The last of the four waves at AAUs features 16 Open and it promises to be the most exciting of them all. To say this year’s field is one of the most competitive in recent memories is an understatement. There are 17 teams from vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 National Rankings participating, including seven from the Top 20. Below, we take a closer look, as well as make our call on the eventual winner.
16 OPEN
Number of Teams: 73
Vballrecuiter.com National Rankings (17):
- 8. A5 16 Gabe (GA)
- 10. OT 16 JP (FL)
- 13. SPVB 16 Elite (IL)
- 14. Adidas KiVA 16 Red (KY)
- 16. Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal (FL)
- 18. Legacy 16 Adidas (MI)
- 19. Mich Elite 16 Mizuno (MI)
- 22. Northern Lights 16-1 (MN)
- 24. Tri-State Elite 16 Blue (OH)
- 25. GP 16 Rox (FL)
- 30. Munciana 16 Blaze (IN)
- 34. No Name 16 Sarah (FL)
- 39. OT 16 Roberto (FL)
- 40. Team Pineapple 16 Black (FL)
- 42. CUVC 16 Beast (NC)
- 47. Kairos 16 Alpha (SD)
- 48. Top Select 16 Elite (FL)
5-Star Athletes to Know:
- Kelly Kinney OH Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal
- Charlotte Glass S Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal
- Asia Harvey OH A5 16 Gabe
- Campbell Flynn S Legacy 16-1 Adidas
- Amina N’diaye OH OT 16 Roberto
- Addison Tindall OH Team Pineapple 16 Black
4-Star Athletes to Know:
- Izzy Mogridge S OT 16 JP
- Elena Maynulet OH GP 16 Rox
- KK Green S/RS GP 16 Rox
- Zoey Matias L/DS Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal
- Ryan Murphy S/RS JJVA 16 Teal
- Bella Bullington OH SPVB 16 Elite
- Audrey Asleson S SPVB 16 Elite
- Lauren Coyne RS SPVB 16 Elite
- Addison Makun MB Adidas KiVA 16 Red
- Kristen Simon L/DS Adidas KiVA 16 Red
- Izzy Busignani OH Mich Elite 16 Mizuno
- Francesca Popescu L/DS A5 16 Gabe
- Abigail Li S A5 16 Gabe
- Camryn Jeffery RS A5 16 Gabe
- Ava Harris S Team Pineapple 16 Black
- Lydia Chinchar S/RS No Name 16 Sarah (2027)
Prediction: What makes 16 Open so exciting is there is no heavy favorite or favorites like there were with the other Open divisions. Going into those age groups it felt like less than a handful of teams were capable of walking away with the gold medal. That’s not the case in 16 Open. One reason is many of teams have performed very well at one tournament only to underperform at another. Consistency hasn’t necessarily been a strength and that could lead to wild and unpredictable results over the four days of play here. There appears to be eight to nine teams talented enough to earn the top spot on the podium. Also, of the 10 highest-ranked teams competing, eight are headed to Chicago shortly after. Here are the picks for the quarterfinalists: A5, KiVA, OT JP, Tribe, SPVB, Munciana, Mich Elite and Northern Lights. The final comes down to Tribe topping Sports Performance, with KiVA and OT JP taking bronzes.
