VERA AI
SIGN UP

Chris Tobolski

West Coast Cup: Day 1 Show Stoppers

May 29, 2022

It’s officially on at the JVA West Coast Cup, which began three days of volleyball Saturday in Long Beach. Some of the top teams in the country were in action and vballrecruiter.com was on the scene taking notice. Below, we introduce our Day 1 Show Stoppers. They are 10 players who stood out to us. They’ll also be part of our extensive post-tournament Show Stoppers list featuring more standouts from Day 1 and beyond. In addition to these 10 standouts, we also provide a quick recap of the most important parts of Day 1 further below. vballrecruiter.com DAY 1 SHOW STOPPERS Izzy Starck, S/RS, Co Jrs 16 Sherri – This five-star recruit was doing it all, but was especially effective on the attack. Starck was explosive, getting up and hammering balls down all over the court. Blaykli Bobik, OH, Arizona Storm 16 Thunder – Bobik – a three-star recruit – had it clicking on offense. She’s lanky with a whip for an arm. She was using it to unleash some massive kills.   Ava Shankle, MB, Drive Nation 16 Red – Shankle proved unstoppable at times. Drive Nation went to her on the slide and 1s and defenses had few if any answers to keep her from scoring at will. Kendall Beshear, OH, SCVC 16 Roxy – This outside was showing off her all-around skills. She’s a solid passer and backrow defender. She’s also an explosive attacker with a great jump and powerful arm. Kayden Green, S/RS, OT 15 Meg – A two-way contributor, Green has a soft touch and consistent accuracy when setting. She also carries a strong arm and hits the ball hard. Kaci Demaria, OH, Surfside 15 PV Legends – A three-star recruit, Demaria owns smaller blocks. She’s lengthy enough to go right over the top of them. She also has a keen sense for the right shot selection. Kennedy Osunsanmi, RS, Legacy Girls 16 Elite – Osunsanmi is a name everyone will know before long. She’s 6-2 and still figuring the game out to a degree but she has potential oozing out of her and should shine on the next level one day. Taylor Deckert, L, SCVC 16 Roxy – Deckert was on fire for much of the day. Practically every ball she touched she bettered. Her passing was sharp and on point. Brianna Brewer, OH, Tstreet 15 Curtis – When we caught this three-star recruit, she was on her game. She was ripping powerful kills deep to both corners and provided Tstreet a reliable and consistent scoring option. Makena Lim, L, A4 Volley 17 Joaco – Lim – a recent Georgia commit and three-star recruit – was a steadying presence in the back row. Her passing was keeping A4 in system. She also made a couple A-plus digs to keep rallies alive. *** Across 14, 15, 16 and 17 Open, only one No. 1 team in its respective pool failed to advance. All eight No. 1 teams in their pools finished 3-0 in 14 Open. Only two No. 1 teams in 15 Open lost. Same with 16 Open. As for 17 Open, Rage 17 Greg was the No. 9 overall seed and top team in Pool 9 but went 1-2 and will not be in the top half come Day 2. In that pool, No. 2 Vision 17 Gold went 3-0 and No. 3 VVA 17-1 2-1 to move on. The oldest Open division had the most results going against the initial seedings. Joining VVA as No. 3 teams advancing were Surfside 17 MB Legends (Pool 2); OT 17 Felix (P4); Wave 17 Reily (P6); and Sunshine 17 Westside (P10). Additionally, two Nos. 4 teams in MVVC 17 Red (Pool 5) and Five Starz 17 Debby (P8) remain in the hunt. Almost everything played out according to seed in 16 Open. Two exceptions were SCVC 16 Roxy outlasting K2 16 Adidas in three in Pool 5. SCVC was the No. 2 team, K2 the No. 1 team. The same thing happened in Pool 9, with No. 2 Momentous 16 Dan downing Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar in three. The conclusion to 16 Open was the most exciting part of the day actually. Wave 16 Brennan, the No. 1 overall seed, needed three sets to beat Tstreet 16 Carson. In Pool 2, Co Jrs 16 Sherri went the distance before prevailing over Absolute Black 16-1 in the 1 v 2 contest. It was the same in the 1 v 2 match in Pool 3. There, Vision 16 Gold clipped Forza1 North 16 UA. Lastly, Arizona Storm 16 Thunder edged out Drive Nation 16 Red in three in the 1 v 2 match in Pool 9. We’re likely to see much more of that Sunday in 16 Open. Pool 1 features USAV Open qualified teams in Wave, Long Beach and Seal Beach 16 Black. Co Jrs and Drive Nation – both Open qualified as well – will square off in Pool 2. Pool 3 contains three teams with Open bids with Vision, SG Elite 16 Rosh and Surfside 15 PV Legends – which qualified in 15 Open but is playing up an age group this weekend in Long Beach. Pool 4 has OT 16 Roberto and Storm in yet another match between Open teams. Coast 16-1 is the lone Open team in Pool 5. In 15 Open, the lowest-seeded team in the field advanced in VVA 15-1, which went 2-1 as the No. 4 team in Pool 1. Forza1 North 16 UA turned in a great performance by going 3-0 as the No. 3 team in Pool 3. It beat overall No. 3 seed Tstreet 15 Curtis to take first in the pool. The only other result to go against seed for teams advancing happened in Pool 8, where No. 2 Co Jrs 15 Shannon downed No. 1 Wave 15 Scott.

Read More »

West Coast Cup: Top-Rated Players Who’ll Be There

May 26, 2022

The JVA West Coast Cup kicks off a busy stretch of upcoming volleyball tournaments. The three-day event takes place over Memorial Day weekend in Long Beach. The JVA then hosts SummerFest the first weekend of June in Columbus. And then of course AAUs begins soon after, with USAV national championships following. We previewed and made our predictions for the West Coast Cup already and you can find that here. Below, we list all the top-rated (5 and 4-star) recruits attending the West Coast Cup this weekend. 5-STAR RECRUITS Class of 2023 Reese Robins, MB, Drive Nation 17 Red Leah Ford, MB, Drive Nation 17 Red Olivia Babcock, RS, Sunshine 17 LA Torrey Stafford, OH, Sunshine 17 LA Jordyn Harvey, OH, Club V 17 Ren Reed Julia Blyashov, OH, Wave 17 Juliana *** Class of 2024 Izzy Starck, S/RS, Co Jrs 16 Sherri Camden Bolane, MB, Wave 16 Brennan Babi Gubbins, OH, Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar Charlie Fuerbringer, S/RS, Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar *** Class of 2025 Taylor Harvey, MB, Club V 17 Ren Reed Zoe Gillen-Malveaux, MB, Drive Nation 16 Red Suli Davis, OH, Drive Nation 16 Red Jaidyn Jager, OH, Coast 16-1 Teraya Sigler, OH, Arizona Storm 15 Thunder *** 4-STAR RECRUITS Class of 2023 Ashley Li, OH, Tstreet 17 IE Lois Hansen, RS, Tstreet 17 Naseri Eva Travis, OH, Tstreet 17 Naseri Ceci Gooch, RS, Drive Nation 17 Red Auburn Tomkinson, RS, Wave 17 Juliana Eva Rohrbach, MB, Wave 17 Juliana Lily Nicholson, S, Drive Nation 17 Red Callie Kieffer, S, Drive Nation 17 Red Avah Armour, OH/RS, Co Jrs 16 Sherri Halle Schroder, OH, Drive Nation 17 Red Claire Little, OH, Coast 17-1 *** Class of 2024 Levani Key-Powell, OH, Club V 17 Ren Reed Amanda Saeger, S, Wave 16 Brennan Amanda Mack, OH, K2 16-1 Adidas *** Class of 2025 Ruby Hill, S/RS, Tstreet 15 Curtis Quinn Loper, OH, Tstreet 15 Curtis Sarah Mendoza, L/DS, Drive Nation 15 Red Kalyssa Blackshear, MB, Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar Lauren Lynch, L/DS, SG Elite 16 Rosh

Read More »

