June 17, 2023

Well, 14 Open is officially in the books! What a ride it turned out to be, with an unexpected national champion in Northern Lights 14-1. As part of our day, we wrote up a Gold Medal Rundown plus put out our Day 4 All Red Hat Team. All that is left is to release our Day 4 Show Stoppers featuring standout players of the day. DAY 4 SHOW STOPPERS Joanna Cen OH Top Select 14 Elite: Cen holds it down in six rotations. She’s an effective, heady attacker who knows how to tool blocks or find space in the defense to exploit. She’s a solid passer and defender in the back row as well. Andie Bowron S Top Select 14 Elite: Bowron is a fun one to watch dish and direct the attack. She’s quick and gets her feet to the ball. She has a clean, consistent release and does well mixing up the attack and getting her hitters involved. Ella Horvick L OT 14 Laura: OT started getting going too late in its quarterfinal against A5 14 Helen. Horvick was strong all tournament long and made the Show Stoppers both days we caught her in attention. She’s steady out of serve receive and covers well. Sophia Dostic S OT 14 Laura: With OT not passing well, it was a tough day for Dostic to run the offense to full capacity. Still, she has good hands and locates well. Kaelyn Bjorklund S/RS Northern Lights 14-1: The thing about only having 10 spots on the All Red Hat Team is very worthy candidates don’t make it. Regardless, Bjorklund deserves all the praise for her play. She does a nice job setting against the flow. When on the attack, she can bring the boom! She hits a heavy ball with her powerful arm. Ryah Cotton S Northern Lights 14-1: Cotton sets across the back row and with her size is plenty capable of running a 5-1 if needed. She also has a nice release and delivery and knows how to go behind her to keep the defense guessing. Elleora Utecht OH Northern Lights 14-1: Utecht is slightly undersized but more than makes up for it with her explosive jump. She gets up well and knows what to do from there. She can bring the heat down the line or cross court. McKenzie Wilkie L A5 14 Helen: Wilkie was among the stronger defenders in 14 Open. She’s does well keeping her team in rallies and plays with lots of fire. Layla Dunn MB A5 14 Helen: It was a tossup which A5 middle made the All Red Hat Team and which one was a Show Stopper. Dunn is quick and has a loose arm. She can send it flying past defenders and down for winners to help open up the attack. Mia Ray OH A5 14 Helen: The 1-2 punch of A5 on the outside is difficult to deal with. Ray is one half of that. She’s physically strong and can really connect at times. She also gets up well and can go through or around blocks. *** McKenzie Burrell OH A5 14 Helen: Burrell is another who is relentless on the attack. She also jumps well and can bury balls with her quick swing. Megan McLarty RS A5 14 Helen: Defenses can’t afford to forget about McLarty. She’s lanky and extends well. She was providing steady, consistent offense across the front row and helping balance out the attack. Kendyl Strack L Munciana 14 Chipmunks: Munciana puts its hopes in serving and defending and Strack is part of that identity. She takes care of the back row in fine fashion with a cool demeanor. Milana Mays MB Munciana 14 Chipmunks: Mays is a lanky middle who is one to follow as she grows and gains strength. She is already making plays on both sides of the ball and does well tipping into open spaces or swinging away when possible. Lilah Anthony RS Adidas KiVA 14 Red: KiVA didn’t have its best day but Anthony was a bright spot. She was coming with it on the right side and swinging away freely. The lefty has a very nice arm. Cynthia Ockerman MB Legacy 14-1 Adidas: Ockerman was among the many middle prospects we witnessed over the last four days. She’s one of the stronger middles in terms of strength. She runs a really effective slide and puts up a wall of a block. Sophia Smith RS Legacy 14-1 Adidas: Smith is a lengthy right side who was delivering offense when called upon. She caught a few that really fired up her teammates and showed what she’s capable of doing. Lauren Bunge and Natalya Singer MBs Northern Lights 14-1: We are including Bunge and Singer together because there’s no doubt Northern Lights couldn’t have won 14 Open without them. They are not a featured part of the offense and truthfully they don’t get set a bunch, though we did see both put away big kills the last four days. However, they work hard and both do a good job blocking and contributing in that manner.

