Chris Tobolski

It’s always a matter of who is going to step up and who is going to star on the final day of any tournament. It was no different as the conclusion of the Adidas Bluegrass Tournament played out Sunday in Louisville. You can see which teams ended up on top here. Below, you can read about the Day 2 Show Stoppers featuring the players who caught our attention the most. DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS Annabelle Groomes OH AVC Cle 16 Red: Groomes, a 5-star recruit, is showing there is very little she can’t do on the court. We’ve seen Groomes three times this season already and the first two she was setting and hitting in playing a vital role. In Louisville, the lefty was playing six-rotations on the outside and doing it very well. What value her versatility has! Mallory Johnson L/DS Far Out 15 Black: Part of the Class of 2027, Johnson is playing up and playing well. She plays under control and is a sound passer and defender. Josie Noble MB Far Out 15 Black: Noble was a big factor. She brought offense to the lineup with her ability to thud balls to the floor. She also puts up a strong block. Alana Bailey MB Far Out 15 Black: Bailey is a bit undersized in the middle but she’s quick and gets off the ground very well. She gives Far Out another scoring option. Karis Chatfield OH Far Out 15 Black: Chatfield is the six-rotation mainstay for Far Out and she brings a lot of fire and competitiveness to the lineup. Audrey Dyas MB NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami: NKYVC isn’t going to be anyone based on size alone, but Dyas does bring a much-needed presence to the front row. She’s a strong hitter and blocker and she can swing the match to NKYVC’s favor when she checks in. Addyson Bianchini S/RS NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami: Bianchini is an upbeat two-way player who sets and hits. She has a nice release and locates well and can also help out providing offense. Kirsten Kemper S NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami: Kemper sets across the back row and she also has a nice delivery and consistent location. Caroline Ward RS Boiler Jrs 15 Gold: The 5-star recruit from the Class of 2027 is must-watch volleyball! That Ward is still in eighth-grade and is as smooth as she is makes for a fun time. She gets up effortlessly and can simply unload on balls. Ellie Hepler L/DS Boiler Jrs 15 Gold: A 4-star recruit, Hepler owns the back row. She’s a sound passer out of serve receive and you can tell opponents work on keeping the ball away from her as she’s not one to target. Sophia Gisslen S Team Pineapple 15 Black: A 3-star recruit, Gisslen knows how to get the job done. She’s an even-keeled setter who does a great job leading and guiding the offense. Cala Haffner L/DS Team Pineapple 15 Black: Haffner, a 4-star recruit, is another defender who anchors the back row and can make all the plays needed. She’s rarely off the mark with her passing. MaryKate Scheumann OH Team Pineapple 15 Black: Team Pineapple was certainly benefitting from Scheumann and her aggressiveness on the attack. Scheumann wasn’t holding back and was taking big-time swings on the left and scoring consistently. D’Aira Whitner MB AVC Cle 15 Red: Whitner, a 3-star recruit, is a quick middle and that causes trouble for opponents. She can get up and swing before the block is formed. Brooke Codey OH Adidas KiVA 14 Red: A seventh-grader, Codey is the six-rotation anchor KiVA relies a lot on. She’s asked to take the big swings on the left and deliver in the clutch moments and she does a great job of it. Emily Poteraj MB Adidas KiVA 14 Red: Opponents know KiVA is going to set Poteraj the ball and they still struggle to slow her down. She has a nice arm and can generate pace. Lyla Sands MB HPSTL 14 Royal: Sands is an active middle and someone HPSTL will look to get the ball to. Kendall Hubbard S Elevation 14 Molly: Hubbard usually runs a 6-2, hitting across the front. But Elevation was short-handed on Day 2 and thus Hubbard was running a 5-1. She did well in trying to incorporate all her hitters and looking to keep the defense guessing. Carsyn Comer MB Munciana 14 Chipmunks: Comer was once again bringing her passion and play to the court and shining. She’s a big-time factor for Munciana when she’s on the floor and she gives them much-needed height across the front as well. Caroline Hanchar OH Munciana 14 Chipmunks: A bit undersized on the pin, Hanchar isn’t afraid to attack bigger blocks. She was taking aggressive cuts time and time again and helping deliver points to her side. Kendyl Strack L/DS Munciana 14 Chipmunks: Strack was holding it down in the back row and doing well helping keep Munciana in system. Jentelle McNairl OH Alliance 14 Ren: McNairl is an athletic outside and one to keep tabs on. She’s spring with a lively arm and she’s only going to get better and she gains more control and experience. Addison Makun MB Adidas KiVA 16 Red: A 4-star recruit, Makun can overwhelm opponents at time. She’s long and can hit straight down and it puts tons of pressure on opponents to try and defend her. Audrey Asleson S SPVB 16 Elite: We wrote about Asleson on Day 1 and she was back doing her thing on Day 2. That’s not surprising. She’s a smooth disher who knows how to run an offense. Bella Bullington OH SPVB 16 Elite: A 4-star recruit, there was no one in the division with a bigger arm. Bullington was a force to be reckoned with.

