AAU 15/17s: Day 3 Show Stoppers

As teams transition from pool play to gold bracket, we like to call that moving day. That was what Day 3 represented in the 15s and 17s divisions at AAU in Orlando. There are 12 teams still in the hunt for the gold in 15 Open. In 17 Open, the field was reduced to eight teams still alive for the top spot on the podium. A5 Mizuno 17 Jing – ranked No. 3 in our National Rankings and the original No. 2 seed overall in 17 Open – is not one of them after an unexpected turn of events Tuesday. You can read more about that and more if you keep scrolling down. First, we want to bring you our Day 3 Show Stoppers highlighting the players who caught our attention the most during our time walking from court to court.

Jannelize Perez, L, OT 15 Meg – Perez was active and playing with high energy. She was making big digs to extend rallies, bringing a defensive edge to the lineup.

KK Green, S/RS, OT 15 Meg – One of the key pieces with her role as a setter and hitter, Green delivers a consistent ball. Offensively, she has the ability to unload on the ball with her strong arm.

Addison Tindall, OH, Team Pineapple 15 Black – It’s impossible to watch this 6-2 four-star recruit and not mention her as a Show Stopper. She never fails to hit at least one wow shot that leaves you shaking your head and asking yourself how did she do that?

Maya Harris, OH, Team Pineapple 15 Black – A bit undersized at outside, Harris an aggressive and smart hitter who can challenge blocks or tip/roll into the open spaces. She’s also an option in the back row too.

Bella Bullington, OH, SPVB 15 Elite – Bullington – who we mentioned on Day 1 – was at it again. She’s one to keep watch on with an arm that rips and generates lots of pace.

Lauren Coyne, RS, SPVB 15 Elite – A 6-2 four-star recruit, Coyne is a difference maker across the front row. She adds another dynamic to the attack with her length and forcing blockers to stay on her.

Kennedy Cherry, L, Boiler Jrs 15 Gold – A three-star recruit, Cherry was passing dimes in serve receive and helping to keep Boiler Jrs in system. She was also all over the court chasing down balls.

Taylor Cripe, OH, Boiler Jrs 15 Gold – Another three-star recruit on the roster, Cripe is a six-rotation glue piece. She’s a hard worker who can hit front and back row, as well as pass and play defense.

Charlotte Glass, S, Tribe 15 Elite – Glass – a five-star recruit – is a highly-sought after setter at the collegiate level. Her touch is soft and she can be aggressive across the front row going on two to keep defenses on guard.

Tekoa Barnes, OH, Tribe 15 Elite – The more we catch Barnes, the more we like of her. She’s a high-flying outside who can absolutely pound down winners with her powerful arm.

Addison Applegate, L, Asics Munciana 15 Lorax – Applegate – a three-star recruit – is just so smooth and steady at the position. She is lights-out in serve receive and covers the court with high IQ.

Spencer Etzler, OH, Asics Munciana 15 Lorax – A bit undersized, Etzler doesn’t back down against bigger blockers. She keeps coming with an aggressive swing. She also takes care of business in the back row with her above average defending.

Ava Hunter, S, Asics Munciana 15 Lorax – A three-star recruit, Hunter sets a clean ball that is rarely off the mark. She can set on the move as well and does a nice job of connecting with all her hitters.

Isabelle Busignani, OH, Mich Elite 15 Mizuno – A six-rotation outside and three-star recruit, Busignani has a fluid swing and nice upside. She gets set both front and back row and can carry the offense in spurts.

Lindsey Mangelson, OH, Munciana Indy 15 Eagles – A lanky 6-2 outside, Mangelson is a name to follow as she moves up in age groups. She flashed lots of potential with the shots she was hitting.

Connore Siler-Nixon, MB, OT 15 Randy – Siler-Nixon, though a bit undersized at the position, is a quick jumper with a strong arm. She’s difficult to lineup and time and was giving OT a great scoring presence when she was in.