JVA West Coast Cup: Preview And Predictions

May 25, 2022

With qualifying season over the schedule now turns to gearing up for the USAV and AAU national championships. Among the events aimed at helping that cause is the JVA West Coast Cup over Memorial Day weekend in Long Beach. Below, we take a look at 14-17 Open and offer our thoughts and predictions on the three-day event. 17 OPEN Number of Teams: 40 Teams With Open Bids (7): Drive Nation 17 Red Wave 17 Juliana Club V 17 Ren Reed Coast 17-1 Tstreet 17 Naseri Sunshine 17 LA Absolute Black 17-1 vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (9): No. 4 Coast 17-1 No. 5 Drive Nation 17 Red No. 6 Wave 17 Juliana No. 8 Club V 17 Ren Reed No. 20 Sunshine 17 LA No. 26 Tstreet 17 Naseri No. 40 Arizona Storm 17 Thunder No. 42 Absolute Black 17-1 No. 45 Legacy Girls 17 Pyramid Outlook: The field is a strong one, featuring four teams ranked in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 10. Most of them are familiar with each other. Coast 17-1 and Wave 17 Juliana have met four times this season. Coast and Club V 17 Ren Reed are 1-1 against each other so far. Wave is 1-1 against Club V. As for Drive Nation 17 Red, it is 0-2 against Coast and 1-0 versus Club V. Drive Nation and Wave have not played to date. They are among seven teams in the field qualified for 17 Open in Indy. The seeding is close to our rankings with one big exception. Legacy 17 Girls Pyramid opens as the No. 2 seed behind top-seeded Drive Nation. Wave follows at No. 3, with No. 4 Club V, No. 5 Coast, No. 6 Tstreet 17 Naseri and No. 7 Sunshine 18 LA and No. 8 Absolute Black 17-1 following. Legacy went 1-1 against Club V at the Red Rock Rave. Legacy actually qualified for Open in Las Vegas but declined the bid. Legacy has also defeated Coast and Tstreet this year, so it’s certainly capable of playing with the top teams. Among some other out-of-area clubs making the trek are Arizona Storm 17 Thunder, Rage 17 Greg, Co Jrs 17 Kevin, Vision 17 Gold, K2 17 Adidas, OT 17 Felix, VA Elite 17s and OMNI 17 Rick. AZ Storm is another team that qualified for Open too, but used an ineligible player at Far Western in doing so and had to forfeit its bid. Storm starts off as the No. 11 seed. With only pride at stake and no concerns of qualifying, it’ll be interesting to see how each team treats this tournament. Which ones are going for it all as opposed to perhaps playing a variety of lineups? The final day also features a different format from qualifying season, as there are no pools on Day 3. Rather, it’s a modified 10-team bracket. With a strong field, it’s going to make for terrific conclusion to the event. The question is can someone other than Drive Nation, Coast, Wave or Club V finish on top? All four have won qualifiers this season. Drive Nation captured Lone Star. Coast took first at Red Rock. Wave finished on top at Big South and Club V was the best in Salt Lake City and Reno. Prediction: Since Drive Nation and Wave haven’t played this season, that’s one match we would really like to see take place. Why not in the final? Therefore, the pick is Drive Nation over Wave for gold. *** 16 OPEN Number of Teams: 36 Teams With Open Bids (11): Wave 16 Brennan Co Jrs 16 Sherri Vision 16 Gold OT 16 Roberto Coast 16-1 AZ Storm 16 Thunder SG Elite 16 Rosh Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar Seal Beach 16 Black Drive Nation 16 Red Surfside 15 PV Legends* *Has 15 Open Bid vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (14): No. 4 Co Jrs 16 Sherri No. 5 Wave 16 Brennan No. 15 Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar No. 16 Coast 16-1 No. 17 Arizona Storm 16 Thunder No. 19 Vision 16 Gold No. 23 SG Elite 16 Rosh No. 24 OT 16 Roberto No. 26 Drive Nation 16 Red No. 33 Momentous 16 Dan No. 36 Absolute Black 16-1 No. 38 Seal Beach 16 Black No. 39 SCVC 16 Roxy No. 10 Surfside 15 PV Legends* *15s National Ranking Outlook: The 16s don’t have as many top-ranked teams as the 17s, but it’s a deeper division overall with 13 teams ranked in our Top 50. Of them, 10 hold Open bids, plus Surfside 15 PV Legends is playing up and also owns an Open bid. While Day 1 might be a little slow like most events, Days 2 and 3 should be very competitive. Wave 16 Brennan starts off as the top seed. Co Jrs 16 Sherri, which owns a victory over Wave this year, is No. 2. After that it is No. 3 Vision 16 Gold, No. 4 OT 16 Roberto, No. 5 K2 16 Adidas, No. 6 Coast 16-1, No. 7 Arizona Storm 16 Thunder and No. 8 SG Elite 16 Rosh. It’s the toughest tournament to date for K2, which is going to have its hands full at No. 5. Other teams that are going to factor into the mix are Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar, Momentous 16 Dan and Drive Nation 16 Red. Like 17 Open, four teams in 16s have won qualifiers. Wave was tops at Red Rock. Vision won recently at Far Western. Long Beach was the best at PNQ, while Co Jrs beat the field in Salt Lake City. One of the main things to watch for is Wave and Co Jrs have proven themselves the most and could be on a collision course in the final. That is, unless someone else can spring an upset or two and shake it up? Prediction: It’s really hard to pick against a Wave-Co Jrs final. As nice as it would be to predict something different happening, the call is Wave beating Co Jrs for the title. *** 15 OPEN Number

Read More »

14s: Top 50 National Club Rankings

May 24, 2022

We wrap up our May rankings release with the 14s Top 50 National Club Rankings. If you missed any of the prior age groups you can find them by clicking these links: 18s Top 50 17s Top 50 16s Top 50 15s Top 50 At the conclusion of the national championships we will release our final rankings in July. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all. 1. MADFROG 14 GREEN Comment: Madfrog went undefeated in winning the Salt Lake City Showdown, PNQ and Lone Star qualifiers. It also finished first at Triple Crown, where it lost its only match of the season – to Elevation 14 Molly – on a national stage. Madfrog has 23 wins against the Open field in those four events. 2. MKE STING 14 GOLD Comment: MKE Sting has some strong victories that includes Boiler Jrs 14 Gold (twice), Wave 14 Brennan and TAV 14 Black. It finished seventh at Triple Crown, first at MEQ and second at Windy City. It helped MKE Sting compile a 17-6 record against the Open field. One of those losses is to Madfrog. It is also 2-2 against Boiler Jrs and 2-2 against Mintonette m.41, with its final loss to Flyers 14 Bill. 3. TAV 14 BLACK Comment: TAV – which qualified by winning NEQ – is 15-7 against the Open field. Among its results are going 2-2 against Alamo 15 Premier, 1-1 against Boiler Jrs, 1-1 against Skyline 14 Royal, while collecting victories over Drive Nation 14 Red (three), Dynasty 14 Black and GP 14 Rox. Among its losses are to Madfrog, MKE Sting and Flyers. 4. WAVE 14 BRENNAN Comment: Wave has been busy playing Open opponents, going 25-9 in such matches. It has benefitted from its So Cal schedule, going 4-1 against Tstreet 14 Carson, 5-0 against both SCVC 14 Roxy and SG Elite 14 Rosh and 3-4 against Forza1 North 14 UA. Other victories include downing AZ Storm 14 Thunder and Elevation twice each, as well as Flyers and Pohaku 14-1. Wave has also lost to Flyers, as well as MKE Sting. 5. FLYERS 14 BILL Comment: Flyers has put up a solid 15-9 record facing the Open field. Among its victories are beating MKE Sting and Wave, which it is 1-1 against. Flyers has also topped GP and NKYVC 14-1 Tsunami. Other results feature going 1-1 against Hou Skyline 14 Royal, 2-1 against AZ Storm, as well as 0-3 against Madfrog. Flyers has also fallen to AZ Rev 14 Premier, SCVC and Drive Nation. 6. MINTONETTE M.41 Comment: The Ohio Valley Region club has posted an identical 15-9 mark against the Open field as Flyers. The two sides have not played head-to-head. Among the better wins for Mintonette is Boiler Jrs, Pohaku, Elevation (three times) and going 2-2 against MKE Sting. It has lost twice to Madfrog as well. Others setbacks have come against AZ Storm, GP and AZ Sky 14 Gold. It has also lost twice to non-Open teams in HJV 14 Elite and Lions 14-1. 7. POHAKU 14-1 Comment: Helping Pohaku grab No. 7 in the rankings is beating Boiler Jrs in their lone meeting. Pohaku, which is 11-6 when facing Open competition, has two victories each over Elevation, A5 Mizuno 14 Helen and Dynasty. Its losses are to Wave, SCVC, Dynasty, Mintonette, MKE Sting and Premier Nebraska 14 Gold. 8. BOILER JRS 14 GOLD Comment: The Hoosier Region club has fared well when playing Open teams, as Boiler Jrs is 18-8 in those contests. Five of those eight losses are to teams ranked ahead of Boiler Jrs, including TAV, MKE Sting (twice), Mintonette and Pokahu. It also owns two victories over MKE Sting, three over Elevation and one each over TAV and NKYVC. 9. ELEVATION 14 MOLLY Comment: Elevation is an interesting team. It doesn’t have the best mark against the field at 13-12. But of those defeats, 11 have come to fellow Top 10 opponents in Mintonette (three times), Boiler Jrs (three times), Pohaku (twice), Wave (twice) and MKE Sting. The only team outside the Top 10 to get past Elevation is AZ Storm. Plus, Elevation owns a victory over Madfrog and NKYVC. 10. NKYVC 14-1 TSUNAMI Comment: NKYVC showed what it is capable of when it went undefeated in winning the Sunshine Classic. It is part of a 14-8 mark against the Open field. Part of that is going 2-1 against GP. It has also lost to Flyers and Elevation and is 1-1 against Alamo. NKYVC has lost twice to AVC Cle Rox 14 Red and once to HPSTL 14 Royal. 11. GP 14 ROX Comment: GP – like many of the teams at this age division – is a tough one to rank. It has fared very well against the Open field with an 18-8 record. It has victories over Boiler Jrs and Mintonette, but is 1-2 against NKYVC. It has quality losses to Flyers and TAV, and is 2-1 against Alamo. It does carry one loss against a non-Open opponent in Team Pineapple 14 Black. 12. AZ SKY 14 GOLD Comment: At 13-9, AZ Sky has a good mark playing fellow Open teams. Its best victory is one over Mintonette. AZ Sky has done well against So Cal teams, beating SG Elite, Tstreet, Forza North and SCVC (twice) while losing to Wave. Other quality losses along with Wave include falling to Flyers (twice), Madfrog, Elevation and MKE Sting. 13. FORZA1 NORTH 14 UA Comment: Forza North has piled up 13 of its 18 wins against the Open field against playing fellow So Cal squads. Forza North is 2-2 against SCVC, 4-3 against Wave, 3-1 versus SG Elite and 4-0 facing Tstreet. Other victories against

Read More »

