April 13, 2023

There’s no doubt about it. The Lone Star Classic is the toughest qualifier of the season considering the depth of competition and what it’s going to take to bring home an Open bid. vballrecruiter.com is headed to Dallas for the three-day event to provide daily coverage. Below, we offer our thoughts and predictions on how 15-17 Open might play out. 17 OPEN Number of Teams: 42 Number of Bids Available: 3 Previously-Qualified Teams (9): TAV 17 Black; Dynasty 17 Black; Drive Nation 17 Red; Triangle 17 Black; Skyline 17 Royal; Metro 17 Travel; Hou Skyline 17 Royal; A5 17 Jing; AJV 17 Adidas vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (14):   5-Star Players to Know:   4-Star Players to Know:   Outlook/Prediction: We recently saw Dynasty 17 Black, Drive Nation 17 Red and TAV 17 Black together at Show Me, where TAV prevailed with the gold medal. The three highly-ranked teams in one spot made Show Me one of the stronger qualifiers of the season but Lone Star is a step up with No. 5 A5 17 Jing and No. 7 Triangle 17 Black being thrown into the mix as well. That’s a top-heavy lineup and all help make up the nine teams that already have bids. It’s going to be extremely challenging to crack the top eight considering the depth of 17 Open. However, it’s a division that has seen the unexpected happen all year so we are counting on some bids going out. There are no doubt hungry clubs looking to come through. VCNebraska 17 Elite was on the verge of qualifying in Show Me and has what it takes to make the top eight and get its bid (assuming trickle down reaches eighth place). HJV 17 Elite, Arizona Storm 17 Thunder, MKE Sting 17 Gold, Alamo 17 Premier and Madfrog 17 Green are also teams without bids to watch for. Ultimately, it is Triangle topping Dynasty for gold. HJV and VCNebraska earn bids with one going to the at-large pool. *** 16 OPEN Number of Teams: 42 Number of Bids Available: 3 Previously-Qualified Teams (10): 1st Alliance 16 Gold; Drive Nation 16 Red; Circle City 16 Purple Nebraska One 16 Synergy; Northern Lights 16-1; TAV 16 Black; Arizona Storm 16 Thunder; Austin Skyline 16 Royal; MAVS KC 16-1; Alamo 16 Premier vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (18):   5-Star Players to Know:   4-Star Players to Know:   Outlook/Prediction: With seven teams from vballrecruiter.com’s Top 10 in the field and 18 overall from the Top 50, the 16 Open division is loaded. With 10 qualified teams, who knows if any bids are going out? To qualify, clubs are going to have to breakthrough against a packed field. Heavyweights like 1st Alliance 16 Gold, Drive Nation 16 Red and Arizona Storm 16 Thunder should all finish in the top eight if not much higher. Nebraska One 16 Synergy, TAV 16 Black and Circle City 16 Purple have finished highly at the qualifiers they’ve attended. It doesn’t leave much room and there’s still Austin Skyline 16 Royal and Northern Lights 16-1, which is coming off its victory at Show Me. HJV 16 Elite is both the highest-ranked and highest-seeded team in the field without a bid and is one of the few teams that could break into the top eight in such a competitive field. Legacy 16-1 Adidas and Skyline 16 Royal are always in the mix but need to pull off a few upsets to get it done. The same goes for AJV 16 Adidas, Dynasty 16 Black, Excel 15 National Red and AVA TX 16 Adidas, there’s no way around it. The final is going to come down to Arizona Storm beating 1st Alliance. HJV cracks the top eight to get its bid but that’s it. Two bids go to the at-large pool. *** 15 OPEN Number of Teams: 39 Number of Bids Available: 3 Previously-Qualified Teams (8): Skyline 15 Royal; Madfrog 15 Green; TAV 15 Black; Austin Skyline 15 Royal; Legacy 15-1 Adidas; Hou Skyline 15 Royal; AP 15 Adidas; Pohaku 15-1 vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (22):   5-Star Players to Know:   4-Star Players to Know:   Outlook/Prediction: It’s more of the same in 15 Open in terms of will any bids go out or not? There are eight teams already qualified so it’s possible none go out. Last weekend in Windy City all six teams with bids finished first through sixth in 15 Open. It’s unlikely that happens here but it’s also not likely that all three bids go out. Skyline 15 Royal, Madfrog 15 Green, TAV 15 Black, Austin Skyline 15 Royal and Legacy 15-1 Adidas are all highly-ranked and have finished highly at qualifiers. If that remains the same, three teams would have to get in the top eight. But there are still three teams with bids in Pohaku 15-1, AP 15 Adidas and Hou Skyline 15 Royal that certainly can finish in the top eight too and leave the field with no bids being awarded. Teams to watch in terms of qualifying though include Alamo 15 Premier, AZ Sky 15G, Arizona Storm 15 Thunder, HJV 15 Elite and Drive Nation 15 Red as the top contenders. In the end, Skyline outlasts Legacy for gold. As for bids, Alamo and Drive Nation qualify while one goes back to the at-large pool.