June 18, 2023

(Day 1 All Red Hat Team) All that is needed to advance on the first day of 15 Open at AAU in Orlando is avoiding finishing in fourth place. Everyone else advances, including all three teams from all three, three-team pools. Of the 13 four-team pools, the No. 4 team failed to advance in seven of them. The highest-finishing No. 4 team was CVH Select 15u out of Puerto Rico, which finished in a three-way tie at 1-2 with Wildfire 15 Ore and Summit 15 Blue Elite and took second. Summit finished in fourth based on tiebreakers and was eliminated as the No. 3 team. Wildfire wasn’t the highest-seeded team bumped from contention Sunday. Two No. 2 teams were relegated to Group 2 starting Monday in EliteZ 15 White and K2 15 Adidas. Both went 0-3 in their respective pools. As expected, the No. 1 teams in their respective pools did very well. The 16 teams combined to go 41-4 overall, with none finishing lower than second place. The lowest-seeded team to fare the best was High Tide 15 Elite. It was a bit shocking to see how low High Tide was placed to begin. We have High Tide ranked No. 41 in our Top 50 National Rankings, yet High Tide began the tournament seeded No. 40! Let that sink in. High Tide went 3-0 as the No. 3 team in its pool and moved up to the No. 8 overall seed to begin play Monday. High Tide downed Illini Elite 15 Cardinal, AVA TX 15 Adidas and EliteZ. *** DAY 1 SHOW STOPPERS Eva Swenson S MN Select 15-1: Swenson, a 6-3 setter, was running the show well as she continues getting better and better. She was locating well and putting up a big block on the right side. Abby Conklin MB MN Select 15-1: Conklin is a lanky middle with a really nice arm. She hits at a high contact point and can be a tough cover. Marlee Schumacher MB No Name 15 Erin: Schumacher was another middle who was owning the net at times. She’s a physical presence who puts up a strong block and has a powerful arm. Ryan Sadler OH A5 15 Bob: Sadler was swinging away on the outside. She gets up and was letting balls fly left and right as she delivered her share of highlights. Gabriella Brodner OH Jupiter Elite 15E: Count Brodner among the many prospects doing their thing on Day 1. At 6-1, she’s lengthy with a fluid swing and smarts to back it up. She can really extend and connect and it makes her tough to cover. Jessica Smallwood OH EVA 15 Blue: At 6-5, Smallwood towers over just about everyone in the division. She has a huge impact at the net because of it. Attackers trying to tip balls too low found out the hard way. She’s also had no issue going over blocks and putting balls down. Gigi Artiles OH Tribe 15 Elite Cardinal: This is a name fans will be hearing for years. At 6-2, is one of the top attackers in the division. She’s more than a handful at the net, where she powers ball after ball with her heavy arm. Ava Flores S Tribe 15 Elite Cardinal: Flores is an undersized setter but she does a nice job getting to the ball and putting her hitters in great positions to score. Cosette Bartling OH NE Elite 15 Phoenix: Bartling is another outside who is a bit undersized but has springs in her legs and can really get up and crush. She was a featured part of the attack and delivered a few eye-popping winners. Camden Rahn S/RS OT 15 Will: Rahn was a strong two-way player. The 6-1 setter/right side flashed tons of potential in both areas. She was OT’s second-best offensive threat and was helping to open up the attack on the right side. She’s also an above-average setter with a smooth release who spots well. *** Isabela Lopez OH OT 15 Will: Lopez was a big-time offensive weapon for OT. She’s another outside who jumps very well and unloads. Norah Busch MB Club Integrity 15-1: Busch was among the taller middles in the division and is a game-changer across the front row for Club Integrity. She changes both dynamics of blocking and attacking with her length and helped Club Intregity to an upset of NorCal 15-1 Black. Taytum Nelson MB Elevate 15 Nike: Nelson is even taller than Busch and also has a lot of potential. She had zero issue going over the block and scoring. Madison Anspaugh OH VC United 15 Elite: Anspaugh was impressive in shouldering part of the offensive load. At 6-1, she can hit high and she has a big arm. She gets the ball both front and back row and can send it flying equally well. Darby Felts OH K2 15 Adidas: Felts is a fun one to watch swing away. She jumps out of the gym and has a very lively arm. She lets it rip from the front and back row in style. Colbie McKenna OH EC Power KOP 15 True: McKenna was definitely among the standout outsides. She was another taller hitter who was trouble from both the front and back. She extends well and hits with lots of pace. Ellie Stiernagle S SPVB 15 Elite: Stiernagle has nice height for a setter and solid hands. She did well mixing up her sets and getting her hitters involved. Abigail Knight OH SPVB 15 Elite: Knight was taking big swings and sending balls down. She hits with a lot of power. Jordin Southall OH GP 15 Rox: Southall is an athletic outside who explodes up and has a whippy arm to deliver with. She had highlight moments that showed what she can be in the future at the next level. Sarahbelle Jameson OH JJVA 15 Teal: Jameson needs to be included among the taller outsides in the division. She’s a six-rotations anchor and has