One of the best parts of covering volleyball tournaments is seeing how they play out and then getting to make sense of the results. Bluegrass had plenty to sift through and tales to tell. The 14 Open gold medal went to host Adidas KiVA 14 Red. If you read the Preview and Predictions out last Thursday you would have seen KiVA picked to win it all in 14 Open. KiVA entered ranked No. 13 in our latest 14s Top 50 National Rankings. That was one spot behind No. 12 Elevation 14 Molly, which opened as the top seed having won Central Zone in January. I called for a KiVA-Elevation final, but that matchup came in the semifinals with KiVA sweeping, 25-19, 25-19. Instead, it was KiVA getting past a streaking HPSTL 14 Royal in the final, winning in three, 25-15, 25-27, 15-8. I say streaking in regards to HPSTL because HPSTL didn’t start off very strong but has come on as of late. Three weeks ago HPSTL fell twice to Mintonette Sports m.42 at the President Day’s Classic in St. Louis. However, just a week later HPSTL took second in 14 Open at the Sunshine Classic to earn its Open bid. There was no letdown either, as HPSTL navigated its way to the final in Louisville after clipping a sound Munciana 14 Chipmunks squad in the semis, 25-21, 10-25, 15-13. Munciana is ranked No. 18 nationally while HPSTL currently sits at No. 21. KiVA, meanwhile, lost just one match over the two days, falling to Munciana in Power Pool 2 action on Day 1. Another predicted result happened in 17 Open, where No. 9 and Triple Crown winner NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami downed No. 21 and Central Zone champ Academy 17 Tsunami in the final, 21-25, 25-23, 15-12. In the preview I wrote, I speculated that NKYVC would avenge its Central Zone loss to Academy by beating Academy in the final in Louisville. Beating Academy in three was the only set NKYVC lost at Bluegrass, including beating No. 40 Adidas KiVA 17 Red and No. 41 Boiler Jrs 17 Gold in Power Pool 2 as well as No. 23 Tri-State Elite 17 Blue in the semifinals. The 15 Open final came down to the two highest nationally-ranked clubs in the field in No. 3 Boiler Jrs 15 Gold and No. 8 NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami. NKYVC pulled off the modest upset, downing Boiler Jrs in straight sets, 25-19, 25-23. NKYVC struggled on Day 1 during Power Pool 2, losing to both No. 48 TVC 15 Black and No. 35 Team Pineapple 15 Black before coming on during Day 2. It proved to be another hometown victory in 16 Open, as host Adidas KiVA 16 Red outlasted SPVB 16 Elite in the final, 18-25, 25-21, 15-9. KiVA entered as the third-highest ranked team in the field, sitting at No. 23 behind No. 11 Circle City 16 Purple and No. 19 AVC Cle 16 Red. Sports Performance entered unranked as it hadn’t played a travel tournament yet but certainly will be ranked in the Top 20 come the next update. KiVA, which lost a tough three-setter in Power Pool 2 to No. 24 Tri-State Elite 16 Blue on Day 1, was the only club to top SPVB in Louisville. There was a surprise in 18 Open when No. 30 Elevation 18 Spinney upset No. 3 Munciana 18 Samurai in the final, 25-23, 26-24. Elevation lost its first match of the weekend to No. 15 Circle City 18 Purple in Power Pool 2 play before winning six matches in a row and winning gold. Stay tuned for more coverage from Bluegrass as we still have the Day 2 Show Stoppers and All-Tournament teams to announce.

