July 10, 2024

As the first round of pool play came to a conclusion, the top seeds held it down in 15 Open at USAV nationals in Las Vegas. The No. 1 teams in their respective pools combined to go 28-2 through the first two days of competition. Skyline 15 Royal – the No. 3 overall seed – was the only one of the group of six to lose. Skyline finished 3-2 and took third place playing without regular starter and outside Ryan Spencer, which has left Skyline with a different lineup. While the top seeds have managed to take care of business, it’s been all over the place after that. OT 15 Randy – which came in as the No. 11 overall seed and ranked No. 5 in Vballrecruiter’s Top 50 National Rankings – went 1-4 and finished in fifth place in Pool 1. Meanwhile, KC Power 15 Black, the No. 5 team and ranked No. 26 nationally advanced in fourth place after going 2-3. In Pool 2, Excel 15 National Red, the No. 2 team and ranked No. 14 nationally, barely held on. Excel finished 2-3, tied with both Forza1 North 15 One and Madfrog 15 Black. Forza North took third based on tiebreakers, with Excel in fourth and Madfrog eliminated in fifth. With Skyline not in top form in Pool 3, it was Forza1 15 One taking advantage. The No. 4 team and No. 25 squad nationally, went 4-1 to take first. AZ Sky 15G followed in second at 3-2, as the No. 5 team. Premier Nebraska 15 Gold tied at 2-3 with Paramount 15 Nick but grabbed fourth based on their head-to-head result. Behind 5-0 Tstreet 15 Asics in Pool 4 was Vision 15 Gold at 4-1. However, AZ Rev 15 Premier, PVA 15 Elite and 1United 15 Bill all went 2-3. 1United – an at-large recipient – ended in third. AZ Rev advanced in fourth after beating PVA in three sets on Day 2. Pool 5 played out mostly to seed, with Wave 15 Brennan going 5-0, followed by the No. 3 team in Hou Skyline 15 Royal going 4-1. VCNebraska 15 Elite, the No. 2 team, went 3-2 for third. Madfrog 15 Green, the No. 4 team, wrapped up at 2-3 and in fourth. In Pool 6, Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar went 4-1 to take second behind 5-0 Legacy 15-1 Adidas. The No. 5 team – Dynasty 15 Black – went 3-2 for third. Dynasty was one of the five at-large entries. It was A5 15-1 Kelly, the No. 7 overall seed, taking fourth at 2-1. Looking ahead to the three-team pools on Day 3, nothing too crazy standouts. One of the things that I noticed was Skyline ending up in Pool 1 along with top-seeded TAV 15 Black. Also in that pool is Dynasty. Pool 5 – featuring Wave, Club V 15 Ren Kalee and AZ Rev – stands out. I would have guessed all three would have reached the challenge rounds, but one of the three won’t make it that far now. After that, there looks to be good opportunities to capitalize on and advance to the challenge round where teams can move within one victory of the gold bracket. Switching gears to 14 Open, just two of the six respective No. 1 teams finished first in their pool. One was top-seeded and national No. 1 Madfrog 14 Green. The other was No. 4 overall seed and national No. 4 A5 14-1 Helen was the other as both went 5-0. HPSTL 14 Royal – the No. 2 overall seed and national No. 2 – finished 4-1 and in second place after being upset by national No. 28 SG Elite 14 Rosh in its last outing of pool play. Dynasty 14 Black – the No. 3 overall and national No. 8 which captured the AAU 14 Open – went 4-1 as well. Dynasty fell to national No. 3 Hou Skyline 14 Royal, which went 5-0. Circle City 14 Purple, the top team in Pool 5 and ranked No. 10 nationally, was another one to go 4-1. Tribe 14 Elite Cardinal, seeded No. 8 overall and ranked No. 7 nationally beat Circle City in the last outing to also finish 4-1 and grab first based on the head-to-head result. Alamo 14 Premier, the No. 6 overall seed and ranked No. 5 nationally, fell to No. 7 overall seed and No. 6 national TAV 14 Black. TAV went 5-0, Alamo 4-1. There were some big-time results to go against the seeding. One was PVA 14 Elite going 2-3 and taking fourth as the No. 6 team in Pool 2. PVA was seeded last at No. 36. Also, Metro 14 Travel, the No. 33 overall seed, went 2-3 as well and took third in Pool 5 as the No. 6 team. Tstreet 14 Tara, the No. 27 overall seed and No. 5 team in Pool 3, took a dramatic three-set victory over Absolute 14 Black in the final match of pool play to finish 2-3 and take fourth place. *** DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS With the second day of competition bringing the end to the first round of pool play and with it the first elimination process, the action definitely stepped up a notch. Below, we highlight those individuals who stood out the most to us while watching them play with our Day 2 Show Stoppers. Marissa Jones A5 15-1 Kelly: A 5-star setter and one of the top recruits in the class, Jones is a phenomenal talent. She has all the tools of a high-level setter. She has incredible hands. She locates consistently. And she can turn off balls into workable sets to keep the offense flowing. Lauren Forelli OH AZ Rev 15 Premier: Forelli – a 4-star outside – has a big-time arm. She can load up and crush it down. She’s a key piece of the attack and shoulders a large load. Molly Bokenkroger L/DS PVA 15 Elite: Bokenkroger – a 3-star defender – goes