(Day 1 Show Stoppers) We debuted vballrecruiter.com’s daily All Red Hat Team beginning with 14 Open last week. This week, we move on to 15 Open, which kicked off its Day 1 action on Sunday at the AAU Girls Junior National Championships in Orlando. 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 daily all-stars who really stood out the most to us for one reason or another. DAY 1 ALL RED HAT TEAM Meena Kasirajan OH Nor Cal 15-1 Black: There’s plenty to like about Kasirajan. She’s an absolute fearless attacker who is relentless. She’s a wirey 5-10 with a whip for an arm that effortlessly generates lots of pace. She’s the go-to hitter who carries a large load of offense and when she connects she was ripping it down with the best of them. Meaghan Kreiser OH MN Select 15-1: Kreiser is another 5-10 outside with a loose arm who lets it fly. It looks like she’s jumping off a trampoline when she goes up for an attack. She explodes off the ground in a hurry and combined with her arm was delivering impressive kills tooling blocks or going straight down with it. Sophia Stallworth MB WPVC 15 Armour Black: The way Stallworth was playing, she was an easy choice to occupy one of the middle positions for Day 1. She’s 6-0 and moves very well side to side. She has a lively arm, the benefit of also playing on the outside. When in system, WPVC is going to look to feed Stallworth. She’s a reliable scorer and can also turn around and make plays on the defensive side with her blocking. Lily Bosworth MB Illini Elite 15 Cardinal: This was our first time catching Bosworth this season and what a prospect she is! We couldn’t find an exact height but we are guessing 6-4 maybe even 6-5. With that kind of length and the ability to move well for her size, Bosworth was a force at the net on both sides of the ball. Defenders who aren’t used to her length have trouble getting the ball around her. Offensively, she has no trouble going over blocks or running the slide and putting balls away in that manner. Kalyssa Taggart S/RS A5 15 Bob: We first caught Taggart last year here at AAUs and a year later she’s still making plays all over the court. She’s a fierce competitor who brings a lot of flexibility to the lineup with her ability to run a 5-1 or be part of a 6-2 and hitting across the front row. That latter was the case on Day 1. She did well in both roles, scoring effectively when called upon and running the offense well on the back end with her soft touch and accurate location. Ava Brown S/RS Black Swamp 151: At 6-1, Brown has the length and size to excel at the next level, as well as the talent to back it up. She was another two-way star helping her team succeed. She has a big, strong arm when she’s swinging and Black Swamp likes to take advantage of it as much as possible. She’s also a steady, consistent setter with a nice touch. Elle Mottola S WPVC 15 Armour Black: Mottola has great energy on the court and is definitely one to keep tabs on as she moves up the ranks. She’s 6-0 and is touching 9-11. She has very nice hands and a smooth delivery. She does well moving the ball pin to pin and also plays sound defense. Brooklyn Myers S AP 15 Adidas: We really love Myers’ court demeanor and the way she was guiding the attack. She’s 5-10 and sets a clean ball and locates well. She did well connecting with her hitters and playing under control rather than trying to do too much. Elena Estudillo L/DS NE Elite 15 Phoenix: Estudillo was doing everything needed of a libero – passing, defending and hustling all over the court keeping the ball in play. She was one of the more exciting defenders to watch as she was steady in the back row. Kaylee Maikranz L/DS High Tide 15 Elite: Maikranz is tough to get a ball down on. She covers and moves well. She was sound out of serve receive and giving High Tide a defensive edge.

Northern Lights 14-1 capped off an improbable run by rallying past A5 14 Helen to capture the 14 Open gold medal at the AAU Girls National Championships on Saturday in Orlando. You can read all about their performance and the grittiness displayed by the champs. We also released our Day 4 awards with our All Red Hat Team and Show Stoppers. The final award we are releasing is our All-Tournament Team from the time we spent watching 14 Open. As talented a division as 14 Open was, it won’t be the deepest or best of our time here in Orlando and that’s saying something. It was a competitive field and it made it extremely difficult to make the final choices for our All-Tournament Team. These picks were made based off of our observations and our observations alone. This isn’t to be confused with the All-Tournament Team put out by AAU. In helping guide our picks we chose from the gold-bracket participants. We do like to account for the team factor and team success is part of that. With that, we looked to who we felt would best represent our All-Tournament Team, which we present below. vballrecruiter.com AAU 14 OPEN ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM OUTSIDES Leilani Lawrence OT 14 Laura Sophia Puleo OT 14 Laura Elleora Utecht Northern Lights 14-1 Calli LeFevre Legacy 14-1 Adidas MIDDLES Carsyn Comer Munciana 14 Chipmunks Layla Dunn A5 14 Helen Riley Bethea A5 14 Helen Cynthia Ockerman Legacy 14-1 Adidas RIGHT SIDES Addison Otto Northern Lights 14-1 Jenny Glushakov Top Select 14 Elite Lilah Anthony Adidas KiVA 14 Red SETTERS Marissa Jones A5 14 Helen Josalyn Samuels Kairos 14 Alpha   Andie Bowron Top Select 14 Elite LIBEROS Clara Christ Northern Lights 14-1 Ella Horvick OT 14 Laura Jenna Brooks Top Select 14 Elite