As national championship season continues on, next in line at AAUs in Orlando is 17 Open from June 22-25. This year’s field features 13 teams ranked in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 National Rankings, including two from the Top 10 in No. 5 A5 17 Jing and No. 9 OT 17 Aaron. It promises to be a hard-fought struggle to the finish line for gold. Our breakdown is below, including our predicted winner.
17 OPEN
Number of Teams: 62
vballrecruiter.com National Rankings (13):
- 5. A5 17 Jing (GA)
- 9. OT 17 Aaron (FL)
- 22. Tri-State Elite 17 Blue (OH)
- 23. OT 17 Felix (FL)
- 25. VCNebraska 17 Elite (NE)
- 26. Academy 17 Tsunami (IN)
- 27. Boiler Jrs 17 Gold (IN)
- 38. Ku’Ikahi 17 RSB Wahine (HI)
- 39. Top Select 17 Elite (FL)
- 40. Adidas KiVA 17 Red (KY)
- 46. Miami Hype 17 Emilio (FL)
- 48. Northern Lights 17-1 (MN)
- 49. Mintonette Sports m.71 (OH)
5-Star Athletes to Know:
- Nayelis Cabello S/RS Top Select 17 Elite (Louisville)
- Alec Rothe MB/OH EliteVBTC 17 (Florida)
- Allie Shondell S Boiler Jrs 17 Gold (Purdue)
- Hannah Benjamin OH A5 17 Jing (Kentucky)
4-Star Athletes to Know:
- Malayah Long S VCNebraska 17 Elite (Marquette)
- Paisley Douglas L/DS VCNebraska 17 Elite (USC)
- Kianna Dinn S/RS Tri-State Elite 17 Blue (Pitt)
- Fallon Stewart OH OT 17 Felix (Cincinnati)
- Juleigh Urbina S OT 17 Felix (Georgetown)
- Taylor Parks S OT 17 Aaron (Florida)
- Riley Whitlock RS Boiler Jrs 17 Gold
- Samantha Bowron OH Top Select 17 Elite (Georgia Southern)
- Mia Hood MB A5 17 Jing (Michigan State)
- Molly Kate Patten RS A5 17 Jing (Georgia)
- Logan Wiley MB A5 17 Jing (Georgia Tech)
- Mallory Bohl MB Legacy 17-1 Adidas (Notre Dame)
- Chelsea Sutton MB OT 17 John (Tennessee)
- Lauren Salata OH Adversity 17 Adidas
- Ava Pratt OH Adversity 17 Adidas (Northwestern)
Prediction: Going off of our rankings, there’s no doubt A5 and OT are big-time favorites and could very well meet in the finals for gold. However, very, very seldom does it ever play out like that. Tri-State Elite and OT Felix have played competitive schedules and will be ready to show what they can do. A team like VCNebraska just missed out on qualifying for Open and is a strong contender as well who can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the country. Boiler Jrs has been steadily improving all season and has gone from losing tight matches early on to pulling them out lately. That makes Boiler Jrs some to watch. Miami Hype has some huge victories this season, including beating national No. 1 Dynasty, and could certainly shake up the draw at any point. In the end, teams are fighting to make the 12-team gold bracket on Day 4. The final four comes down to A5, OT Aaron, VCNebraska and Boiler Jrs. The pick is VCNebraska topping A5 in the final.