15s: Top 50 National Club Rankings

May 23, 2022

We began releasing our National Rankings this month. We have already put out the 18s, 17s and 16s divisions. We now release our 15s Top 50 National Rankings. At the conclusion of the national championships we will release our final rankings. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all. 1. ARIZONA STORM 15 THUNDER Comment: Storm’s only loss this season on a national stage was to Dynasty 15 Black at Triple Crown, where Storm placed ninth. Storm’s results to date also include winning two qualifiers – the Salt Lake City Showdown and Red Rock Rave. The team has posted an 18-1 overall mark against the field. 2. HOU SKYLINE 15 ROYAL Comment: Hou Skyline is 13-4 against the Open field. Seven of those victories have come against teams ranked in the Top 10, including HJV 15 Elite (twice), Dynasty, 1st Alliance 15 Gold, OT 15 Randy, Legacy 15-1 Adidas, TAV 15 Black and Surfside 15 PV Legends. It has also lost to 1st Alliance and HJV, as well as Austin Skyline 15 Royal and Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar. 3. TAV 15 BLACK Comment: Two of TAV’s five losses against the Open field have come against AZ Storm and Hou Skyline. The other teams to beat TAV are HJV, AJV 15 Adidas and Wave 15 Scott. TAV owns victories over all three of those squads, as well as Surfside and Drive Nation 15 Red (three times). In all, TAV has 18 wins against the field. 4. DYNASTY 15 BLACK Comment: Playing at Triple Crown, MEQ, Show Me and Windy City, Dynasty has gone 12-8 against the Open field. While that record isn’t as standout as some others in the Top 10, Dynasty’s worst finish in those four tournaments was fifth at Triple Crown. It took runner-up at Windy City and Show Me and gold at MEQ. Some of its top victories include beating No. 1 AZ Storm, 1st Alliance, Circle City 15 Purple (twice), OT Randy, HJV and Legacy. Among its losses are Absolute Black 15-1, Hou Skyline, HJV, Skyline 15 Royal, Austin Skyline, MAVS KC 15-1, Nebraska One 15 Synergy and Circle City. 5. CIRCLE CITY 15 PURPLE Comment: The early part of the season saw Circle City struggle some, as the Hoosier Region club took losses to Adidas KiVA 15 Red, ECJ 15-1 and A5 Mizuno 15 Bob. The latter two didn’t qualify for Open while KIVA doesn’t play national qualifiers. All three losses were before qualifying season began. Circle City also owns two victories over ECJ and is 1-1 against A5. Qualifying season is when Circle City started taking off. Circle City finished first at Windy City, and took third at both Show Me and MEQ. It has a 15-4 record against the field, including wins over Legacy (three times), 1st Alliance and Dynasty, which Circle City is 1-2 against. Circle City is also 2-2 against HPSTL 15 Royal. 6. 1ST ALLIANCE 15 GOLD Comment: 1st Alliance has proven itself among the best in the country. The Great Lakes Region club is 13-4 against the field playing at Triple Crown (first place), MEQ (second), Sunshine (fifth) and Windy City (third). It has just one loss to a non-Open team in Union 15-1 UA, which 1st Alliance is 1-1 against. The four losses against the field are all to teams ranked in the Top 10 in Dynasty, Hou Skyline, OT Randy – which 1st Alliance is 2-1 against – and Circle City. 7. OT 15 RANDY Comment: The Big South champs are 14-5 against the Open field. Of those five losses, four are to teams ranked higher in 1st Alliance (twice), Dynasty and Hou Skyline. The other loss is to Surfside, a team OT has also beaten. OT also owns a victory over 1st Alliance, as well as Long Beach. 8. LEGACY 15-1 ADIDAS Comment: Legacy – which is 13-10 against the Open field – hasn’t found a way to get past the top teams. Nine of those 10 losses are to teams ranked ahead of Legacy, including 1st Alliance (three times), AZ Storm, Circle City (three times), Hou Skyline and Dynasty. The only Open team outside the Top 10 to beat Legacy is Six Pack 15. KiVA, as well as MKE Sting 15 Gold, also own victories over Legacy, though Legacy has also defeated MKE Sting. 9. HJV 15 ELITE Comment: With a 12-12 mark against the Open field, HJV hasn’t put up the best record. Still, it has a couple of impressive wins over TAV and Hou Skyline, as well as Dynasty and Long Beach. Most of the losses have been quality ones as well, falling to Hou Skyline (twice), TAV, Circle City, Legacy, Dynasty and 1st Alliance. It has also gone 1-1 against AJV, GP 15 Rox and Alamo 15 Premier. It has two losses to teams not qualified for Open in AVA TX 15 Rox – which HJV has beaten twice – and SCVC 15 Roxy. 10. SURFSIDE 15 PV LEGENDS Comment: Surfside took seventh at Triple Crown and second at NEQ. It stumbled at PNQ, taking ninth. In part, it helped Surfside build a 15-6 record when facing Open opponents. Four of those losses are to Top 10 teams in Hou Skyline, Legacy, OT Randy and TAV. The other two came against ID Crush 15 Bower and Madfrog 15 Green. Surfside also has two defeats to non-Open clubs in Vision 15 Gold and Tribe 15 Dean. Some of its Open victories are over OT Randy, Long Beach (twice) and Coast 15-1 (three times). 11. MIZUNO LONG BEACH 15 ROCKSTAR Comment: There’s been plenty of action against the rest of the Open field for Long Beach, which has gone 17-13 in

Read More »

16s: Top 50 National Club Rankings

May 19, 2022

We have already released our 18s National Rankings. As well as our 17s National Rankings. Now vballrecruiter.com presents its 16s Top 50 National Rankings. At the conclusion of the national championships we will release our final rankings. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all. 1. DYNASTY 16 BLACK Comment: In our 17s National Rankings, picking a No. 1 left room for plenty of debate. That’s not the case in the 16s division. Dynasty is a clear-cut No. 1 after compiling 16 victories against the field compared to just two losses (TAV 16 Black and NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami.) Dynasty owns victories over both teams it has lost to, and has beaten 1st Alliance 16 Gold three times, KC Power 16-1 twice, as well as Wave 16 Brennan and A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe. 2. NKYVC 16-1 TSUNAMI Comment: One of only two teams to have a victory over top-ranked Dynasty, NKYVC lands at No. 2. Along with beating Dynasty, NKYVC has an impressive lineup of wins that include A5, 1st Alliance, TAV, Circle City 16 Purple and Triangle 16 Black. Overall, NKYVC has 12 victories against Open qualifiers. It has quality losses to Dynasty, Wave, 1st Alliance and Circle City (twice). NKYVC does have two losses to a non-qualified Open team. One is to a strong Munciana 16 Moana team. The other is to HPSTL 16 Royal. 3. A5 MIZUNO 16 GABE Comment: Losses to Dynasty and NKYVC place A5 at No. 3. But the Georgia club has clearly proven itself as one of the best with 19 victories against Open qualified teams. Two of the best ones came against TAV and Wave. It also has beaten Munciana twice. The only questionable loss for A5 came to AVC Cle Rox 16 Red, which is not qualified for Open. A5 has also lost to OT 16 Jason and Triangle, both of which are ranked in the Top 15. 4. CO JRS 16 SHERRI Comment: Co Jrs is a good illustration of the challenge ranking teams can bring about. Co Jrs carries a modest 8-5 against the Open field, yet it has beaten both TAV and Wave, as well as Circle City. TAV and Wave are clear-cut Top 10 teams, and Circle City is borderline Top 10. Co Jrs does have a couple tough losses, one of them coming to Seal Beach 16 Black. Co Jrs has also lost to Metro 16 Travel, but we count that as a quality loss. Tri-State Elite 16 Blue also owns a victory over Co Jrs, as does Triangle and Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar (twice). 5. WAVE 16 BRENNAN Comment: At the time of these rankings, Wave is 18-6 against the Open field. Two of those losses are to A5 and Dynasty. Another came against Triangle. Wave also lost to Coast 16-1 and Co Jrs 16 Sherri in PVL action. Among Wave’s victories are wins over NKYVC, TAV, OT Jason, Coast (three times) and Long Beach (three times). 6. TAV 16 BLACK Comment: The rankings again are presenting difficulties. TAV has an argument to be higher than No. 6. TAV is one of only two teams to have defeated Dynasty to date. It’s one of 10 victories against the Open field. TAV has lost to Pohaku 16-1, a non-Open qualified team. Among its quality losses are setbacks to A5, NKYVC, Wave, Dynasty and Co Jrs. 7. 1ST ALLIANCE 16 GOLD Comment: It’s been an interesting season for 1st Alliance, which has seen both sides of it often. The Illinois club is 10-11 against the Open field. Among its victories are KC Power (twice), Circle City, NKYVC and OT Jason. It has also lost to NKYVC, A5 (twice) and Dynasty (three times). It also has one setback against TVC 16 Black, which is not qualified for Open. 8. OT 16 JASON Comment: Of the five losses against the Open field suffered by OT Jason, only one – to Triangle – has come to a team ranked outside the Top 10. The other four defeats are against NKYVC, 1st Alliance, A5 and Wave. OT also owns a victory over A5, as well as Coast, Metro and Long Beach. It has a mark of 10-5 against the Open field. 9. KC POWER 16-1 Comment: KC Power grabs one of the last spots in the Top 10 on strength of victories over clubs like TAV, Wave, Triangle and Munciana. Excluding Muncie, those are part of 10 victories against the Open qualified field. It also has eight losses against the Open field, with two each to 1st Alliance, Dynasty and Premier Nebraska 16 Gold, and one each to Circle City and A5. 10. TRI-STATE ELITE 16 BLUE Comment: Tri-State Elite isn’t part of the Open bid chase and is focused on playing JVA events and AAUs at the end of the year. Still, it has been able to produce some big wins that earned the club a spot at No. 10. Among them are beating Munciana (three times), Co Jrs and Circle City. Other victories over Open qualified teams include beating MKE Sting 16 Gold and OT 16 Roberto. Some of the losses have included ones to NKYVC, Wave and Vision 16 Gold, as well as splitting a pair of matches with both Elevation 16 Butcher and Team Indiana Elite 16.1. 11. MUNCIANA 16 MOANA Comment: There’s been some solid victories so far for Muncie, including owning six victories over Open qualified teams in OT 16 Will, MKE Sting, Drive Nation 16 Red, Top Select 16 Elite, Circle City and NKYVC. It has also lost to Top Select, KC Power, Adidas KiVA 16 Red, and A5 (twice). 12. CIRCLE CITY 16 PURPLE Comment: Circle City has posted an

Read More »

List Of Qualified Open Teams (All Ages)