The highest-seeded clubs spent the opening day of the Bluegrass Tournament in power pools, their spots in Sunday’s challenge rounds guaranteed. For the rest, it was business as usual, aiming to break pool to remain in contention. Those that managed to stay in the hunt will get their shot at pulling off upsets of the power pool participants on Day 2 when the gold medals will be awarded. In 14 Open, Elevation 14 Molly – the top seed and winner of Central Zone – looked good in going 3-0 by sweeping Far Out 14 Black, HPSTL 14 Royal – which has already qualified for 14 Open – and Munciana Indy 14 Otters. Munciana 14 Chipmunks was the only other power-pool squad to go 3-0 in the 14s as Muncie took care of Adidas KiVA 14 Red, AVC Cle 14 Red and Lex United 14 Adidas all in straight sets. For seeding purposes, it was NKYVC 14-1 Tsunami gaining first place in Power Pool 3 after finishing tied with Tri-State Elite 14 Blue at 2-1. NKYVC swept the head-to-head against Tri-State to get first. Of the non-power pool teams, Alliance 14 Ren, Maverick 14 Elite and Circle City 14 Purple all went 3-0 in winning their pools. However, it was EliteVBTC 14 Black which arguably had the best day of any 14 Open team. Elite went 3-0 as the No. 3 team in Pool 5 to drastically improve its seeding. Another age group going off in the morning was 16 Open, which featured two power pools. SPVB 16 Elite shined in one of them while the other pool featured mixed results. SPVB took down a solid group of teams in Circle City 16 Purple, Munciana 16 Blaze and NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami. In the other pool, AVC Cle 16 Red, Adidas KiVA 16 Red and Tri-State Elite 16 Blue all finished at 2-1 overall and 5-3 in sets. KiVA took first based on points percentage, followed by AVC and Tri-State. OPVC 16 Robinson was the fourth team in the pool and went 3-0 against the stiff competition. It started with AVC outlasting Tri-State in three games. Tri-State then clipped KiVA in three before KiVA closed out the pool by edging AVC in three. The top teams in 17 Open all finished 3-0 in their respective pools. Triple Crown champ NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami fared the best of the trio. NKYVC was the only one not to lose a set, sweeping Boiler Jrs 17 Gold, Adidas KiVA 17 Red and Hurricanes Category 7 in Power Pool 2. Tri-State Elite 17 Blue was part of a perfect Power Pool 3. And by perfect I mean every match in the pool went to three sets! That’s a long day for everyone involved, but it was Tri-State prevailing in all three it played. Union 17-1 UA finished 2-1 followed by Elevation 17 Ulland at 1-2 and Illini Elite 17 Cardinal at 0-3. The same thing was close to happening in Power Pool 1. Central Zone champ Academy 17 Tsunami sweeping Team Pineapple 17 Black in the opening match was the only one of the six not to go the distance. Academy eventually took the pool by fending off Memphis Academy 17 Red and Maverick 17 Elite. The biggest result in 15 Open came with AVC Cle 15 Red knocking off top-seeded Boiler Jrs 15 Gold in Power Pool A. That’ll shake up the seedings for Sunday’s challenge pools and beyond. AVC finished on top at 3-0, having also downed Tri-State Elite 15 Blue and SPVB 15 Elite. Both second-seeded NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami and third-seeded Elevation 15 Tony lost as well in their pools. That’s only going to shake up the seedings further. In Power Pool B, it was Team Pineapple 15 Black at 3-0 which wound up in first place. TVC 15 Black also picked up a big victory over NKYVC to finish at 2-1, ahead of NKYVC at 1-2. Far Out 15 Black topped Elevation in the last match of Power Pool C to finish 3-0. Elevation came in second at 2-1. DAY 1 SHOW STOPPERS Melina Schrader S Munciana 16 Blaze: Schrader does a great job moving the ball around and mixing it up for an undersized offensive group overall. She has precise location and puts the ball in a hittable window very consistently. Shanese Williams MB/RS Munciana 16 Blaze: I’m glad I caught Williams again. There was simply too many players to write about from Triple Crown and Williams certainly could have been mentioned for her play on Day 2 against Drive Nation 16 Red. Williams was doing her thing again, banging away from the right side and adding pop to the Munciana attack. Lilly Howell MB Munciana 16 Blaze: Howell is the tallest player for Munciana and she made an impact across the front row. She has a big arm and Munciana likes to take advantage of that, setting her as often as they can when she’s lined up on the left. Aubrey Anders MB AVC Cle 16 Red: Anders is a quick jumper. She gets up quick and is tough for defenses to time. She also showed off a nice arm putting balls down to the ground. Bella Bullington OH SPVB 16 Elite: There’s no questioning that Bullington – a 4-star recruit – has a massive arm. She was blasting balls repeatedly. She’s another quick jumper who just gets off the floor and lets it rip! Audrey Asleson S SPVB 16 Elite: Asleson is currently a 3-star recruit who’ll be moving up to 4 stars in the next update. She’s a smoother disher with a clean, consistent release and she locates well. Isabela Haggard S/RS Adidas KiVA 16 Red: If I was handing out a personal pick for Day 1 MVP, it would go to Haggard. She was a key ingredient to KiVA’s lineup. She was playing with lots of energy and spirit, was setting well and was swinging with a purpose in helping her team in many ways. Bailey Blair