March 23, 2023

One of the events on the schedule this coming weekend includes the opening act of the Pacific Northwest Qualifier on Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Spokane. The older ages are up first, featuring the 16-18s. We check on the Open divisions and give our hunch on how things might go. 18 OPEN Number of Teams: 24 Number of Bids Available: 3 Previously-Qualified Teams (1): Absolute 18 Black vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (3): 17. NPJ 18 Forefront 28. Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar 43. Excel 18 National Red   5-Star Athletes To Know Alex Acevedo OH NPJ 18 Forefront (Oregon) Alex Bower S ID Crush 18 Bower (BYU)   4-Star Athletes To Know Tehani Ulufatu L/DS Absolute 18 Black (Baylor) Havannah Hoeft S Rage Westside 18 Michelle (LMU) Emma Donley OH Rage Westside 18 Michelle (Cal) Sophia Gregoire-Salagean OH OJVA 18 Gold (Oregon) Mele Corral-Blagojevich OH Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar (Oklahoma) Fatimah Hall S/RS Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar (San Diego State) Alexis Haury S NPJ 18 Forefront (Washington, 2024)   Outlook/Prediction: It’s the last 18s qualifier of the year and three teams still have an opportunity to clinch a bid outright. Unlike the past two weekends where we’ve seen fields packed with previously-qualified at Red Rock and MEQ lead to more at-larges, we are guaranteed to award all three bids at PNQ. In fact, with Absolute 18 Black the only team in the field with bids we are going to see high drama playing out. Teams are going to have to finish at least fourth or better because trickle down can’t extend past that. And that’s if Absolute play a factor in trickle down. If not, it’ll take a fourth or even third-place performance to qualify. The prediction is NPJ beating Long Beach for gold. Long Beach gets its bid, as does Excel 18 National Red. *** 17 OPEN Number of Teams: 31 Number of Bids Available: 3 Previously-Qualified Teams (1): Coast 17-1 vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (9): 6. HJV 17 Elite 18. Vision 17 Gold 20. Coast 17-1 22. SCVC 17 Roxy 29. Madfrog 17 Green 34. AJV 17 Adidas 35. SG Elite 17 Rosh 36. City 17 Gold 42. Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar   5-Star Athletes To Know Charlie Fuerbringer S/RS Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar (Wisconsin) Taylor Yu S SG Elite 17 Rosh Jaidyn Jager OH Coast 17-1 (2025)   4-Star Athletes To Know Kennedy Osunsanmi RS City 17 Gold Taylor Williams OH Vision 17 Gold (Duke) Savannah Skopal S AJV 17 Adidas (Rice) Alice Volpe L/DS HJV 17 Elite (TCU) Zoe Humphrey MB HJV 17 Elite (UCLA) Abby Hoybjerg OH SynergyForce 17 Patrick (BYU) Lainee Pyles OH Madfrog 17 Green (LSU) Maya Baker S Vision 17 Gold (2025)   Outlook/Prediction: Much like 18 Open, with Coast 17-1 the only team with a bid, there isn’t much wiggle room when it comes to qualifying. It’s going to take at least a top four finish if not better. Coast earned its bid at Red Rock and is certainly one of the top contenders. There’s a good chance Coast plays into qualifying through trickle down. But which teams the bids go to is up in the air. Vision 17 Gold, SCVC 17 Roxy and SG Elite 17 Rosh were all in the mix on the final day of Red Rock and figure to be in the same position at PNQ. HJV 17 Elite – at No. 6 – is the highest-ranked team in the field and will have a say. Two more Texas squads in AJV 17 Adidas and Madfrog 17 Green are also candidates to qualify. Like any qualifier, a lot is going to depend on how the gold pools break based on any upsets or surprises from the previous two days. The pick is SCVC beating Coast in the final. Taking home bids along with SCVC are HJV and SG Elite. *** 16 OPEN Number of Teams: 24 Number of Bids Available: 3 Previously-Qualified Teams: n/a vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (6): 13. Coast 16-1 27. ID Crush 16 Bower 33. AJV 16 Adidas 35. Absolute 16 Black 37. NorCal 16-1 Black 48. Norco 16 Black   5-Star Athletes To Know Layli Ostovar OH Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar (2026)   4-Star Athletes To Know Tenesyn Frye S ID Crush 16 Bower Elizabeth Bower L/DS ID Crush 16 Bower (2026) Bellamie Beus OH ID Crush 16 Bower (2026) Brooklyn Hardy MB ID Crush Bower (2026)   Outlook/Prediction: The good news is there are only six teams of the 24 in attendance from vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 National Rankings competing this weekend. The bad news is with no previously-qualified teams in the field it’s going to take a top-three showing to get one of the three bids in play. Coast 16-1 and ID Crush 16 Bower were in the hunt on the last day of Red Rock are start here among the top favorites. Absolute 16 Black had a tough showing at Red Rock and was eliminated on Day 1. That’ll have Absolute hungry to make a deep run here and is a team to watch for. NorCal 16-1 Black hasn’t played on national stage since Triple Crown and is another team capable of qualifying. Unranked teams to follow are Oaks 16 Gold, Vision 16 Gold and Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar. Any one of the three could surprise this weekend and qualify. The selection is Coast beating ID Crush in the final, while the final bid goes to NorCal over Vision.