fourth place, so teams must win their gold pools at the very least to have a chance at qualifying. Tribe went 3-0 in Pool 6 on Day 3. Some of the other pools in 16 Open opened the door and allowed teams to take advantage. One such case was Pool 3, which was composed of unranked Boiler Jrs 16 Gold, No. 38 Co Jrs 16 Shannon, unranked Adversity 16 Adidas and unranked EliteVBTC 16 Black. It was the No. 4 team in EliteVBTC rising up and going 3-0. Co Jrs was second at 2-1 as both advanced. In Pool 2, No. 15 Dynasty 15 Black and No. 43 No Name 16 Sarah were with unranked foes in CUVC 16 Beast and KC Power 16 Black. While it seemed like Dynasty’s pool to win, it was actually No Name (at 3-0) and CUVC (at 2-1) advancing while Dynasty was knocked out after going 1-2 with losses to both. In 17 Open, it was a different story as the top five seeds combined to go 15-0. Only Pohaku 17-1 lost as the No. 1 team in a pool, but managed to advance still after taking second in a three-way tie at 2-1. Pohaku tied with both No. 11 Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite and No. 21 Academy 17 Tsunami. Rockwood Thunder was the odd team out based on tiebreakers and took third. It makes Rockwood Thunder the highest-ranked team from our Top 50 missing out on gold pools. Both Pools 2 and 5 came down to three-way ties at 1-2 behind the first-place finishers. While No. 8 Co Jrs 17 Kevin went 3-0 in Pool 2, No. 40 Adidas KiVA 17 Red and unranked teams in Michio 17 National and Mintonette Sports m.71 tied at 1-2. KiVA earned second based on the best set percentage of the trio. Second-ranked Dynasty 17 Black went 3-0 in Pool 5, where No. 19 Metro 17 Travel, No. 37 Elevation 17 Ulland and No. 38 Circle City 17 Purple all finished at 1-2 behind Dynasty. Elevation took second on tiebreakers, leaving Metro eliminated. Metro – along with Dynasty and No. 5 Triangle 17 Black – owned a bid prior to MEQ. While Metro being bumped won’t impact Metro it does eliminate another possible trickle-down spot. And with Dynasty and Triangle positioned to win their Day 3 pools, that would have trickle down extend to fifth place. *** DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS Reese Messer S Dynasty 17 Black: A 5-star recruit from the Class of 2025, Messer is silky smooth with her delivery and sets at a high-level from her hands to her placement. She connects well with all her hitters and moves the ball around as well as any setter. Jada Ingram MB Dynasty 17 Black: A 4-star UNLV commit, Ingram was having a big day in the middle. She seemed close to unstoppable, beating defenders on 1s and slides while banging down balls. Ava Grevengoed OH Michio 17 National: Grevengoed is a bit undersized on the left but takes plenty of swings as one of the main attackers. She has a nice arm and did well helping her team compete against higher-ranked opponents. Gabriella Woltman RS Michio 17 National: Woltman held it down on the right. She adds some power to the lineup and was taking hard swings. Renee Jones RS Metro 17 Travel: Jones – a 3-star recruit – puts up a wall of a block and can be imposing for smaller attackers. She’s also part of the offensive plans, able to deliver points with her lefty swing. Izzy Starck S/RS Co Jrs 17 Kevin: Starck – a 5-star

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