August 8, 2023

The Ann Kang Invitational first took place in 1989. Since then, no school has brought home more tournament titles than Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach. The So Cal school – which is the defending champion – has racked up seven trophies and is favored as the top seed and highest-ranked squad in the 16-team field in this year’s edition. The three-day event is hosted by ‘Iolani and is set for Aug. 10-12. Below, we look at the nationally-ranked teams to watch for, our 3, 4 and 5-star athletes participated as well offer our outlook and predictions to how the results will pan out. vballrecruiter.com NATIONALLY-RANKED SCHOOLS (5): *** 5-STAR ATHLETES TO KNOW *** 4-STAR ATHLETES TO KNOW *** 3-STAR ATHLETES TO KNOW   OUTLOOK: A year ago, Mira Costa and Sierra Canyon CA played an epic pool-play match, with Sierra Canyon winning the third set going to 15, 25-23, in overscore. The two sides faced off later in the day for the championship match, with Mira Costa extracting revenge and winning its seven Ann Kang title. Mira Costa ended its season by becoming the only team to take a set off of eventual national champion Cathedral CA with its loss in the California Open Division state semifinals. While the Mustangs saw senior contributors graduate, they are primed for another strong year led by senior setter/right side and 5-star Wisconsin commit Charlie Fuerbringer. She’s one of three 5-star recruits on the roster, with the other two being junior libero Taylor Deckert (USC) and sophomore outside Audrey Flanagan. Sierra Canyon also figures to be in the mix once more for the tournament title, as well as a pair of Texas schools in Cornerstone Christian and Lovejoy. Cornerstone finished last season ranked No. 2 in the country. Like Mira Costa, the Warriors graduated key senior contributors but bring back enough to remain one of the top teams in the country. Among those returning are 5-star junior outside Megan Fitch (Texas AM) and 4-star senior right side Grace Carroll (Baylor). The full rundown of participating schools is: Pool 1   Pool 2   PREDICTION: With Mira Costa and Lovejoy the top seeds in Pool A, we expect those two to advance to the four-team gold bracket on Saturday. In Pool B, it’s Cornerstone Christian and host ‘Iolani the top two teams. However, we are looking at Cornerstone advancing along with the No. 3 team in the pool in Sierra Canyon. While a rematch from last year between Mira Costa and Sierra Canyon would be fun, it’s looking like a showdown between Mira Costa and Cornerstone Christian in the final. The two teams actually played last year in the final of the Nike TOC Southwest event, with Cornerstone winning in three. We like Cornerstone having Mira Costa’s number once more and going back to the mainland with its first-ever Ann Kang title.

We’re proud to be a part of an ongoing partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, which is sponsoring our Player of the Week award. We’ll be releasing a featured vballrecruiter.com Player of the Week, sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, on Tuesdays. Below is this week’s Player of the Week: Kayla Nwabueze. *** Our latest Player of the Week is coming off a breakout 15s club campaign in which she established herself as one of the top players in the country. Kayla Nwabueze – a 5-star middle blocker from the Class of 2026 – helped Legacy 15-1 Adidas to a fifth-place finish in 15 Open at the USAV Girls Junior National Championships this summer in Chicago, as well as finishing No. 4 overall in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 National Rankings. With the club season being done for well over a month, Nwabueze has been gearing up for another high school season at Bloomfield Hills. She starred last season as a freshman in her role as a six-rotation middle. She finished the year leading the team in both kills (412) and blocks (155) as Bloomfield Hills lost in the district playoffs to eventual state champion Marian. It’s been a quick rise for the sophomore, as Nwabueze first started off her 12s season playing for Legacy. Her older sister, Ashlea, started playing volleyball in seventh grade and loved it so it wasn’t long after Nwabueze had her try. “My first time playing was at a club practice,” Nwabueze said. “I was really nervous at first. Everyone was really welcoming and knew each other and that made it more fun. I didn’t get how to play in rotations or anything like that. After about two weeks I started to get the hang of things. My 14s year I knew I wanted to do it as my main sport because I really loved it.” Nwabueze was part of a Legacy 14-1 Adidas team that earned a bronze medal in 14 Open at the 2022 AAU National Championships. Nwabueze and company repeated the feat this past season, leaving Orlando with another bronze before finishing tied for fifth at the USAV GJNC two weeks later. The gold-bracket losses were similar, with Legacy having a chance in both contests. At AAUs, Legacy fell in three sets to eventual champion Mintonette Sports m.51, 16-25, 36-34, 15-12, before facing the same fate against Hou Skyline 15 Royal in the quarterfinals in Chicago with another three-set loss, 18-25, 25-18, 15-12. “This 15s season was incredible,” Nwabueze said. “We have four amazing coaches. They are hard on us but discipline us to take accountability and make us better players. The team was so natural we had a flow like we had been together since babies. It made it really nice. I don’t remember a time when we got mad with each other or we weren’t all laughing. I’m looking forward to next club season being another great one.” As our featured Player of the Week sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, we recently spoke with Nwabueze about volleyball and more. Who is your role model or someone you look up to? Nwabueze: I have more than one. I really look up to outside of volleyball and some with volleyball is my older sister. When she was first playing I was watching her games and thinking I want to be that good. But outside of volleyball I really look up to her because overall she is a really great person. Also, academic wise, she graduated valedictorian. Personality wise, she gives off a really good vibe. She doesn’t get mad at you. She has good vibe about her and it makes her a good person. Another role model is my mom. She is very successful in my opinion. She likes to hold people accountable and she’ll tell you when you are not doing your best. She knows you can do better and she holds you to a standard. If she wasn’t here I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing without her. Someone in volleyball I look up to is Asjia O’Neal. She plays on Texas. She’s a great middle blocker. I was watching a couple of videos on her mastering the slide. She’s known for her notorious slides. On the court she’s in the zone, focused and ready to go. She’s one of my role models. What is your favorite food? Nwabueze: I love french fries. I could eat french fries without any sides. Or I love wings from Wingstop. Aside from necessities, what is one thing you could not go a day without? Nwabueze: It’s pretty bad to say but I can’t go a day without my phone. It has all my contacts. When I get bored on I’m on my phone. It would have to be my phone. Other than volleyball, what skill would you most like to learn and why? Nwabueze: I think what I would want to learn is to how to learn to play football. It’s a really big sport and I don’t really know what’s going on during the Super Bowl. What is one thing that instantly makes your day better or makes you smile? Nwabueze: My sisters, both of them. They really lighten my mood. They make me laugh a lot. They are my main source of whenever I’m laughing. If you could have any superpower what would it be and why? Nwabueze: It would definitely be reading people’s minds. I think because especially asking questions or when someone is telling me stuff and I’m trying to find out the truth I could read their minds so I know what they are keeping from me. Outside of volleyball what are you most passionate about and why? Nwabueze: I’m most passionate about my schoolwork and things that are academic based. I feel if I am good about academics and volleyball then I can be a really successful person in life. What is one thing that may surprise people about you? Nwabueze: That I play instruments. I don’t give off the