Among the season-opening tournaments is the Ann Kang Invitational hosted by ‘Iolani. The three-day event takes place Aug 15-17 in Honolulu and features 16 teams. It includes eight teams from California, four from Texas and four from Hawaii. We offer our preview and prediction below.
POOL A
- Mira Costa CA
- Byron Nelson TX
- Highland Park TX
- Punahou HI
- Palos Verdes CA
- Orange Lutheran CA
- Clovis West CA
- ‘Iolani 2 HI
POOL B
- Colleyville Heritage TX
- ‘Iolani HI
- Redondo Union CA
- Long Beach Poly CA
- Moanalua HI
- Murrieta Valley CA
- Edison CA
- Aubrey TX
Vballrecruiter Nationally-Ranked Teams (3):
- 4. Mira Costa CA
- 14. Byron Nelson TX
- 40. ‘Iolani HI
5-Star Athletes to Know:
- Suli Davis SR OH/S Colleyville Heritage (BYU)
- Taylor Deckert SR L/DS Mira Costa (USC)
- Kaci Demaria SR OH Palos Verdes (Stanford)
- Audrey Flanagan JR OH Mira Costa (Wisconsin)
4-Star Athletes to Know:
- Alex Richter SR OH Highland Park (Georgia)
- Sarah Mendoza SR L/DS Colleyville Heritage (UCF)
- Kylie Kleckner JR OH Byron Nelson (Washington)
- Milly McGee JR S Mira Costa (USC)
- Abby Zimmerman JR S/RS Redondo Union (Cal)
- Sophee Peterson SO S/RS Bryon Nelson
- Cedra Talaga SO L/OH Long Beach Poly
3-Star Athletes to Know:
- Maylynn Mitchell SR OH Orange Lutheran (Chaminade)
- Ashlyn Seay JR OH Byron Nelson (Rice)
- Reese Stringer JR S Mira Costa (Penn)
- Simone Roslon JR OH Mira Costa
- Taylor Boice JR MB Redondo Union (UC Irvine)
- Marley Robinson SO S Orange Lutheran
- Georgie Lee SO MB/OH ‘Iolani
- Taimane Poe SO MB Long Beach Poly
Outlook: The tournament opens with two full days of pool play on Thursday and Friday. Pool play concludes Saturday morning with two more pool matches before breaking out into bracket play. The first and second-place teams from each pool advance to the semifinals. Mira Costa is the two-time defending champion having captured the title in 2022 and 2023. Mira Costa is seeking to extend its tournament record to nine overall victories since the event started in 1989. Only one team from outside California and Hawaii has ever finished on top. That was Chung Shan HS from Taiwan in 2010. No Texas school has ever won it. However, this could be the year that streak ends as Byron Nelson and Colleyville Hertiage are among the top contenders. Host ‘Iolani last claimed the trophy when it went back-to-back in 2017-18. Punahou and Redondo Union are the only other programs attending that have also earned the Ann Kang title. Punahou captured three straight from 2012-14, while Redondo finished first in 2009 and then again in 2019.
Prediction: In Pool A, look for Byron Nelson and Mira Costa to be the two teams to advance to the semifinals. In Pool B, the pick is for Redondo Union and ‘Iolani to move on to the final four. Ultimately, it comes down to Bryon Nelson finishing on top after beating Redondo in the final.
