June 15, 2023

(Day 2 Show Stoppers) In case you missed our first-ever All Red Hat Team from the opening day of 14 Open at AAUs in Orlando, you can find it here. We’ll be releasing a daily All Red Hat for the remainder of our time in Florida as well as for the USAV Girls Junior National Championships coming up in Chicago at the end of the month. Our goal is to highlight a daily team consisting of two players from each position – outside, middle, right side, setter and libero who were our absolute favorite players of the day. Favorite doesn’t mean only a 5-star recruit or a familiar name. These are players who stood out to us for a variety of reasons, from amazing play to great energy or attitude or making key hustle plays. These are daily all-stars who really stood out the most to us for one reason or another. Without further delay, our Day 2 All Red Hat Team for 14 Open is below. 14 OPEN DAY 2 ALL RED HAT TEAM Bradee Boyd OH Tribe 14 Elite Cardinal: Overall it was a rough day for Tribe, which despite upsetting top-seeded OT 14 Laura in its first outing was eliminated from contention. Boyd grabbed our attention with her six-rotation contributions. The 5-9 outside is a consistent, steady attacker who showed nice range with her swings. She’s an aggressive attacker who isn’t afraid of challenging the defense. Caroline Hanchar OH Munciana 14 Chipmunks: Hanchar is a bit undersized but she’s full of competitiveness. She’s another fearless six-rotation outside who does a lot of valuable things on the court. She’s a strong passer, solid defender and a smart attacker who knows how to score against bigger blocks. Kennedi Boomsma MB Kairos 14 Alpha: Sometimes you stumble across a fitting last name and Boomsma was doing just that out of the middle. Going boom! She’s a physical middle who puts up a strong block and powers down balls. Kairos is tough to defend in system and Boomsma being available in the middle is part of the reason for it. Blockers struggled slowing her down all day. Alexa Espin MB Miami Hype 14 Nekane: Did Espin come alive on Day 2 or what? She caught fire in helping Miami Hype to a huge upset of Tribe that allowed Miami Hype to advance and remain in the hunt. She was sending kills down with nearly every swing as Tribe had no answers for her in the middle. Jaylynn Carter RS CJV 14 Kim: If you want to talk about a rising prospect, Carter is a perfect candidate. She’s a high-flying right side with tremendous upside! She’s already putting up a big block as she gets well up over the net. Her arm speed and strength are only going to keep improving and they are both above average for her age. This is a name you’ll be hearing for years! Mia Diouf RS GP 14 Rox: Diouf is another right side with a bright future. She has a great on-court demeanor. The lefty can bring it on the attack. There’s no doubt GP looks to get her the ball as much as possible when she’s across the front row. She jumps and swings well and if she continues to add inches then watch out! Marissa Jones S A5 14 Helen: Jones is our only official 5-star recruit playing in 14 Open. That pretty much sums it all up as far as her talent. But we’ll add more for fun. She’s listed at 6-0 but seems 6-2. She’s touching 10-2 and is silky smooth with her movement. She effortlessly gets up and gets her arms over the net blocking. She also locates consistently setting. There’s no doubt she’s the real deal! Leah Biyadglign S Kokoro 14-1: Biyadglign is a bit undersized to other setters we’ve highlighted the first two days but that doesn’t prevent her from running a nice offense. She moves well and gets to the ball. She also has nice hands and a calming demeanor. Clara Christ L/DS Northern Lights 14-1: Northern Lights has developed its fair share of liberos and all signs point to Christ being next in line. She’s a straight-up baller! She can hold it down as part of a two-player serve receive. Teams keep the ball away from her at all cost, as she didn’t touch many balls in serve receive. She covers and defends at a high-level and does well seeing plays developing. Rory Oleksik L/DS A5 Chattanooga 14-1 Jenni: A5 Chattanooga saw its run end with a 0-3 day. However, Oleksik showed what she’s capable of in the back row. She’s a sound passer out of serve receive who was putting passes right on target. She’s another strong defender too, making digs and keeping rallies alive.

