18 Open At-Large Candidates
The last 18s national qualifier season wrapped up Monday, with NPJ 18 Forefront, Rage Westside 18 Michelle and OJVA 18-1 Gold earning bids at the Pacific Northwest Qualifier. The 18 Open field is still not complete however. That won’t be the case until the six at-large Open bids are announced by USA Volleyball. No doubt, plenty of teams believe they are worthy for one of the spots. Below, we sort through the top at-large candidates from our perspective. ADIDAS KIVA 18 RED: At No. 17 in our latest Top 50 National Rankings , KiVA is the highest-ranked team without a bid. There’s a catch. KiVA only competed in one national qualifier in MEQ. Still, having played Triple Crown and Bluegrass, KiVA did compile a strong record against the Open field and has confirmed it sent in its request for an at-large bid. KiVA is 8-5 against the field. KiVA’s best win against the field came against Wave 18 Juliana at Triple Crown. KiVA also has beaten Circle City 18 Purple and Hou Skyline 18 Royal. KiVA’s mark against the field is strong enough to get in. It’s a matter of how the committee views KiVA playing in one national qualifier versus other at-large candidates who played in multiple. Personally, from seeing KiVA, this team definitely belongs in the Top 48 and deserves to play in Open. ALAMO 18 PREMIER: With a 7-5 record against the Open field, Alamo hasn’t played as many matches against the field as others in the running for at-larges. Yet, Alamo is one of the few with a winning record against the field. Working the other way is Alamo has losses to both Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar and HJV 18 Elite, two teams also looking for at-large help. LEGACY 18-1 ADIDAS: To me, Legacy should be a lock to get one of the at-larges. Legacy is 10-13 against the Open field. It’s beaten top teams in Wave, Sunshine 18 LA and Premier Nebraska 18 Gold. And for what it is worth, Legacy also owns a head-to-head victory over KiVA, which is another at-large candidate. Legacy is currently No. 22 in our latest 18s National Rankings. HJV 18 ELITE: Ranked No. 23 nationally, HJV is right behind Legacy is the Top 50 and another strong candidate. One I view also being a lock. HJV played in multiple qualifiers and has a 7-11 record against the Open field. HJV has also played a difficult schedule, with losses to highly-ranked teams in Drive Nation 18 Red, A5 18 Marc, Coast 18-1 and MAVS KC 18-1 (twice). EXCEL 18 NATIONAL RED: Excel is another team which doesn’t have a lot of matches against the Open field, but it has does okay when it has come across those teams. Excel sits at 4-4 in those situations. MADFROG 18 GREEN: Sitting at No. 33 in our Top 50, Madfrog is another solid candidate which I imagine will get strong consideration for one of the six at-larges. Madfrog is 6-14 against the Open field. That’s not a fantastic mark but a team doesn’t get 14 losses against the Open field by playing a weak schedule. Another plus for Madfrog is it owns head-to-head victories over both Legacy and Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite. Both those teams are expected to receive at-large consideration. MIZUNO LONG BEACH 18 ROCKSTAR: Long Beach had an opportunity to qualify on the final day of the Pacific Northwest Qualifier this week, but fell to OJVA 18 Gold in the third-place match. Without any trickle down in play, Beach will need to rely on receiving one of the at-larges. Long Beach is 5-16 against the Open field. It has head-to-head losses to KC Power, KiVA and HJV, three other teams who could be in line for at-larges. NKYVC 18-1 TSUNAMI: I’m not 100 percent sure if NKYVC applied for an Open at-large. NKYVC would have a case, though not as strong as others I believe. NKYVC went 4-14 against the Open field. It’s a similar mark to Madfrog’s. But again, teams don’t get 14 losses against the field playing down in USA and American. And given that I’ve had NKYVC in the Top 50 all season, there’s an argument for NKYVC to get in. KC POWER 18-1: We are getting to teams with cases not as strong as ones already listed. With six teams needed, it stands to reason a team or two is going to get lucky and receive one. KC Power has a modest 4-8 record against the Open field. It also has losses to HJV, Madfrog and Legacy, three teams also looking for at-larges. If that’s a factor, it stands to reason KC Power would be among the last in if it would to receive the opportunity to accept. ROCKWOOD THUNDER 18 ELITE: Rockwood Thunder is another team that has faced a challenging schedule and could get an invite based on which other teams accept or decline. Rockwood went 3-6 against the Open field.
