April 3, 2024

The bid chases played out with lots of drama on the final day of the Red Rock Rave. You can read all about it here. With it, came standout individual efforts and performances. Below, we highlight those who caught our attention the most with our Day 3 Show Stoppers. DAY 3 SHOW STOPPERS Camryn Thruston L/DS AZ Rev 15 Premier: Thruston helped AZ Rev to a first-place finish in 15 Open with her defensive prowess. She was sound out of serve receive and defended well during rallies. Lauren Forelli OH AZ Rev 15 Premier: Forelli – a 4-star recruit – carries a big-time arm with plenty of power. She can blast shots from sideline to sideline and provides a huge boost to the offense. Kristen Sheehy MB AZ Rev 15 Premier: Sheehy, a 3-star recruit, is a presence in the middle. She’s a strong scoring option who defenses need to track and even then struggle to stop her at times. Makenna Corrie S AZ Rev 15 Premier: Corrie is an energetic setter and is quick-footed. She does well getting to the ball, as well as spreading it around. Emery Gonzales S Wave 15 Brennan: Gonzales is another setter who shows strength in running the attack. She has nice hands and locates consistently. Lila Green L/DS Wave 15 Brennan: Green brought a defensive edge with her ability to extend rallies and pick off hard-hit shots coming her way. Ireland Real OH Wave 15 Brennan: A 4-star recruit, Real’s height is a huge advantage. She’s long and hits from a high angle that allows her to go over blockers without trouble. Ella Olson OH Tstreet 15 Asics: Olson, a 4-star recruit who excels on the beach, is a gamer. She’s fearless with a strong scoring touch, whether it’s finding holes in the block or going off their hands. Megan Hodges MB Tstreet 15 Asics: A 5-star recruit from the Class of 2028, Hodges is a game-changer in the middle. Her size and length is a real problem for defenses. She impacts both sides of the ball because of it and is a definite offensive threat. Royal Banducci S Tstreet 15 Asics: Banducci does well connecting with all her hitters. She puts up a nice ball and doesn’t mix her window very often. *** Sarah MacDonald L/DS Tstreet 15 Asics: MacDonald was hustling and making plays all over the court as she kept her side in the point. Janiah Burrage OH Forza1 15 One: Burrage – a 5-star recruit from the Class of 2028 – is the go-to hitter who shoulders a key role. The way she can get up and let loose makes her difficult to slow down. Baylee Jones L/DS Forza1 15 One: Jones was patrolling the back row and passing on target more times than not. Audrey Flanagan OH SCVC 16 Roxy: A 5-star recruit, Flanagan has a whippy arm and can let shots fly in a hurry. She was sending shots down in impressive fashion over and over. Taylor Boice MB SCVC 16 Roxy: Boice missed time earlier this season but she’s back and making plays. She’s a heady scorer who is crafty and can catch defenses slipping. Milly McGee S SCVC 16 Roxy: McGee – a 4-star recruit – has a firm grasp of the offense. She knows when to ride a hot hand as well as when to switch it up and catch defenses off guard. Kaitlyn Herweg L/DS SCVC 16 Roxy: A 4-star recruit from the Class of 2027, is a strong defender who reads and reacts well. She’s not caught out of position too often. Finley Krystkowiak OH Wave 16 Scott: Krystkowiak – a 5-star recruit – is a force offensively. She extends high and swings over the block with power and precision. JoJo Wilson OH Wave 16 Scott: Wilson was on fire in Wave’s clutch sweep over Hou Skyline. From tips and rolls, to aggressive swings, she couldn’t miss and frustrated defenders with it. Blair Thiebaud S Hou Skyline 16 Royal: Thiebaud – a 4-star recruit – is a terrific setter who distributes at a high level. She has a great touch and locates well to go with being able to spread the ball around. *** Halle Thompson OH Hou Skyline 16 Royal: A 5-star recruit, Thompson is a high-flying outside with a lively arm. She gets up and lets loose fluidly and with ease. Nadiya Shelby RS Hou Skyline 16 Royal: Shelby – another 5-star recruit – is an impressive right side who gets way up and over the net. She can deliver both huge blocks and kills in wow fashion. Mia Stewart OH Sunshine 16 LA: Stewart helped Sunshine position itself to qualify before coming up just short. She’s a six-rotation outside who provides her share of offense. Vivian Hickman S AZ Sky 16G: Hickman – a 3-star recruit – had AZ Sky in the mix to qualify on the last day. She’s a smooth disher who plays under control and stays calm under pressure. Marianne Garcia L/DS AZ Sky 16G: A 3-star recruit, Garcia is quick defender who flies around the court. She covers ground in a hurry and is a sharp passer. Quinn Loper OH Wave 17 Juliana: Loper – a 4-star USC commit – was part of Wave’s championship performance. The lanky outside has a fluid swing and ability to connect and get after it. Mae Kordas RS Wave 17 Juliana: A 3-star Yale commit, Kordas was a presence on the right side. Her size was a real factor, as she provided a consistent scoring option. Yuri Park L/DS Wave 17 Juliana: Another 3-star Yale commit, Park held it down in the back row. She’s quick and was passing on point. Zoe Gillen-Malveaux MB Skyline 17 Royal: Gillen-Malveaux – a 5-star Duke commit – runs a mean slide. She gets out, up and rips down shots effortlessly. Maddie Smotherman L/DS Skyline 17 Royal: A 3-star defender, Smotherman is scrappy in the back row. She did well extending rallies