Amaiyah Long, RS, OT 15 Randy – Another undersized attacker for OT, Long also jumps and swings well. She delivered a few big kills that showed defenses cannot forget about her and must pay her respect.

Maija Howse, OH, ID Crush 15 Bower – A three-star recruit with plenty of upside, Howse is a consistent contributor to the attack and a tough one to slow down with her extension that has her going over the block.

Brooklyn Hardy, MB, ID Crush 15 Bower – Hardy, a member of the Class of 2026, was putting on a show as ID Crush upset KiVA in the morning match. She was making all types of plays, from scoring on 1s, to tips and putting down any overpasses that came her way.

McKenna Garr, L, Northern Lights 15-1 – Garr can pass a large portion of the court in serve receive, where she was passing dimes. She was also covering well and makes up ground well.

Sophia Randall, S, Kairos 15 Adidas – We were really impressed with Randall’s play. She sets a clean ball with soft hands and was hitting her spots on the regular.

Chloe Karn, MB, A4 Volley 17 Joaco – Karn was another middle who when we caught her was making a big impact with her scoring. She was connecting on 1s well and was winning 50-50 balls, as well as tipping down a couple overpasses.

Margo Hernandez, S, Rev 17-1 – Hernandez – three-star recruit – is a vital part of an undersized Rev lineup. She can set with tempo and consistently puts her hitters in positions to make plays.

Elie Patterson, OH, Rev 17-1 – A six-rotation outside, Patterson is a bit undersized but she’s a heady player who knows how to score against bigger blocks and is somebody Rev will set no matter the situation.

Gabby Gilbert, OH, Rev 17-1 – A three-star recruit committed to Norfolk State, Gilbert is a flat-out stud. She’s a bit undersized but she’s a scoring machine. She can tool bigger blocks as consistently as anyone in the division and is almost impossible to slow down.

Aubrey Moore, S, Northeast 17 Open – A bit undersized at the setting position, Moore showed nice command running the offense. The Class of 2024 recruit has a soft, smooth deliver and was consistently on target with her location.

Grace Albaugh, OH, OT 17 John – Albaugh isn’t the tallest member of the roster, yet she’s a steady six-rotation outside with a good arm who can also provide offense out of the back.

Zeta Washington, MB, OT 17 John – A three-star recruit committed to Cincinnati, Washington is a weapon in the middle. She gets up and has a big arm that leads to monster kills.

Jurnee Robinson, OH, A5 Mizuno 17 Jing – A five-star recruit on her way to LSU, Robinson is capable of putting on a show few can. She gets way up and has a powerful arm. She can absolutely blast balls as hard as anyone in the division and the featured part of the attack.

Lauren Haynes, OH, A5 Mizuno 17 Jing – The times we saw Haynes she was giving A5 consistent offense. She was a reliable scorer who was finding gaps in the seams and open spots on the court with her smart shot selection.

Harper Murray, OH, Legacy 17-1 Adidas – Who knows what we can say about Murray – a five-star recruit committed to Nebraska – that we haven’t already? But you can’t watch her play and ignore her. She finds so many different ways to score and is almost as dangerous in out of system swings as she is on in system ones.

Nina Horning, OH, Legacy 17-1 Adidas – Another three-star recruit committed to Cincinnati, the 6-4 Horning was giving Legacy needed firepower across the front row. She was a scoring machine, going over blocks, through the seams and finding open court consistently.

Kamaluhia Garcia, RS, Ku’Ikahi 17 Wahine RSB – A 6-1 right side who is part of the Class of 2024, Garcia gets up well and has a nice lefty swing. She’s also an effective scorer when lined up on the left in row 1 and that’s not something you can say about all lefty attackers.

Melie Vaioleti, L, Ku’Ikahi 17 Wahine RSB – Vaioletis is one of the better liberos in the divisions. She makes plays others don’t. She’s money in serve receive. She’s quick and covers ground chasing down balls and extending rallies.