May 19, 2022

Below you’ll find the running list of Open qualified teams. We’ll update the list each week as more teams earn Open bids. *updated May 31 17 Open Qualified Clubs Bids Available: 36 Bids Awarded: 36 1st Alliance 17 Gold (NL) Premier Nebraska 17 Gold (NL) MAVS 17 KC (NL) Circle City 17 Purple (NEQ) Dynasty 17 Black (NEQ) OT 17 John (NEQ) Club V 17 Ren Reed (SLC) Alamo 17 Premier (SLC) AZ Rev 17 Premier (SLC) TAV 17 Black (MEQ) Drive Nation 17 Red (MEQ) Legacy 17-1 Adidas (MEQ) Madfrog 17 Green (PNQ) ID Crush 17 Bower (PNQ) AJV 17 Adidas (PNQ) Coast 17-1 (RRR) Tstreet 17 Naseri (RRR) Wave 17 Juliana (RRR) A5 Mizuno 17 Jing (Sunshine) Skyline 17 Royal (Sunshine) Metro 17 Travel (Sunshine) MN Select 17-1 (Show Me) Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite (Show Me) Mintonette Sports m.71 (Show Me) CUVC 17 Premier (Big South) CHAVC 17-1 Black (Big South) Mich Elite 17 Mizuno (Big South) HJV 17 Elite (Windy City) Sunshine 17 LA (Windy City) UPVBC 17 Open (Windy City) Hou Skyline 17 Royal (Lone Star) KC Power 17-1 (Lone Star) Club V 17 Ren Matthew (Lone Star) SynergyForce 17 Jeff (Far Western) Absolute Black 17-1 (Far Western) Top Select 17 Elite (At-Large) ***** 16 Open Qualified Clubs Bids Available: 36 Bids Awarded: 36 At-Large bids currently available: 0 Co Jrs 16 Sherri (SLC) Club V 16 Ren Wayne (SLC) Coast 16-1 (SLC) Dynasty 16 Black (NL) A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe (NL) Premier Nebraska 16 Gold (NL) 1st Alliance 16 Gold (MEQ) KC Power 16-1 (MEQ) OT 16 Jason (MEQ) Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar (PNQ) AJV 16 Adidas (PNQ)     Madfrog 16 Green (PNQ) Wave 16 Brennan (RRR) Vision 16 Gold (RRR) Drive Nation 16 Red (RRR) Flyers 16 Dylan (Sunshine) Top Select 16 Elite (Sunshine) Triangle 16 Black (Sunshine) Circle City 16 Purple (Show Me) NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami (Show Me) OT 16 Roberto (Show Me) TAV 16 Black (Lone Star) Skyline 16 Royal (Lone Star) Alamo 16 Premier (Lone Star) Metro 16 Travel (Windy City) MKE Sting 16 Gold (Windy City) Capitanas 16-1 (Windy City) Gainesville 16 Black (Big South) OT 16 Will (Big South) Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite (Big South) Norco 16 Black (NEQ) Seal Beach 16 Black (NEQ) Hou Skyline 16 Royal (Far Western) SG Elite 16 Rosh (Far Western) OJVA 16-1 Gold (Far Western) Arizona Storm Elite 16 Thunder (At-large) ***** 15 Open Qualified Clubs Bids Available: 36 Bids Awarded: 36 At-Large bids currently available: 0 AZ Storm 15 Thunder (SLC) Miz Long Beach 15 Rockstar (SLC) Austin Skyline 15 Royal (SLC) Hou Skyline 15 Royal (NL) Drive Nation 15 Red (NL) Nebraska One 15 Synergy (NL) Dynasty 15 Black (MEQ) 1st Alliance 15 Gold (MEQ) Circle City 15 Purple (MEQ) Absolute Black 15-1 (PNQ) NorCal Black 15-1 (PNQ) Madfrog 15 Green (PNQ) Tstreet 15 Curtis (RRR) TAV 15 Black (RRR) Wave 15 Scott (RRR) Legacy 15-1 Adidas (Sunshine) OT 15 Randy (Sunshine) GP 15 Rox (Sunshine) NE Elite 15 Matrix (Show Me) Northern Lights 15-1 (Show Me) HPSTL 15 Royal (Show Me) Mich Elite 15 Mizuno (Big South) Top Select 15 Elite (Big South) AZ Sky 15 Gold (Big South) Six Pack 15 (Windy City) HJV 15 Elite (Windy City) Skyline 15 Royal (Lone Star) Excel 15 National Red (Lone Star) AJV 15 Adidas (Lone Star) Surfside 15 PV Legends (NEQ) NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami (NEQ) MAVS KC 15-1 (NEQ) AZ Rev 15 Premier (Far Western) Coast 15-1 (Far Western) ID Crush 15 Bower (Far Western) Alamo 15 Premier (At-Large) ***** 14 Open Qualified Clubs Bids Available: 36 Bids Awarded: 36 At-Large bids currently available: 0 Madfrog 14 Green (SLC) AZ Sky 14G (SLC) Flyers 14 APX-Bill (SLC) MKE Sting 14 Gold (MEQ) Pohaku 14-1 (MEQ) Boiler Jrs 141 Gold (MEQ) Mintonette Sports m.41 (NL) NKYVC 14-1 Tsunami (Sunshine) GP 14 Rox (Sunshine) A5 Mizuno 14 Helen (Sunshine) Skyline 14 Royal (PNQ) SG Elite 14 Rosh (PNQ) Wave 14 Brennan (RRR) Forza1 North 14 UA (RRR) Hou Skyline 14 Royal (Lone Star) OP2 14-1 (Lone Star) TAV Houston 14 Adidas (Lone Star) Austin Skyline 14 Royal (Windy City) Rev 14-1 Fuego (Windy City) Elevation 14 Molly (Big South) High Tide 14 Elite (Big South) Dynasty 14 Black (Show Me) SCVC 14 Roxy (Far Western) SF Tremors 14 Wolverines (Far Western) Drive Nation 14 Red (Far Western) TAV 14 Black (NEQ) Academy 14 Diamond (NEQ) Alamo 14 Premier (NEQ) AVC Cle Rox 14 Red (At-large) Arizona Storm 14 Thunder (At-large) AP 14 Adidas (At-large) AZ Rev 14 Premier (At-large) Tstreet 14 Carson (At-large) HPSTL 14 Royal (At-large) Premier Nebraska 14 Gold (At-large) WPVC Armour Black (At-large) ***** 13 Open Qualified Clubs Bids Available: 24 Bids Awarded: 24 At-Large bids currently available: 0 Madfrog 13 Green (SLC) Skyline 13 Royal (SLC) TAV 13 Black (MEQ) AP 13 Adidas (MEQ) Drive Nation 13 Red (NL) Premier Nebraska 13 Gold (NL) Legacy 13-1 Adidas (Sunshine) WPVC 13 Armour Black (Sunshine) Mizuno Long Beach 13 Rockstar (PNQ) Madfrog 13 Black (PNQ) Club V 13 AR Jess (RRR) Tstreet 13 Bailey (RRR) Excel 13 National Red (Lone Star) Flyers 13 Jason (Lone Star) KC Power 13-1 (Show Me) GP 13 Rox (NEQ) Vaqueras 13-1 (NEQ) MKE Sting 13 Gold (Windy City) Elevation 13 Lippert (Big South) Rockwood Thunder 13 Elite (Big South) AZ Sky 13 Gold (Far Western) Vision 13 Gold (Far Western) AZ Storm 13 Thunder (At-Large) Forza1 13 UA Aaron (At-Large)

Read More »