While we headed into the final day of action at the Red Rock Rave knowing the lone bid winner in 18 Open, there were plenty of unknowns and with it loads of anticipation for how the 15-17 Open divisions would play out. True to form, none of those bid races disappointed in the very least. So much so it’s hard determining which one carried the most drama. In 17 Open, four of the eight gold-pool representatives held bids, meaning one of the remaining four would be left out. In 16 Open, none of the eight gold-pool clubs held bids, so only the top three would secure one. And in 15 Open, it was a four-team gold pool with none of those teams qualified yet, so they needed to finish in the top two to qualify. I’ll start with 17 Open, where eventually Wave 17 Juliana finished off a perfect 9-0 weekend by beating previously-qualified Skyline 17 Royal in the championship match. Wave was recently in the mix on the final day at MEQ two weekends ago but a loss to Legacy 17-1 Adidas kept Wave from reaching the final four and qualifying. However, there was no denying the SCVA region club in Las Vegas. Wave – ranked No. 22 in the nation in our Top 50 rankings – beat fourth-ranked Skyline on Sunday in pool play to take over the top seed then once more in the final to punctuate its performance. With Wave going 3-0 in its pool, there was tons of drama between the other three teams as Coast 17 Rodrigo, Excel 17 National Red and Club V 17 Ren Reed all tied at 1-2. Coast earned second based on the tiebreaker, with Excel taking third and Club V fourth. The other gold pool wrapped up with Skyline at 3-0, followed by Surfside 17 Legends (2-1), ID Crush 17 Bower (1-2) and Tx Performance 17-1 (0-3). Surfside and ID Crush held bids already, as did Coast, so that allowed Excel to qualify by tying for fifth. The last bid came down to a showdown between Club V and Tx Performance. It was unranked Club V prevailing in three, 25-22, 15-25, 15-10, to leave town happy. Club V picked up a clutch victory on Day 2 by topping previously-qualified AVA TX 17 Adidas to stay alive and reach the gold pools or else it would have lights out instead. The gold pools in 16 Open opened with a bang Sunday evening before playing out in full Monday. Unranked Sunshine 16 LA upset Wave 16 Scott to throw the pool in flux. However, after a dramatic Day 3 outing, Wave managed to secure its bid after finishing runner-up to SCVC 16 Roxy in the final. Wave was faced with a daunting task in its last gold pool contest, needing to beat No. 10 Hou Skyline 16 Royal in straight sets to advance. All Hou Skyline needed was to win one set and it would have been Sunshine advancing to the final four instead of Wave. The clutch performance not only assured Wave of a bid, it forced Hou Skyline into the third-place match against AZ Rev 16 Premier. AZ Rev had its own drama, needing to beat AZ Sky 16G to play for a bid. The all-Arizona clash went Rev’s way, 27-25, 28-26. However, Rev’s fortune ran out there, as Hou Skyline swept to earn the final bid. Meanwhile, SCVC overcame a slow start Monday, dropping the first set to AZ Rev before prevailing in three. SCVC then swept 1United 16 Blue to reach the final, gaining its bid in the process. SCVC came into the weekend the highest-ranked team in the field at No. 6, followed by No. 10 Hou Skyline and No. 12 Wave. There was only one gold pool in 15 Open, but it didn’t mean half the drama. With the lone qualified team in the field in Hou Skyline 15 Royal out of the top four, it was a race between Wave 15 Brennan, Tstreet 15 Asics, AZ Rev 15 Premier and Forza1 15 One. It started off with AZ Rev, ranked No. 13 nationally, downing No. 9 Wave in two tight sets, 25-22, 29-27. It only heated up from there, with No. 8 Tstreet edging No. 34 Forza, 25-23, 19-25, 18-16. Wave followed by sweeping Forza, then Tstreet snuck out another one, this time clipping AZ Rev, 25-22, 21-25, 15-13. Once AZ Rev swept Forza, it set up an incredible finale between Wave and Tstreet. It was a must-win contest for both sides. Wave would finish 1-2 and in third place with a loss. But, with a win, Wave would force a three-way tie and the way the math was set up, Tstreet would finish third based on tiebreakers no matter what. The one given was AZ Rev was assured a top-two finish and a bid regardless the outcome. Of course, the outing went the distance, with Wave surviving, 28-26, 28-30, 15-9, in dramatic fashion. In 18 Open, TAV 18 Black went a perfect 10-0 to capture the title. It was TAV’s third qualifier victory of the season, to go along with winning Lone Star and Music City. Tstreet 18 Chandler, meanwhile, tied for seventh with SCVC 18 Roxy. Tstreet was the only team in the top eight without a bid and thus qualified through trickle down. AZ Rev 18 Premier took second, with A5 18 Marc beating out Hou Skyline 18 Royal for third.