The second weekend of the 18s qualifier season was a light one, with just the Lone Star Classic 18s on the schedule. The 20-team field produced three 18 Open bids, which went to tournament champion Drive Nation 18 Red, A5 18-Marc and Skyline 18 Royal.
They joined Sunshine 18 LA, Wave 18 Juliana, Mintonette Sports m.81, MAVS KC 18-1 and Premier Nebraska 18 Gold as clubs holding 18 Open bids after two weeks of qualifying. With three 18s qualifiers set for this coming weekend the field will double in size by next week.
With nationally-ranked No. 5 Drive Nation and No. 6 A5 gaining their bids this past weekend, half of our initial Top 10 from the 18s National Rankings have secured bids so far, including No. 3 Wave, No. 4 Premier Nebraska and No. 10 Sunshine. Skyline opened up at No. 25.
Drive Nation dropped just one match over the three days, with No. 18 AJV 18 Adidas taking down the eventual champs in three during Day 2 pool play. It was part of three consecutive three-setters for Drive Nation, which had defeated SA Magic 18 Elite in three to end Day 1 and opened Day 2 with a three-set victory over No. 23 Hou Skyline 18 Royal. Drive Nation swept No. 13 Madfrog 18 Green to make the gold pools. Once there, Drive Nation beat No. 17 HJV 18 Elite in three before sweeping both Skyline and A5.
A5 had an interesting path to a bid. The Georgia club came out hot, winning its first five matches. However, A5 lost three of its final four contests but still managed to get its bid. A5 was already guaranteed a spot in gold pools before losing to Skyline to end Day 2. Unranked Actyve 18 Black then delivered an upset in three to start Day 3. A5 recovered to sweep Hou Skyline. That created a three-way tie with A5, Actyve and Hou Skyline as all were 1-1. A5 was fortunate to gain the first-place slot based on the best set percentage. Actyve was second and Hou Skyline was third.
Skyline opened its weekend with a setback against unranked AZ EVJ 18 Elite but was able to steady itself quickly. Skyline didn’t lose against until facing Drive Nation on Day 3. That loss pitted Skyline against upstart Actyve for the final bid. Skyline swept, 25-13, 25-11, to earn the last Open spot.
Actyve was one of the stories of the weekend. The So Cal club didn’t figure to be in the mix for a bid on Day 3 and yet it was a victory short of pulling off the shocker. Actyve picked up key victories over No. 20 TAV 18 Black, No. 17 HJV and No. 6 A5. Actyve came close to winning its gold pool and clinching a bid outright, but fell to No. 23 Hou Skyline 15-13 in the third. You never know!