17s: Top 50 National Club Rankings

May 18, 2022

vballrecruiter.com presents its 17s Top 50 National Rankings. At the conclusion of the national championships we will release our final rankings. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all. 1. 1ST ALLIANCE 17 GOLD Comment: There’s no clear-cut No. 1 but 1st Alliance takes it based on a couple of factors. All three losses – two to Drive Nation 17 Red and one to A5 Mizuno 17 Jing – are to top-tier teams. On top of that, 1st Alliance owns a victory over Circle City 17 Purple, plus 17 more victories against qualified teams. Some of those are over TAV 17 Black, Premier Nebraska 17 Gold (three times) and Legacy 17-1 Adidas. 2. CIRCLE CITY 17 PURPLE Comment: Had it not been for Circle City’s loss to 1st Alliance, the Hoosier Region club would have been the choice for No. 1. Circle City has some impressive victories under its belt, including A5, Legacy (three times), Dynasty 17 Black and Hou Skyline 17 Royal. It’s part of 16 victories when facing Open qualified opponents. The other losses were to TAV 17 Black and Rev Raptors 17-1, an unqualified team but one Circle City has also beaten. 3. A5 MIZUNO 17 JING Comment: A5 has a couple of tough losses to unqualified teams in PVA 17 Elite and Top Select 17 Elite that could have caused A5 to be ranked lower. But, A5 did also beat both PVA and Top Select as well. It has A5 coming in at No. 3 on the strength of victories over Coast 17-1, Drive Nation and 1st Alliance. Overall, it has 14 victories over the qualified field. 4. COAST 17-1 Comment: Coast makes the Top 5 in part by owning 15 victories against the qualified field. Some of its biggest ones include beating Drive Nation (twice), Hou Skyline, Legacy, TAV, Club V 17 Ren Reed and Wave 17 Juliana (three times). Coast has lost five times, all to qualified teams. Those setbacks were to Wave, A5, OT 17 John, AZ Rev 17 Premier and Club V. 5. DRIVE NATION 17 RED Comment: There’s an argument to be made for Drive Nation being No. 1. For one, Drive Nation has produced 21 victories against the qualified field. That’s a big number. Victories include 1st Alliance (twice), TAV (twice) and Club V. Keeping Drive Nation from being ranked higher are losses to Coast (twice) and TAV (twice), plus A5 and Tstreet 17 Naseri. Though Drive Nation did also beat Tstreet. 6. WAVE 17 JULIANA Comment: With victories over Coast, A5 an Club V, as well as OT John, Wave has earned its placement inside the Top 10. It’s part of 13 triumphs over qualified teams. It has six losses against the field, including three to Coast, and one each to Sunshine 17 LA, ID Crush and Club V. Wave also owns two victories over Sunshine. Wave’s only questionable loss is to unqualified Elevation 17 Goller. 7. HOU SKYLINE 17 ROYAL Comment: Hou Skyline has racked up 15 victories against Open qualified clubs. Some of its best to date feature ones over Club V (twice), Dynasty and Legacy. It does have eight losses against the field, including to Coast, Circle City, OT John, Club V and Drive Nation, as well as Metro 17 Travel, Skyline 17 Royal and KC Power 17-1. 8. CLUB V 17 REN REED Comment: Club V has turned in a strong season thus far. It has led to 18 victories against qualified teams. Beating Dynasty, Wave, TAV, Hou Skyline and Coast are among the best ones. Club V’s setbacks have come against Hou Skyline (twice), Coast, Wave, Drive Nation, HJV 17 Elite and SynergyForce 17 Jeff. Club V also owns a victory over SynergyForce. Club V has also split a pair of matches with Legacy Girls 17 Pyramid, which earned a bid at the Red Rock Rave but declined accepting it. 9. TAV 17 BLACK Comment: TAV has more losses – 11 – against the Open field than anyone else in the Top 10. 1st Alliance, Drive Nation, Club V and Coast are ones to teams ranked higher here. On the flip side, TAV owns some big victories as well. One of those is against Circle City. TAV also owns a pair of wins against Drive Nation as well. 10. LEGACY 17-1 ADIDAS Comment: Rounding out the Top 10 is Legacy based on the strength of its head-to-head victory over Premier Nebraska. Legacy’s only questionable loss is to MKE Sting 17 Gold, a club Legacy also owns a victory over too. Other setbacks have come to Circle City (three times), 1st Alliance, Coast, Sunshine, Dynasty and Hou Skyline. Legacy has also beaten Sunshine this season, as well as Metro, Skyline and KC Power. 11. PREMIER NEBRASKA 17 GOLD Comment: Almost half of Premier Nebraska’s losses are to 1st Alliance, which has beaten Premier Nebraska three times. The other setbacks have come to A5, Legacy, Skyline and MAVS KC 17-1. Premier Nebraska does own one victory against a team in the Top 10 in TAV. Some other victories against qualified opponents include MAVS, Dynasty and OT John. 12. AZ REV 17 PREMIER Comment: As we get deeper into the rankings, the results start getting more mixed as well. Some of the better victories for AZ Rev feature Dynasty, Coast and Sunshine (twice). Losses have come against Club V (three times), Sunshine, Drive Nation and Wave, as well as Tstreet, Mintonette m.71 and AZ Storm 17 Elite, a team AZ Rev has defeated as well.   13. MN SELECT 17-1 Comment: Among some of MN Select’s better victories are a pair of wins against Dynasty, plus ones over OT John and KC Power. MN

Read More »

PVL 15s-17s: Under The Radar Players, Plus All-Stars (Part 2)

May 17, 2022

In case you missed it, we released Part 1 of our PVL Under The Radar Players – plus 17s and 16s PVL All-Stars – Monday. Below, you’ll find Part 2. A reminder, the Under The Radar Players are ones we have not written about during qualifying season. The PVL All-Stars were mentioned during qualifying season and are who we would pick if putting together an all-star from PVL competition. 15s PVL All-Stars OH – Kaci Demaria, Surfside OH – Quinn Loper, Tstreet OH – Simone Roslon, Long Beach OH – Ava Poinsett, Coast OH – Mae Kordas, Wave OH – Kianna Greer, Long Beach MB – Kalyssa Blackshear, Long Beach MB – Memphis Burnett, Tstreet RS – Layli Ostovar, Long Beach RS – Keila Gabriel, Wave RS – Olivia Ip, SG Elite S/RS – Ruby Hill, Tstreet S – Isabella Jones, Long Beach S – Ayva Ostovar, Long Beach L – Yuri Park, Wave L – Brooklyn Bowman, Coast L – Molly LaBreche, Surfside *** Under The Radar Players (Part 2) Madi Moore, OH, A4 Volley 17 Joaco – Moore is another six-rotation player with a strong arm. She hits solid ball and can move it around to different spots as well. Payton Tully, RS, A4 Volley 17 Joaco – At 6-0 and a lefty, Tully is continually improving. She puts up a solid block. When she gets a hold of one you can tell as she’s also becoming more of a terminator. Paige Buzzerio, OH, A4 Volley 17 Joaco – A 6-2 Navy commit, Buzzerio’s length presents problems for blockers. She can extend well and sees the court well. That allows her to strike equally well cross court or deep down the line. Holly Hopkins, OH, Balboa Bay 17 Blue – Hopkins, at 6-0, showed flashes of what she can bring. She has a good arm and is getting better at becoming a finisher. Anabel Kotzakov, OH, Balboa Bay 17 Blue – A six-rotation player, Kotzakov is 6-2 and a reliable option on the attack. She has a nice arm and is consistently aggressive with her swings. Kahea Carvalho, S, Seal Beach 17 Black – A bit undersized at 5-9, Carvalho makes up for it with good hands and consistent location. She’s a hard worker with a calming presence who knows how to run an offense. Addison Klunder, RS, Actyve 17 Black – Somewhat undersized at 5-10, Klunder was taking some aggressive swings. She has a solid arm and wasn’t afraid to go at bigger blocks.   Milani Lee, S/RS, Legacy Girls 17 Pyramid – Lee is part of a 6-2 system. She’s consistently on point with her location and can run tempo sets at times too. At 5-11, she’s not the tallest attacker but doesn’t overdo it and plays within herself. Aubry Beaver, OH, Temecula Viper 17 Poyer – A 6-0 Cal State Fullerton recruit, Beaver is a key component in the Viper lineup. She’s a six-rotation outside with the ability to score from the back row and showed to be a steady passer out of serve receive. Ashley Li, OH, Tstreet 17 Asics – We only saw Li once at the very beginning of the season. She’s a four-star recruit committed to Cal. At 6-3, she’s lanky with a very good arm that has her delivering pace on her swings. Hayden Lin, S, SCVC 16 Roxy – At 5-5, Lin is an undersized setter but she runs the offense well. She has soft hands and a great touch and rarely misses her spot. Kendall Beshear, OH, SCVC 16 Roxy – Beshear, at 5-10, is a really good all-around outside. She’s a smart attacker with a big arm. She passes and defends very well in the back row and is a glue piece for SCVC. Chloe Hynes, MB, SCVC 16 Roxy – Hynes has upside to her game. She’s a 6-0 middle but can play on the pins as well. Her swing is smooth and she can play some in the back row as well. Taylor Deckert, L, SCVC 16 Roxy – A freshman playing up, the more there is to see of Deckert the more there is to like. She doesn’t appear to get rattled and is a steady, reliable defender and passer. Sade Ilawole, S, Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar – Ilawole allows Beach to run a 6-2 if it wants, depending on the match ups. She’s quick with steady placement. Katrina Catalan, RS, Temecula Viper 16 Mauro – At 5-8, Catalan is undersized on the right. Still, she is strong with a powerful swing. She’s aggressive and doesn’t back down from bigger blockers. Molly McCluskey, RS, Tstreet 16 Carson – A three-star recruit, this 6-3 lefty right side has lots of potential. She touches 9-11 and can already go over blocks. She has a good swing and will add more and more power as she continues to develop. Lauren Coady, MB, Tstreet 16 Carson – A 6-2 freshman playing up, Coady is another one with lots of upside. She has a nice swing and connected on a few balls well. She’s going to be a great option as she keeps learning and growing. Ella Irwin, OH, Tstreet 16 Carson – A six-rotation outside, at 5-11 Irwin was showing what she brings to the court. She has a quick swing that generates good pace. She can also attack out of the back row to help open up the offense. Manaia Ogbechie, MB, Oaks 15 Gold – Ogbechie is a prospect. She’s 6-1 and already touching 10-0. She hits with power. She has the skill set to potentially move to the pin. Sarah Shaw, MB, Oaks 15 Gold – Shaw, at 6-1, is another with tremendous upside. She carries a smooth swing and has the ability to play in the back row as well. She too could be a future pin. Kelsey Kim, OH, SG Elite 15 Rosh – An undersized outside at 5-9, Kim plays a pivotal role. She takes a lot of swings. Though

Read More »

