February 1, 2024

Usually played at the end of January, this year’s edition of the Central Zone Invitational takes place during the first weekend of February. While the dates have changed, the level of competition has not. It’s an early-season slugfest for those involved as the tournament features many nationally-ranked clubs throughout the 14-18s age groups. Below, we highlight each Open division in those ages with players to watch, a brief outlook and predictions as to which clubs will walk away with a gold medal. 18 OPEN Number of Teams: 18 vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (3): 22. Tri-State Elite 18 Blue OH 29. KiVA 18 Red KY 34. Circle City 18 Purple IN   vballrecruiter.com 5-star Players in the Field: Morgan Gaerte OH Team Pineapple 18 Black IN (Notre Dame)   vballrecruiter.com 4-star Players in the Field: Ayen Nhial MB KiVA 18 Red (James Madison)   Outlook: The 18 Open division is the smallest of our featured age groups with just 18 teams. Part of the reason is teams that chase USAV Open bids are not participating like they did a year ago, and that has left the field reduced for 2024. However, one big addition comes in the form of Sports Performance, which brought its top two 18s programs. Another difference with the 18s is they are playing a more traditional format, beginning with six, three-team pools. The teams face two rounds of pool play on Day 1 in hopes of making the gold bracket on Day 2. Prediction: We are watching for KiVA to win it all, beating Sports Performance in the final. Tri-State Elite and Circle City tie for third place. *** 17 OPEN Number of Teams: 32 vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (9): 6. MKE Sting 17 Gold WI 7. Mich Elite 17 Mizuno MI 11. AVC Cle 17 Red OH 15. KiVA 17 Red KY 18. Circle City 17 Purple IN 24. Legacy 17-1 Adidas MI 40. NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami KY 45. Tri-State 17 Elite Blue OH 46. Mintonette Sports m.71 OH   vballrecruiter.com 5-star Players in the Field: Kristen Simon L/DS KiVA 17 Red (Wisconsin) Addison Makun MB KiVA 17 Red (Louisville) Campbell Flynn S Legacy 17-1 Adidas (Nebraska) Madison Quest OH MKE Sting 17 Gold (Wisconsin) Annabelle Groomes S/RS AVC Cle 17 Red (San Diego)   vballrecruiter.com 4-star Players in the Field: Gabriella Pitcel MB MKE Sting 17 Gold (Illinois) Olivia Durst L/DS MKE Sting 17 Gold (Michigan State) Emma Koceja OH MKE Sting 17 Gold Emma Parks OH AVC Cle 17 Red (Marquette) Kayla Dunlap MB TPV 17 Maverick (Vanderbilt) Rebecca Ring OH VC United 17 Elite (NC State) Ava Tilden OH NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami (Xavier) Riley McCloskey OH/RS NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami (Memphis) Reese Dunkle MB Circle City 17 Purple (Northwestern) Logan Bell OH Circle City 17 Purple (Oregon) Katie Gielas OH Elevation 17 Cabo (FGCU) Izzy Busignani OH Mich Elite 17 Mizuno (Cincinnati) Sienna Fry OH Summit 17 Blue (2026)   Outlook: The 17 Open division has its share of firepower among the 32-team field. First though, let’s talk a little about the format. It’s a lot different than normal as teams begin in one of eight, four-team brackets. The winners of each four-team bracket move into power pools and play for seeding on Day 2, which features a 16-team gold bracket. The rest of the teams go into one of eight, three-team play-in pools. The winners of each play-in pool also advance to the 16-team gold bracket Sunday. Leading the way is MKE Sting, which is coming off a third-place finish at Northern Lights last weekend where the club clinched its 17 Open bid for Nationals. Also in the field last weekend were Mich Elite and NKYVC. Host club Circle City is one to watch for, as is KiVA and AVC. Legacy is capable of doing damage, while Tri-State could certainly play the role of spoiler. Prediction: We’ll see how much teams who played last weekend have in the tank for Central Zone. While we fully expect MKE Sting and Mich Elite to be in the mix, we are taking Circle City over KiVA in the final. AVC and MKE Sting earn the bronzes. *** 16 OPEN Number of Teams: 32 vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (13): 4. Mintonette Sports m.61 OH 5. Legacy 16-1 Adidas MI 8. Boiler Jrs 16 Gold IN 12. Elevation 16 Goller OH 16. NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami KY 18. Tri-State Elite 16 Blue OH 19. AVC Cle 16 Red OH 21. Team Pineapple 16 Black IN 30. MKE Sting 16 Gold WI 40. Rev 16-1 Fury IN 41. KiVA 16 Red KY 43. SPVB 16 Elite IL 50. Circle City 16 Purple IN   vballrecruiter.com 5-star Players in the Field: Kayla Nwabueze MB Legacy 16-1 Adidas Gabby Divita OH Legacy 16-1 Adidas Emma Cugino L/DS Mintonette Sports m.61 Caroline Ward RS Boiler Jrs 16 Gold (2027)   vballrecruiter.com 4-star Players in the Field: Lily Bosworth MB Illini Elite 16 Cardinal Kendall Northern MB/RS Elevation 16 Goller Sydney Geselbracht MB Elevation 16 Goller Sidney Sprada OH Elevation 16 Goller Cala Haffner L/DS Team Pineapple 16 Black Lydia Stahley OH Team Indiana 16 Elite Cassidy Bruns L/DS MKE Sting 16 Gold Margaret Czajka OH MKE Sting 16 Gold Marlee Sivak OH MKE Sting 16 Gold Ellie Hepler L/DS Boiler Jrs 16 Gold Cali Foster OH Boiler Jrs 16 Gold Reese Resmer MB Boiler Jrs 16 Gold Madison Miles OH Boiler Jrs 16 Gold Lexi Shondell S Boiler Jrs 16 Gold Ella Andrews MB Legacy 16-1 Adidas Meredith Martin L/DS Legacy 16-1 Adidas Mallory Matheny S Mintonette Sports m.61 Layla Hoying OH Mintonette Sports m.61 Audrey Dyas MB NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami Addison Haberthy S Circle City 16 Purple   Outlook: With 13 of the 32 teams appearing in our Top 50 National Rankings, 16 Open is the premier division of the weekend. It’s the same format as 17 Open, with clubs opening up in one of eight, four-team brackets and ultimately playing to make the 16-team gold bracket on Day 2. The depth should lead