April 2, 2023

After two days of action at the Show Me Qualifier in Kansas City, paths to the Open bids are clear. Let’s start with 17 Open, where eight teams – split between two pools – remain in the hunt for the gold medal. Half of those teams – Dynasty 17 Black, Drive Nation 17 Red, Premier Nebraska 17 Gold and OT 17 Felix – are already qualified. That means that between TAV 17 Black, KC Power 17 Black, Skyline 17 Royal and VCNebraska 17 Elite, three are going home with bids while one is simply going home. While we have seen more dramatic setups when it comes to chasing bids, here’s where it gets fun! Dynasty – ranked No. 2 in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 National Rankings – No. 3 Drive Nation and No. 4 TAV are in Pool 1 together, along with OT 17 Felix. I really wish I could just sit at this court Day 3 and watch all the insane action that’s going to be taking place. TAV is in an interesting spot, not having a bid. It was actually OT Felix which kept TAV from a bid at Sunshine. That was TAV’s only loss in Florida and payback is sure to be on TAV’s mind. The path to a bid for TAV looks like this. As long as Premier Nebraska doesn’t finish in last place in Pool 2, TAV is guaranteed one match for a bid no matter what happens in pool play. If both Premier Nebraska and TAV finish third or better, TAV qualifies. Being in Pool 2 is not bad, as KC Power, Skyline and VCNebraska all have a great opportunity. It’s possible that no matter what happens in the pool, that one of them still gets to play for a bid. But, two of three are assured of qualifying, while it’s possible all three earn bids, however a long shot that might be. It’s crazy how the pools broke in 16 Open when it comes to Day 3 qualifying. One four-team pool features AJV 16 Adidas, Iowa PowerPlex 16 515, Northern Lights 16-1 and MAVS KC 16-1. None of them have bids and that’s certainly about to change, as two of the four should qualify. The other pools features already-qualified Nebraska One 16 Synergy, along with TAV 16 Black, Skyline 16 Royal and Six Pack 16. We know trickle down can’t go past fourth place, and that’s if Nebraska One finishes second or better. It’s pretty straight forward if that happens, as the the first or second-place team in Nebraska One’s pool along with the other top-two finishers in Pool 1 qualify. Where it gets wild is if Nebraska One doesn’t finish in the top four. In that scenario, the pool winners will qualify, with a third-place match for the final bid between the two second-place squads. MAVS KC had a big day, winning a must-win clash with Dynasty 16 Black. Both teams were 1-1 with the winner reaching the gold pools. MAVS is currently ranked No. 44, while Dynasty sits at No. 30. The only other team in 16 Open with a bid in Premier Nebraska 16 Gold finished in a three-way tie with Tulsa Power 16-1 and Six Pack 16 at 1-2. Premier Nebraska took third and is out of gold pools. Six Pack took second, while Tulsa Power took fourth a day after upsetting top seed Nebraska One. The format is different in 15 Open. Instead of two, four-team pools, there are two, three-team pools. What really matters though is that both Skyline 15 Royal and TAV 15 Black are both qualified and are in separate pools. Skyline is matched with MAVS 816 15-1 and Premier Nebraska 15 Gold. TAV is with Pohaku 15-1 and OP2 15-1. But, with just two bids available instead of three trickle down can extend to fourth place. No further. Skyline is the top team in the country, so there’s a good chance Skyline wins its pool. Same goes for TAV. In that situation, the second-place finishers would both qualify. Should neither TAV nor Skyline win their respective pools, then the two pool winners would both qualify. DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS Malayah Long S VCNebraska 17 Elite: A 4-star Marquette recruit, Long helped VCNebraska remain in contention for an Open bid. She’s a smooth disher with a strong grip on the offense. She can set tempo and doesn’t miss her spots very often. Lolo Lambert OH Drive Nation 17 Red: Given the considerable talent in the 17 Open division, to say Lambert, to say Lambert had the biggest hammer of them all isn’t an understatement. The 4-star Arkansas high-flier was denting the floor at times. Ava Martin S Pohaku 17-1: Martin – a 3-star recruit – and her Pohaku teammates had a rough day and were eliminated from contention after going 0-3. Martin does well moving the ball around and getting all her hitters involved in the attack. Luca Bredenberg L/DS Northern Lights 17-1: A 3-star Lipscomb commit, Bredenberg and Northern Lights were also knocked out of bid contention after going 0-3. She’s often asked to pass half the court in serve receive and does a fine job defending the back row. Reese Ptacek MB Northern Lights 17-1: It was tough at times to get Ptacek involved with Northern Lights struggling to pass, but when she was able to get set she produced. The 3-star Kansas commit takes up a lot of space at the net and does well finding open space to exploit. McKenna Brand L/DS Skyline 17 Royal: Brand – a 3-star Connecticut commit – helped Skyline advance to the gold pools with her backrow effort Sunday. She was passing soundly in serve receive and keeping Skyline in system. Mia Tvrdy MB Premier Nebraska 17 Gold: Tvrdy and her Premier Nebraska teammates are already qualified and could play a factor in trickle down as they made the gold pools. Tvrdy was a problem in the middle for opposing defenses. She’s strong, gets off the