PVL 15s-17s: Under The Radar Players, Plus All-Stars

May 16, 2022

vballrecruiter.com spent the past weekend at the Premier Volleyball League 15s-17s championships. As for team results, Tstreet 15 Curtis defeated Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar in the 15 Premier final. In the 16 Premier final, Wave 16 Brennan downed Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar. Wave 17 Juliana topped Club V 17 Ren Reed in the 17 Premier final. Club V was visiting from Utah and isn’t a normal participant of the PVL. Congrats to the overall winners! Meanwhile, our Saturday and Sunday was filled watching players we have not written about this year during qualifier action. Thus, these players have flown under the radar until now! We present our list in two parts. The first part is below. The second part is to be released Tuesday. However, we didn’t stop there. We also came up with a PVL All-Star team for the 15s, 16s and 17s. You can find the 17s and 16s below. The 15s will come out in Tuesday’s Part 2. 17s PVL All-Stars *** 16s PVL All-Stars *** Under The Radar Players (Part 1) Clara Cronin, Libero, Encore 17 Kalekonas – We hadn’t seen Cronin in action until this past weekend. She was passing well out of serve receive when targeted, which wasn’t very often. She was also picking up cross court shots well and extending rallies. She brings great energy and communicates well. Ava-Marie Lange, RS, Sunshine 17 LA – A 6-2 outside/right side committed to Harvard, Lange was part of the Sunshine 18 LA team that won gold in Phoenix. She has a strong arm and is a smart hitter who attacks defenses in various ways. Catherine Maffei, MB, Sunshine 17 LA – A bit undersized at 5-11, Maffei provides much-needed stability in the middle. She has good timing on her blocks and is heady enough to score against bigger ones. Fatimah Hall, S/RS, Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar – A 5-9 three-star SDSU commit, Hall plays a vital role. She’s a solid setter with the ability to run a 5-1. She’s also able to hit across the front row in a 6-2 and has a powerful arm. Silina Damuni, S, Club V 17 Ren Reed – A 5-9 BYU commit, Damuni is part of a 6-2 package. She has a soft touch and a smooth jump set. Kalia Kohler, S, Club V 17 Ren Reed – A three-star recruit, Kohler remains uncommitted. Her location is consistent and she can set behind her well. She also does a good job of mixing her sets up to get all her hitters involved. Maia Niemen, OH, Tstreet 17 Naseri – A 5-10 three-star recruit, Niemen was carrying a good portion of the attack as Tstreet was playing short-handed. She’s a six-rotation mainstay in the lineup who can pass and score with smart shot selection. Sophia Stalcup, OH, Tstreet 17 Naseri – Stalcup was part of the 18s this season and has since moved down. She’s 6-2 and committed to West Point. She brings physicality to the lineup and has a strong arm. Milan Bayless, OH, Coast 17-1 – Bayless – who is committed to Colgate – is a glue piece for Coast. She’s not necessarily a featured part of the offense but she’s a very capable scorer and plays well across the back row passing and defending. Lily Dwinell, OH, Wave 17 Juliana – A former middle, Dwinell has proven she can be a reliable option on the outside. The Colorado commit is a steady presence in a Wave lineup that features plenty of offensive options. Saniyah Sobers, L, Rancho Valley 16 Premier – A freshman playing up, Sobers flashed definite potential. She plays with high-energy and can fly around the court trying to keep plays alive. Sarai Ross, MB, Rancho Valley 16 Premier – A bit undersized at 5-11, Ross showed her upside. While she wasn’t getting set a lot while we watched, when she did she delivered with some power. Danica Rach, OH, City Volleyball 16 Gold – Rach, at 6-1, is a key contributor as a six-rotation player. She’s lanky with a really good swing and ability to beat defenses in different ways. Isabella Marrero, L, City Volleyball 16 Gold – A three-star recruit, Marrero isn’t a flashy libero but rather steady with accurate passing. She was seemingly in the right spot most of the times to make the play she needed to. Havyn Rolle, MB, City Volleyball 16 Gold – At 5-10, Rolle isn’t the tallest middle but she can jump well and has a fluid swing. She also provides some versatility as she can play on the right side as well. Ximena Cordero, OH, Coast 16-1 – This 5-10 outside has a good variety of shots. She can beat defenses with off speed rolls or physical swings to the corners. Ashley Repetti, OH, Seal Beach 16 Black – A big strength of Seal Beach is the reliability of their outsides. Repetti, a freshman playing up, is surely part of that. She’s a steady passer and smart attacker who can carry the offense along at times. Haylee LaFontaine, OH, Seal Beach 16 Black – A 6-0 outside, LaFontaine is a big contributor. She has a strong arm and hits with good pace. Dani Sparks, S, Seal Beach 16 Black – A setter in Seal Beach’s 6-2, Sparks has great hands. She delivers consistent sets and can move the ball around well when in system. Madison Snow, OH, Temecula Viper 15 Costa – Snow is a big key for Viper. A six-rotation outside, she’s the team’s best offensive option with her smarts and strong swing. Melanie Hewlett, S/RS, Temecula Viper 15 Costa – Part of a 6-2, Hewlett’s a very strong setter. She has nice hands and great touch. She consistently put the ball in the window for her hitters. Alison Chapin, S/RS, Temecula Viper 15 Costa – Also part of the 6-2 Viper runs, Chapin’s strength is the offense she brings when front row. She has a strong arm and is able

Read More »

West Coast Cup: Day 1 Show Stoppers

May 29, 2022

It’s officially on at the JVA West Coast Cup, which began three days of volleyball Saturday in Long Beach. Some of the top teams in the country were in action and vballrecruiter.com was on the scene taking notice. Below, we introduce our Day 1 Show Stoppers. They are 10 players who stood out to us. They’ll also be part of our extensive post-tournament Show Stoppers list featuring more standouts from Day 1 and beyond. In addition to these 10 standouts, we also provide a quick recap of the most important parts of Day 1 further below. vballrecruiter.com DAY 1 SHOW STOPPERS Izzy Starck, S/RS, Co Jrs 16 Sherri – This five-star recruit was doing it all, but was especially effective on the attack. Starck was explosive, getting up and hammering balls down all over the court. Blaykli Bobik, OH, Arizona Storm 16 Thunder – Bobik – a three-star recruit – had it clicking on offense. She’s lanky with a whip for an arm. She was using it to unleash some massive kills.   Ava Shankle, MB, Drive Nation 16 Red – Shankle proved unstoppable at times. Drive Nation went to her on the slide and 1s and defenses had few if any answers to keep her from scoring at will. Kendall Beshear, OH, SCVC 16 Roxy – This outside was showing off her all-around skills. She’s a solid passer and backrow defender. She’s also an explosive attacker with a great jump and powerful arm. Kayden Green, S/RS, OT 15 Meg – A two-way contributor, Green has a soft touch and consistent accuracy when setting. She also carries a strong arm and hits the ball hard. Kaci Demaria, OH, Surfside 15 PV Legends – A three-star recruit, Demaria owns smaller blocks. She’s lengthy enough to go right over the top of them. She also has a keen sense for the right shot selection. Kennedy Osunsanmi, RS, Legacy Girls 16 Elite – Osunsanmi is a name everyone will know before long. She’s 6-2 and still figuring the game out to a degree but she has potential oozing out of her and should shine on the next level one day. Taylor Deckert, L, SCVC 16 Roxy – Deckert was on fire for much of the day. Practically every ball she touched she bettered. Her passing was sharp and on point. Brianna Brewer, OH, Tstreet 15 Curtis – When we caught this three-star recruit, she was on her game. She was ripping powerful kills deep to both corners and provided Tstreet a reliable and consistent scoring option. Makena Lim, L, A4 Volley 17 Joaco – Lim – a recent Georgia commit and three-star recruit – was a steadying presence in the back row. Her passing was keeping A4 in system. She also made a couple A-plus digs to keep rallies alive. *** Across 14, 15, 16 and 17 Open, only one No. 1 team in its respective pool failed to advance. All eight No. 1 teams in their pools finished 3-0 in 14 Open. Only two No. 1 teams in 15 Open lost. Same with 16 Open. As for 17 Open, Rage 17 Greg was the No. 9 overall seed and top team in Pool 9 but went 1-2 and will not be in the top half come Day 2. In that pool, No. 2 Vision 17 Gold went 3-0 and No. 3 VVA 17-1 2-1 to move on. The oldest Open division had the most results going against the initial seedings. Joining VVA as No. 3 teams advancing were Surfside 17 MB Legends (Pool 2); OT 17 Felix (P4); Wave 17 Reily (P6); and Sunshine 17 Westside (P10). Additionally, two Nos. 4 teams in MVVC 17 Red (Pool 5) and Five Starz 17 Debby (P8) remain in the hunt. Almost everything played out according to seed in 16 Open. Two exceptions were SCVC 16 Roxy outlasting K2 16 Adidas in three in Pool 5. SCVC was the No. 2 team, K2 the No. 1 team. The same thing happened in Pool 9, with No. 2 Momentous 16 Dan downing Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar in three. The conclusion to 16 Open was the most exciting part of the day actually. Wave 16 Brennan, the No. 1 overall seed, needed three sets to beat Tstreet 16 Carson. In Pool 2, Co Jrs 16 Sherri went the distance before prevailing over Absolute Black 16-1 in the 1 v 2 contest. It was the same in the 1 v 2 match in Pool 3. There, Vision 16 Gold clipped Forza1 North 16 UA. Lastly, Arizona Storm 16 Thunder edged out Drive Nation 16 Red in three in the 1 v 2 match in Pool 9. We’re likely to see much more of that Sunday in 16 Open. Pool 1 features USAV Open qualified teams in Wave, Long Beach and Seal Beach 16 Black. Co Jrs and Drive Nation – both Open qualified as well – will square off in Pool 2. Pool 3 contains three teams with Open bids with Vision, SG Elite 16 Rosh and Surfside 15 PV Legends – which qualified in 15 Open but is playing up an age group this weekend in Long Beach. Pool 4 has OT 16 Roberto and Storm in yet another match between Open teams. Coast 16-1 is the lone Open team in Pool 5. In 15 Open, the lowest-seeded team in the field advanced in VVA 15-1, which went 2-1 as the No. 4 team in Pool 1. Forza1 North 16 UA turned in a great performance by going 3-0 as the No. 3 team in Pool 3. It beat overall No. 3 seed Tstreet 15 Curtis to take first in the pool. The only other result to go against seed for teams advancing happened in Pool 8, where No. 2 Co Jrs 15 Shannon downed No. 1 Wave 15 Scott.