***

In some regards, our 17s National Rankings are holding up well when it comes to the teams remaining in the 17 Open quarterfinals. A big exception is No. 3 A5. An interesting chain of events led to A5 being knocked out in the evening challenge match as A5 met No. 10 Legacy 17-1 Adidas, the original No. 1 seed.

The top two seeded teams ended up playing in one of the eight challenge matches and a spot in the quarterfinals after Legacy was upset by Rev 17-1 in pool play. That forced A5 and Legacy into a head-to-head showdown much earlier than anyone thought we could see these two clubs potentially going at it on the same court in Orlando.

Coincidentally, Rev upset A5 on Day 2, but A5 was still able to win the pool based on tiebreakers. Rev’s latest upset set up a must-see clash and it was Legacy prevailing in three games, 25-21, 17-25, 15-6. Legacy owned the final set, not allowing A5’s top outside Jurnee Robinson to get going. Robinson got stuck in the back row and A5 couldn’t side out to get her back in the front. Outsides Harper Murray and Nina Horning came up clutch for Legacy.

Other ranked teams joining Legacy in the Top 8 include No. 13 MN Select 17-1, No. 17 OT 17 John, No. 30 Top Select 17 Elite, No. 35 AVC Cle Rox 17 Red and No. 44 Rev. Legacy, MN Select, OT, Top Select and AVC are five of the top eight ranked teams in the field from our rankings.

The two unranked clubs joining them are Ku’Ikahi 17 Wahine RSB and High Tide 17 Elite. Ku’Ikahi is undefeated after upsetting OT John in pool play then sweeping Illini Elite 17 Cardinal in challenge action. High Tide won its first eight matches of the tournament before falling to Academy 17 Diamond in a crossover match Tuesday afternoon to determine seeding for the evening’s challenge matches. Once there, Academy was stopped by Top Select.

The way the gold bracket sets up looks like this:

Rev-High Tide
AVC-Ku’Ikahi
OT John-MN Select
Top Select-Legacy

***

Let’s start 15 Open off by looking at how many of the 11 Nationally-Ranked teams to begin with are still alive in the final 12 gold bracket:

No. 7 OT 15 Randy
No. 8 Legacy 15-1 Adidas
No. 25 Munciana 15 Lorax
No. 27 Mich Elite 15 Mizuno
No. 34 ID Crush 15 Bower
No. 37 Boiler Jrs 15 Gold
No. 40 Northern Lights 15-1
No. 42 GP 15 Rox
No. 46 OT 15 Meg
Unranked Far Out 15 Black
Unranked Kairos 15 Adidas
Unranked SPVB 15 Elite

Adidas KiVA 15 Red – ranked No. 26 and the No. 4 overall seed entering Tuesday’s action – didn’t advance after losing to ID Crush and Boiler Jrs in pool play. ID Crush went 3-0 as the No. 3 team, turning in its best effort so far after suffering one loss on Days 1 and 2. Top Select 15 Elite – ranked No. 49 – was also unable to move on after falling to OT Randy and Far Out in Pool 1.

Tri-State Elite 15 Blue earned a clutch victory over Mich Elite in Pool 2, a pool that ended in a three-way tie at 2-1 between Mich Elite, Munciana and Tri-State. However, Mich Elite bounced back to upset Munciana and force that three-way tie. Muncie still finished first as the No. 1 team, and Mich Elite took second as the No. 2 team. It left Tri-State on the outside in third place.

Pool 6 also ended in a three-way tie when OT Meg, Viper 15-1 and Team Pineapple 15 Black all finished at 1-2 behind 3-0 Game Point. OT and Viper also tied on set percentage, but since OT defeated Viper head-to-head it was OT taking second, Viper third and Team Pineapple fourth.

Pool 3 saw a bit of a surprise. While Legacy went 3-0 as the No. 1 team, No. 3 Kairos took down No. 2 Tribe 15 Elite in three sets to earn second place and advance.