(Gold Medal Rundown) (Day 4 Show Stoppers) With the start of 14 Open earlier this week at the AAU Girls National Championships in Orlando, we’ve been releasing our daily All Red Hat Team. It’s something we’ll continue putting out for the remainder of national championship season from our time here and in Chicago coming up. The 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 our daily all-stars who really stood out the most to us for one reason or another. 14 OPEN DAY 4 ALL RED HAT TEAM Sophia Puleo OH OT 14 Laura: It was a shorter day than anticipated for OT, which fell in the quarterfinals. OT was heavily reliant on its outsides, with Puleo sharing that load. You want to talk about dropping the hammer? Watch Puleo do her thing and unload. Standing close to the court, you can feel it. She’s definitely one of the hardest hitters in the division and loves showing off that power. Leilani Lawrence OH OT 14 Laura: Part of the Class of 2026, Lawrence is an explosive hitter who rises and rips in impressive fashion. She can blast balls from sideline to sideline as she has a variety of shots to keep defenses off-balanced. She had to also carry a big load and take a lot of swings to help OT stay in it. Riley Bethea MB A5 14 Helen: Bethea’s impact at the net can’t be ignored. She’s long and can be a disrupter with her blocking, touching balls or forcing hitters to change up to avoid her. She’s also a capable scorer who does a nice job of seeing the open space and sending the ball that way. Carsyn Comer MB Munciana 14 Chipmunks: We’ve featured Comer over the past four days and what a talent she is! She’s a six-rotation middle who shoulders a large chunk of the attack. Munciana gets her the ball as much as possible. She’s a strong hitter, with the ability to beat defenses all over the court. Addison Otto RS Northern Lights 14-1: We hadn’t seen Otto since Triple Crown and no doubt she’ll be moving up in our next rankings update. She’s a 6-0 lefty with great extension. It makes her dangerous and she’s a featured part of the offense, as she would be on just about any team in the country. Her potential is through the roof! Jenny Glushakov RS Top Select 14 Elite: Glushakov is another right side who can take over matches. She’s also on the taller side, and she plays six rotations. She swings from all over and is effective doing so. She also puts up a solid block to help in that regard as well. She’s definitely an up-and-comer and someone to keep track of as she progresses. Marissa Jones S A5 14 Helen: Anyone watching Jones can see her endless potential. The 5-star recruit is 6-2 and touching well over 10 feet. Her elbows are above the net blocking. She moves well and does a great job getting to the ball. When in system, she also does well connecting with all her hitters and getting them involved.   Josalyn Samuels S Kairos 14 Alpha: Samuels – who is part of the Class of 2028 – isn’t the athletic marvel that Jones is but she’s a phenomenal prospect in her own right. It’s fair to say no setter in 14 Open here had the touch of Samuels. She’s silky smooth, sees the game light years ahead and can dime any set. It’s scary to think what level she could reach down the road! Clara Christ L Northern Lights 14-1: From the perspective of the vballrecruiter.com team, Christ was the top libero in 14 Open. She’s a stud who owns the back row. She’s a step ahead defensively, reading where hitters are going. She’s a sharp passer out of serve receive and just another example of why the future of the sport is in good hands. Jenna Brooks L Top Select 14 Elite: It was a rough day overall for Top Select, which ended with the bronze medal. Brooks is a scrapper who does well out of serve receive and defending. She’s capable of making huge digs and saves and is a big reason Top Select had the run it did in medaling.