Read More »

West Coast Cup: Top-Rated Players Who’ll Be There

May 26, 2022

The JVA West Coast Cup kicks off a busy stretch of upcoming volleyball tournaments. The three-day event takes place over Memorial Day weekend in Long Beach. The JVA then hosts SummerFest the first weekend of June in Columbus. And then of course AAUs begins soon after, with USAV national championships following. We previewed and made our predictions for the West Coast Cup already and you can find that here. Below, we list all the top-rated (5 and 4-star) recruits attending the West Coast Cup this weekend. 5-STAR RECRUITS Class of 2023 Reese Robins, MB, Drive Nation 17 Red Leah Ford, MB, Drive Nation 17 Red Olivia Babcock, RS, Sunshine 17 LA Torrey Stafford, OH, Sunshine 17 LA Jordyn Harvey, OH, Club V 17 Ren Reed Julia Blyashov, OH, Wave 17 Juliana *** Class of 2024 Izzy Starck, S/RS, Co Jrs 16 Sherri Camden Bolane, MB, Wave 16 Brennan Babi Gubbins, OH, Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar Charlie Fuerbringer, S/RS, Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar *** Class of 2025 Taylor Harvey, MB, Club V 17 Ren Reed Zoe Gillen-Malveaux, MB, Drive Nation 16 Red Suli Davis, OH, Drive Nation 16 Red Jaidyn Jager, OH, Coast 16-1 Teraya Sigler, OH, Arizona Storm 15 Thunder *** 4-STAR RECRUITS Class of 2023 Ashley Li, OH, Tstreet 17 IE Lois Hansen, RS, Tstreet 17 Naseri Eva Travis, OH, Tstreet 17 Naseri Ceci Gooch, RS, Drive Nation 17 Red Auburn Tomkinson, RS, Wave 17 Juliana Eva Rohrbach, MB, Wave 17 Juliana Lily Nicholson, S, Drive Nation 17 Red Callie Kieffer, S, Drive Nation 17 Red Avah Armour, OH/RS, Co Jrs 16 Sherri Halle Schroder, OH, Drive Nation 17 Red Claire Little, OH, Coast 17-1 *** Class of 2024 Levani Key-Powell, OH, Club V 17 Ren Reed Amanda Saeger, S, Wave 16 Brennan Amanda Mack, OH, K2 16-1 Adidas *** Class of 2025 Ruby Hill, S/RS, Tstreet 15 Curtis Quinn Loper, OH, Tstreet 15 Curtis Sarah Mendoza, L/DS, Drive Nation 15 Red Kalyssa Blackshear, MB, Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar Lauren Lynch, L/DS, SG Elite 16 Rosh

Read More »

JVA West Coast Cup: Preview And Predictions

May 25, 2022

With qualifying season over the schedule now turns to gearing up for the USAV and AAU national championships. Among the events aimed at helping that cause is the JVA West Coast Cup over Memorial Day weekend in Long Beach. Below, we take a look at 14-17 Open and offer our thoughts and predictions on the three-day event. 17 OPEN Number of Teams: 40 Teams With Open Bids (7): Drive Nation 17 Red Wave 17 Juliana Club V 17 Ren Reed Coast 17-1 Tstreet 17 Naseri Sunshine 17 LA Absolute Black 17-1 vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (9): No. 4 Coast 17-1 No. 5 Drive Nation 17 Red No. 6 Wave 17 Juliana No. 8 Club V 17 Ren Reed No. 20 Sunshine 17 LA No. 26 Tstreet 17 Naseri No. 40 Arizona Storm 17 Thunder No. 42 Absolute Black 17-1 No. 45 Legacy Girls 17 Pyramid Outlook: The field is a strong one, featuring four teams ranked in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 10. Most of them are familiar with each other. Coast 17-1 and Wave 17 Juliana have met four times this season. Coast and Club V 17 Ren Reed are 1-1 against each other so far. Wave is 1-1 against Club V. As for Drive Nation 17 Red, it is 0-2 against Coast and 1-0 versus Club V. Drive Nation and Wave have not played to date. They are among seven teams in the field qualified for 17 Open in Indy. The seeding is close to our rankings with one big exception. Legacy 17 Girls Pyramid opens as the No. 2 seed behind top-seeded Drive Nation. Wave follows at No. 3, with No. 4 Club V, No. 5 Coast, No. 6 Tstreet 17 Naseri and No. 7 Sunshine 18 LA and No. 8 Absolute Black 17-1 following. Legacy went 1-1 against Club V at the Red Rock Rave. Legacy actually qualified for Open in Las Vegas but declined the bid. Legacy has also defeated Coast and Tstreet this year, so it’s certainly capable of playing with the top teams. Among some other out-of-area clubs making the trek are Arizona Storm 17 Thunder, Rage 17 Greg, Co Jrs 17 Kevin, Vision 17 Gold, K2 17 Adidas, OT 17 Felix, VA Elite 17s and OMNI 17 Rick. AZ Storm is another team that qualified for Open too, but used an ineligible player at Far Western in doing so and had to forfeit its bid. Storm starts off as the No. 11 seed. With only pride at stake and no concerns of qualifying, it’ll be interesting to see how each team treats this tournament. Which ones are going for it all as opposed to perhaps playing a variety of lineups? The final day also features a different format from qualifying season, as there are no pools on Day 3. Rather, it’s a modified 10-team bracket. With a strong field, it’s going to make for terrific conclusion to the event. The question is can someone other than Drive Nation, Coast, Wave or Club V finish on top? All four have won qualifiers this season. Drive Nation captured Lone Star. Coast took first at Red Rock. Wave finished on top at Big South and Club V was the best in Salt Lake City and Reno. Prediction: Since Drive Nation and Wave haven’t played this season, that’s one match we would really like to see take place. Why not in the final? Therefore, the pick is Drive Nation over Wave for gold. *** 16 OPEN Number of Teams: 36 Teams With Open Bids (11): Wave 16 Brennan Co Jrs 16 Sherri Vision 16 Gold OT 16 Roberto Coast 16-1 AZ Storm 16 Thunder SG Elite 16 Rosh Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar Seal Beach 16 Black Drive Nation 16 Red Surfside 15 PV Legends* *Has 15 Open Bid vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (14): No. 4 Co Jrs 16 Sherri No. 5 Wave 16 Brennan No. 15 Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar No. 16 Coast 16-1 No. 17 Arizona Storm 16 Thunder No. 19 Vision 16 Gold No. 23 SG Elite 16 Rosh No. 24 OT 16 Roberto No. 26 Drive Nation 16 Red No. 33 Momentous 16 Dan No. 36 Absolute Black 16-1 No. 38 Seal Beach 16 Black No. 39 SCVC 16 Roxy No. 10 Surfside 15 PV Legends* *15s National Ranking Outlook: The 16s don’t have as many top-ranked teams as the 17s, but it’s a deeper division overall with 13 teams ranked in our Top 50. Of them, 10 hold Open bids, plus Surfside 15 PV Legends is playing up and also owns an Open bid. While Day 1 might be a little slow like most events, Days 2 and 3 should be very competitive. Wave 16 Brennan starts off as the top seed. Co Jrs 16 Sherri, which owns a victory over Wave this year, is No. 2. After that it is No. 3 Vision 16 Gold, No. 4 OT 16 Roberto, No. 5 K2 16 Adidas, No. 6 Coast 16-1, No. 7 Arizona Storm 16 Thunder and No. 8 SG Elite 16 Rosh. It’s the toughest tournament to date for K2, which is going to have its hands full at No. 5. Other teams that are going to factor into the mix are Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar, Momentous 16 Dan and Drive Nation 16 Red. Like 17 Open, four teams in 16s have won qualifiers. Wave was tops at Red Rock. Vision won recently at Far Western. Long Beach was the best at PNQ, while Co Jrs beat the field in Salt Lake City. One of the main things to watch for is Wave and Co Jrs have proven themselves the most and could be on a collision course in the final. That is, unless someone else can spring an upset or two and shake it up? Prediction: It’s really hard to pick against a Wave-Co Jrs final. As nice as it would be to predict something different happening, the call is Wave beating Co Jrs for the title. *** 15 OPEN Number

Read More »