(Day 2 All Red Hat Team) In terms of seeding, there was very little upheaval on Day 2 of 14 Open at AAUs in Orlando. Much of the day’s excitement was contained to Pool 1, where the topsy-turvy action meant no one was safe. It was a Florida slugfest in the pool as top-seeded and nationally-ranked No. 8 OT 14 Laura, unranked Miami Hype 14 Nekene and national No. 23 Tribe 14 Elite Cardinal were together along with Panda 14-1 Simo. Skipping ahead, OT, Miami Hype and Tribe finished in a three-way tie at 2-1. It was Tribe getting the short end of the tiebreaker, coming in third and being eliminated from gold-medal contention. It was really a heart-breaking day for Tribe, which opened up on such a positive note. Tribe took down OT in three, 25-21, 18-25, 15-11, to open the action. Taking down the top seed is a big deal, but it might have been too big of a deal. In covering volleyball over the years, riding the high and lows of victories and defeats is commonplace, especially the younger the age groups. When I saw Tribe celebrating its big victory over OT with a dogpile, I was a little concerned how Tribe would respond in its next match. A dogpile after an 8am victory with two matches to go is not something you see every day covering volleyball. It made me think Tribe was riding way too high. It made Tribe susceptible in its next outing against Miami Hype when the ensuing low hits. While Miami Hype was seeded higher, Tribe is ranked in our Top 25 while Miami Hype is unranked. So here, Tribe was favored but it didn’t play out like that. In fact, Miami Hype swept in convincing fashion, 25-22, 25-18. That result alone didn’t eliminate Tribe, but it put Tribe’s chances of advancing out of its hands. Miami Hype needed to beat OT outright for Tribe to advance. If OT came through, either in two or three, then Tribe had no chance of advancing based on the set percentages. OT swept Miami Hype handily, 25-15, 25-13, to create the three-way tie and knock Tribe out. As far as advancing to Friday’s Group 1 pools, there was only one result to go against seed. It came in Pool 6, where the No. 2 team GP 14 Rox swept Vaqueras 14-1 in the 1 v 2 match to finish 3-0. A5 14 Helen, Adidas KiVA 14 Red, Mauloa 14 Green and Munciana 14 Chipmunks all went 3-0, 6-0 as Nos. 1 teams. *** DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS McKenzie Burrell OH A5 14 Helen: Burrell is one of many attackers who can get up and deliver for A5. She gets off the ground well and can bury balls down with her strong arm. Layla Dunn MB A5 14 Helen: Dunn was making an impact at the net with her attacking. She’s a quick middle with a nice arm. A5 likes to take advantage and utilize her in transition. Riley Bethea MB A5 14 Helen: Bethea is another middle opponents need to be concerned about. She’s long and takes up space with her reach and block. She’s also a capable scorer when she gets the opportunity. Elleora Utecht OH Northern Lights 14-1: Utecht was bringing it. She was a key part of the offense giving Northern Lights a reliable, consistent scorer on the outside. She gets up well and swings hard. Danielle Lewis L/DS CJV 14 Kim: Lewis is a quick libero who flies around the court. She can run down balls and keep plays alive with her hustle. Brighton Richards L/DS Temecula Viper 14 Leanna: Richards was an anchor in the back row. She did well in serve receive and is very vocal on the court with her communication. Airyss Celestine MB Temecula Viper 14 Leanna: Celestine is a bit undersized but she’s a quick jumper who can get up and score before the block sets up. London Evans S/RS Munciana 14 Chipmunks: Evans plays a vital role for Muncie as a setter and hitter. It can be tough to gauge what she’s better at, as she does well with both. She has a nice touch and locates well. She also has a strong arm and can provide her share of offense across the front. Kamryn Roberts L/DS Mintonette Sports m.41: Roberts was among the standout liberos. She has a good court awareness and her passing and defending were on point. Bryn Meyer OH Mintonette Sports m.41: A 6-1 lanky outside, Meyer is a 4-star recruit with lots of upside. With her length, she has nice extension and can contact at a high point which allows for angles others can’t hit. *** Shelby Fuller L/DS Triangle 14 Black: It was a solid day for defenders, with Fuller making an impression as well. She’s a steady passer with a strong platform and was putting the ball on target. Leilani Lawrence OH OT 14 Laura: Lawrence, a 2026 outside, showed off her athleticism. She has the ability to get up and unload, something she was doing plenty of in helping OT fight off elimination and advance. Mesa Jameson MB Kokoro 14-1: We wrote about Jameson on Day 1 as well and she was back at it again. Her upside is amazing. She’s long, moves well and has a nice arm. Brooklyn Sippio MB GP 14 Rox: Sippio is among the middle prospects to be sure. She’s a 4-star recruit who is very long and makes an impact on both sides of the ball with her blocking and hitting. Josalyn Samuels S Kairos 14 Alpha: Samuels was featured on our All Red Hat Team on Day 1 and was very close to being on it again. She’s a phenomenal talent. She’s another Class of 2028 recruit playing up. She’s silky smooth, knows how to move the ball around and does an excellent job of getting her hitters 1-on-1 looks. Kennedy Shockley L/DS Munciana Indy 14 Otters: Shockley is