(Day 4 Show Stoppers) (Day 4 All Red Hat Team) When A5 14 Helen couldn’t get Elleora Utecht’s serve back over the net, the dogpile celebration was officially on for Northern Lights 14-1. There was more than once when the eventual 14 Open AAU national champion looked beat during gold-bracket action on the final day of the division. The original No. 11 seed took its first loss of the tournament on Day 2, falling in three sets to Top Select 14 Elite. A rematch with Top Select came on Day 4, in the semifinals. That was partly set up by Northern Lights falling to Munciana 14 Chipmunks in Day 3 pool play. The other half was Top Select upsetting A5 on Day 3. More on that later. When Top Select dispatched Legacy 14-1 Adidas in the quarterfinals followed by Northern Lights sweeping Adidas KiVA 14 Red, the two sides were set for another clash. It was a one-sided affair in Top Select’s favor. Until it wasn’t. After dominating the first set, Top Select was doing much of the same in building up a 20-12 advantage in Game 2. That’s when it got really interesting. A quick side note, this is also the point when the club scheduled for the next match on the same court started stalking Northern Lights’ sideline like a vulchers do injured prey. A couple Northern Lights girls looked over, wondering what was going on. Whether that fired up Northern Lights or not, the rally was on! Overcoming an eight-point deficit that late is remarkable in its own right, but Northern Lights fought off three match points trailing 24-21 before going on a 5-0 run and forcing a third set. Top Select seemed unfazed by letting such a big lead slip away, going ahead 10-6 and 11-7 in the final set. Northern Lights was once again in a precarious situation, but as we would see later in the day, this team doesn’t rattle and does an excellent job of keeping its composure and staying the course. That was certainly the case as Top Select went up 14-12, earning its fourth and fifth match points. But like the first three, they came and went and in a blink of an eye Northern Lights was celebrating the three-set comeback victory, 16-25, 26-24, 16-14. As for Northern Lights’ opponent in the final, A5 was in the position it was having lost to Top Select on Day 3 and thus drawing top-seeded OT 14 Laura in the quarterfinals to start its day. A5 came out smoking, building up a large lead before OT cut it to 22-20. A5 closed it out and was up comfortably in Game 2, 22-17, and looking to finish it. That’s also when it got real interesting real fast. A 7-0 run turned the momentum and had OT up 24-22. OT held set points as well at 25-24 and 26-25 before A5 held on for the sweep, 25-21, 28-26. A5 took care of Munciana in the semis, 25-16, 25-19, to set up the gold medal showdown. There wasn’t any mystery surrounding the final. When two teams with the combined size and athleticism as these two hook up it’s really just a matter of which team is going to stay in system more. Northern Lights – with outsides Ellie Osowski and Utecht and right sides Addison Otto and Kaelyn Bjorklund – runs its attack pin-to-pin, with few sets going to the middles. A5 – with outsides Mia Ray and McKenzie Burrell, right side Megan McLarty and middles Riley Bethea and Layla Dunn working with 5-star setter Marissa Jones – is difficult to slow in system because they can get points from everywhere. It was A5 controlling its side in Game 1, with Northern Lights returning the favor in Game 2. When A5 raced to a 9-6 advantage midway through Game 3 it looked like the Southern Region club was well on its way to lifting the championship trophy. But Top Select knows a lead is never safe with the way Northern Lights stays in the fight. And that’s exactly what happened as Northern Lights fought back and went in front. At 14-13, Lights had the first crack at it and didn’t let the opportunity pass for nothing. Utecht’s serve wasn’t returned and that was the match. Obviously, Northern Lights deserves an unbelievable amount of credit and props for doing what it did. How many teams in the semifinals – knowing they have a bronze medal secured – toss in the towel down 20-12? There is also all the bragging rights that come with winning AAU. And it’s going to open a debate around the USAV GJNC. Northern Lights was among the teams we had in consideration for an Open at-large. We broke it down here and hindsight is always helpful. Based on the at-large selections, it was hard to argue Northern Lights should have been among the seven picked given all the factors. Northern Lights had a 4-3 mark against the Open field, which is a great record. But Northern Lights played in two qualifiers, coming in sixth at Show Me (out of 10 teams) and 17th at Northern Lights. Still, given what we saw from Northern Lights the last four days – and especially on Saturday – I would love to see Northern Lights in the 14 Open field in Chicago. Northern Lights went 3-1 against Open qualifiers in Orlando, beating GP 14 Rox, Top Select and A5. Half of the gold bracket featured teams participating in 14 Open in Chicago in A5, Top Select, OT and Legacy. KiVA, Munciana and Kairos 14 Alpha – the other quarterfinalist – won’t be playing in Chicago. Northern Lights is set to compete in 15 National in Chicago and should be a real factor there. No doubt A5 will use what happened here in Orlando as plenty of motivation for Chicago. At No. 8, OT was the highest-ranked team from vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 competing here, followed by KiVA at