Road signs are accurate. Volleyball ones can be misleading.
Just because all the signs were pointing to a showdown between top-seeded Boiler Jrs 14 Gold and No. 2 Game Point 14 Rox in the 14 Open division at AAUs in Orlando, it hardly meant that was the championship match that was going to happen. Yet, the two highest-ranked clubs in our National Rankings – Boilers Jrs at No. 8 and GP at No. 11 – squared off for the gold medal Saturday afternoon at the ESPN Zone.
On paper, it was the perfect final. On the court, Boiler Jrs was nearly perfect. The Indiana club turned in a no-doubt performance in sweeping GP, 25-18, 25-14, and claiming the gold medal. The sides had been on a collision course since the tournament started four days ago. In some regard, it was a case of who would blink first.
Neither lost a set through the first two days. Game Point remained flawless after Day 3, when Boiler Jrs finally flinched and gave up a set in a three-game victory over Tribe 14 Elite. That was as close to losing as Boiler Jrs faced in Orlando, winning the third set 15-13.
Perhaps that meant Boiler Jrs was vulnerable entering the gold bracket. Then again, perhaps the Florida humidity won’t be here when we gather in Orlando next summer. Opponents could only dream, as can we.
Boiler Jrs’ finishing touch was on display, coming out firing against Northern Lights 14-1 in the quarterfinals and sweeping, 25-19, 25-7. The match was actually close midway through the first set. Coming off three days of PM pools before the schedule switched to AM matches, Boiler Jrs woke up, found its rhythm and just like that was onto the semifinals. A5 Mizuno 14 Helen offered more resistance, but not enough to push to force a third after Boiler Jrs pulled out a close second set and finished its sweep, 25-18, 25-22.
Game Point, on the other hand, was tested out of the gate Saturday in its quarterfinal. Outside hitter Jordin Southall went down in the second set with an ankle injury and spent the rest of the match on the sidelines with ice on it. That seemed to rattle GP at first before the Florida club settled down, regrouped and pulled out the victory over Top Select 14 Elite in three games, 25-18, 16-25, 15-10.
With Southall back in the lineup for the semis, GP was back to its usual self. Legacy 14-1 Adidas was taken care of quickly as GP swept, 25-13, 25-14, to set up the showdown with Boiler Jrs.
The teams are similar in that both have strong outsides. For GP, it’s Southall and Catherine Palmi. For Boiler Jrs, it’s Cali Foster and Madison Miles. Both also have reliable options on the right in Jenness Orcutt (GP) and Caroline Ward (Boiler Jrs). The setting positions are ones of strengths with Lexi Shondell (Boiler Jrs) and Madison Wehr (GP).
Where Boiler Jrs had the edge was in the middle with Reese Resmer and Bre Morgan, as well as at libero with Elle Hepler. It’s the strength of Boiler Jrs in that there isn’t a clear weakness anywhere. The team passes and defends and doesn’t have a rotation it gets stuck in because of the offensive firepower it can keep throwing at opponents. Game Point found that out first hand in the final.
Boiler Jrs finished the four days going 11-0 overall and 22-1 in sets. It posted an impressive 1.5134 points ratio and now turns its sights on another national championship in its home state. The seedings for 14 Open at the USAV GJNC weren’t released as of Saturday. Regardless, Boiler Jrs will head to Indy as one of the favorites. Game Point is also part of that tournament as well. With a much deeper field there, the winner of that event will most assuredly take the No. 1 spot in our final 14s National Rankings.
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Before getting to what happened in 14 Premier, here are some final thoughts on 14 Open. Here’s the point where we can say our National Rankings held up well. We already mentioned that the two top-ranked teams met in the final. Boiler Jrs was the only team from our Top 10 in the field.
The two bronze medalists in A5 and Legacy were among the top five teams from our rankings, coming in at No. 24 and No. 30 respectively. Dynasty 14 Black, at No. 19, was the highest-ranked team to miss the gold bracket.
Top Select, at No. 34, No. 39 WPVC 14 Armour Black, and unranked Northern Lights and Mauloa 14 Green all made the quarterfinals. Rev 14-1 Fuego, at No. 31, was the next-highest ranked team to miss the quarterfinals.
Some of that could be attributed to tough luck. Rev had a crossover match on Day 3 that was scheduled for 8pm. Rev fought off Vaqueras Freddy, rallying in Games 2 and 3 and winning 16-14 in the third. It was late night by that point and Rev had to turn around and play at 8am. Rev lost to Top Select 25-13, 26-24. Rev was up 23-20 in Game 2 but a 6-1 run from Top Select closed the door.
Of the teams to reach the Top 10, six will be competing in 14 Open in Indy in Boiler Jrs, GP, A5, Top Select, WPVC and Rev. Legacy is not in 14 Open after getting passed by for an Open bid. The feeling here was Legacy should have earned one considering it has seven victories against the Open field.
WPVC did get one of the eight at-larges with a 2-9 mark against the field. Of course, WPVC did beat Legacy head-to-head at the Sunshine Classic and maybe that played a part in WPVC getting one and Legacy not. It just so happened Legacy and WPVC met in the quarterfinals Saturday. Legacy moved on in three, 17-25, 25-22, 15-9, but of course it’s too late for Legacy to get placed in 14 Open in Indy.
Unlike how it’ll be in Indy, there was a slow build here in Orlando. However, it was worth the wait as the final day did feature what I felt like was the top teams in the tournament, with perhaps the exception of Dynasty.
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The 14 Premier division was similar to 14 Open in the way it played out. JJVA 14 Teal swept past Far Out 14 Black, 25-11, 25-11, in the championship match to earn gold in that division. Like Boiler Jrs, JJVA didn’t drop a match. The Florida club went 13-0 overall and 26-3 in sets and also had a big points ratio at 1.5558.
JJVA opened as the No. 4 seed and was tested only a couple of times. Top Flight 14 Theta put a scare into JJVA on Day 2 before falling in three, 25-16, 23-25, 15-11. Saturday’s quarterfinals were also much closer than JJVA preferred as it took three to fend off Elevation 14 Peak, 25-9, 20-25, 15-10. The only other team to take a set off JJVA was 305 AVB 14 Alan but JJVA owned that third-set victory, 15-4. After getting past Elevation, JJVA earned a shot at the gold by dispatching Jupiter Elite 14 in two, 25-15, 25-14.
Far Out started off as the No. 9 overall seed and finished 12-1, going 24-4 in sets. Far Out was challenged right out of the gate, going three before beating Tribe 14 Elite Tyler, 18-25, 25-16, 15-11, in the first match of the tournament. A5 Mizuno 14-2 Allison also pushed Far Out to three on Day 3, but Far Out prevailed, 25-16, 21-25, 15-10.
In reaching the final, Far Out downed 305 VBC Chris, 25-21, 25-17, in the quarterfinals and 808 Athletic Club, 25-18, 25-18, in the semifinals.
JJVA had lots to like with its lineup, starting with setter/right sides Mollie Vandeusen and Ryan Murphy. Adriana Jeanpierre brought firepower on the outside, while middles Molly Fitzpatrick and Sophia Albaugh were reliable options when JJVA was in system and could involve them. Sofia Muino played right side at times and showed a solid arm to help open up the attack as well.
