Triple Crown: Preview and Predictions
There are many things that make the Triple Crown NIT a one-of-a-kind tournament. The three-day event, taking place this coming weekend at the Kansas City Convention Center, unquestionably draws and attracts the best clubs from all around the country, whether those clubs play a USAV or JVA schedule, or attend USAV or AAU nationals. It can result in being the only place certain clubs can ever bump into one another and go head-to-head. Something else that makes the event unique is the absence of multiple divisions. There is no such thing as Open, National, USA, etc. It’s very simple and straight forward. There is 18-and-under all the way down to 12-and-under. It means any team entered into its age group has an opportunity to walk away with the title regardless of starting position. The power-pool format also contributes to the excitement and entertainment surrounding the tournament. While not every team is placed in a power pool, the fact that the top teams entered get to square off on Day 1 with no threat of being eliminated creates for high-level volleyball from the very first serve of the weekend. If you are not familiar with Triple Crown, you may not know that after the opening day, the format switches to a single-elimination contest. That is very different from the standard tournament format that continues on with pool play on Day 2. It’s another part of what elevates the intensity and makes it an anything goes race to the finish line. At the same time, it remains an early-season tournament and so much can transpire between now and nationals that it’s easy to jump to conclusions based on the results this weekend. But most of the teams approach this weekend as a way to gauge and prep for the remainder of the season, not as a destination. Winning Triple Crown doesn’t guarantee any sort of success later on. Though it could serve as foreshadowing, we just don’t know. Let’s take last year for an example. Drive Nation 18 Red brought home the 18s title, however, finished third at nationals. NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami was the 17s champion, yet took 11th in Chicago. Surfside 16 PV Legends reigned supreme in the 16s but was a distant 26th at nationals. The younger age groups that we focus on found more success though in Skyline 15 Royal and TAV 14 Black. Both finished on top of their respective age groups a season ago at Triple Crown and both went on to grab the gold medal at nationals. Enough about all of that, let’s get to our preview and predictions, which you can find below. ***** 18 OPEN Number of Teams: 104 Power Pool A • TAV 18 Black • Hou Skyline 18 Royal • Coast 18-1 • Madfrog 18 Green • KC Power 18 Black • Munciana 18 Samurai • Triangle 18 Black • 1st Alliance 18 Gold Power Pool B • Mintonette Sports m.81 • Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite • OT 18 Roberto • Vision 18 Gold • Wave 18 Brennan • Skyline 18 Royal • SCVC 18 Roxy • A5 18 Marc Power Pool C • MKE Sting 18 Gold • Academy 18 Rage • NPJ 18 Forefront • Tri-State Elite 18 Blue • City 18 Gold • Club V 18 Ren Reed • Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar • Premier Nebraska 18 Gold Power Pool D • SPVB 18 Elite • MN Select 18-1 • NKYVC 18-1 Tsunami • FC Elite 18 Elite • HJV 18 Elite • OT 18 Tony • Tstreet 18 Chandler • Six Pack 18 vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (45): 1. TAV 18 Black TX 2. 1st Alliance 18 Gold IL 3. Triangle 18 Black NC 4. Madfrog 18 Green TX 5. KC Power 18 Black KS 6. Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite MO 7. Hou Skyline 18 Royal TX 8. Munciana 18 Samurai IN 9. Coast 18 Ozhan CA 10. OT 18 O Roberto FL 11. Wave 18 Brennan CA 12. Premier Nebraska 18 Gold NE 13. SCVC 18 Roxy CA 14. Mintonette Sports m.81 OH 15. Skyline 18 Royal TX 16. HJV 18 Elite TX 17. Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar CA 18. Six Pack 18 IA 19. Vision 18 Gold CA 20. City 18 Gold CA 21. A5 18 Marc GA 22. MN Select 18-1 MN 23. Tri-State Elite 18 Blue OH 25. Club V 18 Ren Reed UT 26. MKE Sting 18 Gold WI 27. NPJ 18 Forefront OR 28. Academy 18 Elite Rage IN 29. FC Elite 18 Elite WI 30. SPVB 18 Elite IL 31. MAVS KC 18-1 KS 32. Pohaku 18-1 KS 33. NKYVC 18-1 Tsunami KY 34. Tstreet 18 Chandler CA 35. Momentous 18 Dan CA 36. OT 18 T Tony FL 37. Far Out 18 Black MI 39. KiVA 18 Red KY 40. Team Pineapple 18 Black IN 42. AVA TX 18 Adidas 43. Actyve 18 Black CA 44. VCNebraska 18 Elite NE 46. Sky High Adidas 18 Elite IL 47. Tribe 18 Elite Cardinal FL 48. Legacy 18-1 Adidas MI 49. Boiler Jrs 18 Gold IN 5-Star Players in the Field: Lauren Medeck OH Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (South Dakota) Morgan Gaerte OH Team Pineapple Black (Notre Dame) Faith Frame L/DS Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (Cincinnati) Lauren Harden OH Academy 18 Rage (Florida) Charlie Fuerbringer S Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar (Wisconsin) Favor Anyanwu MB TAV 18 Black (USC) Jadyn Livings RS TAV 18 Black (USC) Camille Edwards S TAV 18 Black (Michigan) Jaela Auguste MB Hou Skyline 18 Royal (Florida) Elizabeth Andrew MB Athena 18 Gold (Stanford) Hannah Benjamin OH A5 18 Marc (Kentucky) Taylor Yu S SG Elite 18 Rosh (Stanford) Taylor Deckert L/DS SCVC 18 Roxy (2025, USC) Cari Spears OH TAV 18 Black (2025, Texas) Gillian Pitts L/DS TAV 18 Black (2025, Houston) Suli Davis OH TAV 18 Black (2025, BYU) Ryan Hunter RS Triangle 18 Black (2025, Nebraska) Navea Gauthier OH Far Out 18 Black (2025, Ohio State) Taylor Harvey MB Club V 18