14s: Top 50 National Club Rankings

May 24, 2022

We wrap up our May rankings release with the 14s Top 50 National Club Rankings. If you missed any of the prior age groups you can find them by clicking these links: 18s Top 50 17s Top 50 16s Top 50 15s Top 50 At the conclusion of the national championships we will release our final rankings in July. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all. 1. MADFROG 14 GREEN Comment: Madfrog went undefeated in winning the Salt Lake City Showdown, PNQ and Lone Star qualifiers. It also finished first at Triple Crown, where it lost its only match of the season – to Elevation 14 Molly – on a national stage. Madfrog has 23 wins against the Open field in those four events. 2. MKE STING 14 GOLD Comment: MKE Sting has some strong victories that includes Boiler Jrs 14 Gold (twice), Wave 14 Brennan and TAV 14 Black. It finished seventh at Triple Crown, first at MEQ and second at Windy City. It helped MKE Sting compile a 17-6 record against the Open field. One of those losses is to Madfrog. It is also 2-2 against Boiler Jrs and 2-2 against Mintonette m.41, with its final loss to Flyers 14 Bill. 3. TAV 14 BLACK Comment: TAV – which qualified by winning NEQ – is 15-7 against the Open field. Among its results are going 2-2 against Alamo 15 Premier, 1-1 against Boiler Jrs, 1-1 against Skyline 14 Royal, while collecting victories over Drive Nation 14 Red (three), Dynasty 14 Black and GP 14 Rox. Among its losses are to Madfrog, MKE Sting and Flyers. 4. WAVE 14 BRENNAN Comment: Wave has been busy playing Open opponents, going 25-9 in such matches. It has benefitted from its So Cal schedule, going 4-1 against Tstreet 14 Carson, 5-0 against both SCVC 14 Roxy and SG Elite 14 Rosh and 3-4 against Forza1 North 14 UA. Other victories include downing AZ Storm 14 Thunder and Elevation twice each, as well as Flyers and Pohaku 14-1. Wave has also lost to Flyers, as well as MKE Sting. 5. FLYERS 14 BILL Comment: Flyers has put up a solid 15-9 record facing the Open field. Among its victories are beating MKE Sting and Wave, which it is 1-1 against. Flyers has also topped GP and NKYVC 14-1 Tsunami. Other results feature going 1-1 against Hou Skyline 14 Royal, 2-1 against AZ Storm, as well as 0-3 against Madfrog. Flyers has also fallen to AZ Rev 14 Premier, SCVC and Drive Nation. 6. MINTONETTE M.41 Comment: The Ohio Valley Region club has posted an identical 15-9 mark against the Open field as Flyers. The two sides have not played head-to-head. Among the better wins for Mintonette is Boiler Jrs, Pohaku, Elevation (three times) and going 2-2 against MKE Sting. It has lost twice to Madfrog as well. Others setbacks have come against AZ Storm, GP and AZ Sky 14 Gold. It has also lost twice to non-Open teams in HJV 14 Elite and Lions 14-1. 7. POHAKU 14-1 Comment: Helping Pohaku grab No. 7 in the rankings is beating Boiler Jrs in their lone meeting. Pohaku, which is 11-6 when facing Open competition, has two victories each over Elevation, A5 Mizuno 14 Helen and Dynasty. Its losses are to Wave, SCVC, Dynasty, Mintonette, MKE Sting and Premier Nebraska 14 Gold. 8. BOILER JRS 14 GOLD Comment: The Hoosier Region club has fared well when playing Open teams, as Boiler Jrs is 18-8 in those contests. Five of those eight losses are to teams ranked ahead of Boiler Jrs, including TAV, MKE Sting (twice), Mintonette and Pokahu. It also owns two victories over MKE Sting, three over Elevation and one each over TAV and NKYVC. 9. ELEVATION 14 MOLLY Comment: Elevation is an interesting team. It doesn’t have the best mark against the field at 13-12. But of those defeats, 11 have come to fellow Top 10 opponents in Mintonette (three times), Boiler Jrs (three times), Pohaku (twice), Wave (twice) and MKE Sting. The only team outside the Top 10 to get past Elevation is AZ Storm. Plus, Elevation owns a victory over Madfrog and NKYVC. 10. NKYVC 14-1 TSUNAMI Comment: NKYVC showed what it is capable of when it went undefeated in winning the Sunshine Classic. It is part of a 14-8 mark against the Open field. Part of that is going 2-1 against GP. It has also lost to Flyers and Elevation and is 1-1 against Alamo. NKYVC has lost twice to AVC Cle Rox 14 Red and once to HPSTL 14 Royal. 11. GP 14 ROX Comment: GP – like many of the teams at this age division – is a tough one to rank. It has fared very well against the Open field with an 18-8 record. It has victories over Boiler Jrs and Mintonette, but is 1-2 against NKYVC. It has quality losses to Flyers and TAV, and is 2-1 against Alamo. It does carry one loss against a non-Open opponent in Team Pineapple 14 Black. 12. AZ SKY 14 GOLD Comment: At 13-9, AZ Sky has a good mark playing fellow Open teams. Its best victory is one over Mintonette. AZ Sky has done well against So Cal teams, beating SG Elite, Tstreet, Forza North and SCVC (twice) while losing to Wave. Other quality losses along with Wave include falling to Flyers (twice), Madfrog, Elevation and MKE Sting. 13. FORZA1 NORTH 14 UA Comment: Forza North has piled up 13 of its 18 wins against the Open field against playing fellow So Cal squads. Forza North is 2-2 against SCVC, 4-3 against Wave, 3-1 versus SG Elite and 4-0 facing Tstreet. Other victories against

Read More »

15s: Top 50 National Club Rankings

May 23, 2022

We began releasing our National Rankings this month. We have already put out the 18s, 17s and 16s divisions. We now release our 15s Top 50 National Rankings. At the conclusion of the national championships we will release our final rankings. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all. 1. ARIZONA STORM 15 THUNDER Comment: Storm’s only loss this season on a national stage was to Dynasty 15 Black at Triple Crown, where Storm placed ninth. Storm’s results to date also include winning two qualifiers – the Salt Lake City Showdown and Red Rock Rave. The team has posted an 18-1 overall mark against the field. 2. HOU SKYLINE 15 ROYAL Comment: Hou Skyline is 13-4 against the Open field. Seven of those victories have come against teams ranked in the Top 10, including HJV 15 Elite (twice), Dynasty, 1st Alliance 15 Gold, OT 15 Randy, Legacy 15-1 Adidas, TAV 15 Black and Surfside 15 PV Legends. It has also lost to 1st Alliance and HJV, as well as Austin Skyline 15 Royal and Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar. 3. TAV 15 BLACK Comment: Two of TAV’s five losses against the Open field have come against AZ Storm and Hou Skyline. The other teams to beat TAV are HJV, AJV 15 Adidas and Wave 15 Scott. TAV owns victories over all three of those squads, as well as Surfside and Drive Nation 15 Red (three times). In all, TAV has 18 wins against the field. 4. DYNASTY 15 BLACK Comment: Playing at Triple Crown, MEQ, Show Me and Windy City, Dynasty has gone 12-8 against the Open field. While that record isn’t as standout as some others in the Top 10, Dynasty’s worst finish in those four tournaments was fifth at Triple Crown. It took runner-up at Windy City and Show Me and gold at MEQ. Some of its top victories include beating No. 1 AZ Storm, 1st Alliance, Circle City 15 Purple (twice), OT Randy, HJV and Legacy. Among its losses are Absolute Black 15-1, Hou Skyline, HJV, Skyline 15 Royal, Austin Skyline, MAVS KC 15-1, Nebraska One 15 Synergy and Circle City. 5. CIRCLE CITY 15 PURPLE Comment: The early part of the season saw Circle City struggle some, as the Hoosier Region club took losses to Adidas KiVA 15 Red, ECJ 15-1 and A5 Mizuno 15 Bob. The latter two didn’t qualify for Open while KIVA doesn’t play national qualifiers. All three losses were before qualifying season began. Circle City also owns two victories over ECJ and is 1-1 against A5. Qualifying season is when Circle City started taking off. Circle City finished first at Windy City, and took third at both Show Me and MEQ. It has a 15-4 record against the field, including wins over Legacy (three times), 1st Alliance and Dynasty, which Circle City is 1-2 against. Circle City is also 2-2 against HPSTL 15 Royal. 6. 1ST ALLIANCE 15 GOLD Comment: 1st Alliance has proven itself among the best in the country. The Great Lakes Region club is 13-4 against the field playing at Triple Crown (first place), MEQ (second), Sunshine (fifth) and Windy City (third). It has just one loss to a non-Open team in Union 15-1 UA, which 1st Alliance is 1-1 against. The four losses against the field are all to teams ranked in the Top 10 in Dynasty, Hou Skyline, OT Randy – which 1st Alliance is 2-1 against – and Circle City. 7. OT 15 RANDY Comment: The Big South champs are 14-5 against the Open field. Of those five losses, four are to teams ranked higher in 1st Alliance (twice), Dynasty and Hou Skyline. The other loss is to Surfside, a team OT has also beaten. OT also owns a victory over 1st Alliance, as well as Long Beach. 8. LEGACY 15-1 ADIDAS Comment: Legacy – which is 13-10 against the Open field – hasn’t found a way to get past the top teams. Nine of those 10 losses are to teams ranked ahead of Legacy, including 1st Alliance (three times), AZ Storm, Circle City (three times), Hou Skyline and Dynasty. The only Open team outside the Top 10 to beat Legacy is Six Pack 15. KiVA, as well as MKE Sting 15 Gold, also own victories over Legacy, though Legacy has also defeated MKE Sting. 9. HJV 15 ELITE Comment: With a 12-12 mark against the Open field, HJV hasn’t put up the best record. Still, it has a couple of impressive wins over TAV and Hou Skyline, as well as Dynasty and Long Beach. Most of the losses have been quality ones as well, falling to Hou Skyline (twice), TAV, Circle City, Legacy, Dynasty and 1st Alliance. It has also gone 1-1 against AJV, GP 15 Rox and Alamo 15 Premier. It has two losses to teams not qualified for Open in AVA TX 15 Rox – which HJV has beaten twice – and SCVC 15 Roxy. 10. SURFSIDE 15 PV LEGENDS Comment: Surfside took seventh at Triple Crown and second at NEQ. It stumbled at PNQ, taking ninth. In part, it helped Surfside build a 15-6 record when facing Open opponents. Four of those losses are to Top 10 teams in Hou Skyline, Legacy, OT Randy and TAV. The other two came against ID Crush 15 Bower and Madfrog 15 Green. Surfside also has two defeats to non-Open clubs in Vision 15 Gold and Tribe 15 Dean. Some of its Open victories are over OT Randy, Long Beach (twice) and Coast 15-1 (three times). 11. MIZUNO LONG BEACH 15 ROCKSTAR Comment: There’s been plenty of action against the rest of the Open field for Long Beach, which has gone 17-13 in

Read More »

16s: Top 50 National Club Rankings

May 19, 2022

We have already released our 18s National Rankings. As well as our 17s National Rankings. Now vballrecruiter.com presents its 16s Top 50 National Rankings. At the conclusion of the national championships we will release our final rankings. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all. 1. DYNASTY 16 BLACK Comment: In our 17s National Rankings, picking a No. 1 left room for plenty of debate. That’s not the case in the 16s division. Dynasty is a clear-cut No. 1 after compiling 16 victories against the field compared to just two losses (TAV 16 Black and NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami.) Dynasty owns victories over both teams it has lost to, and has beaten 1st Alliance 16 Gold three times, KC Power 16-1 twice, as well as Wave 16 Brennan and A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe. 2. NKYVC 16-1 TSUNAMI Comment: One of only two teams to have a victory over top-ranked Dynasty, NKYVC lands at No. 2. Along with beating Dynasty, NKYVC has an impressive lineup of wins that include A5, 1st Alliance, TAV, Circle City 16 Purple and Triangle 16 Black. Overall, NKYVC has 12 victories against Open qualifiers. It has quality losses to Dynasty, Wave, 1st Alliance and Circle City (twice). NKYVC does have two losses to a non-qualified Open team. One is to a strong Munciana 16 Moana team. The other is to HPSTL 16 Royal. 3. A5 MIZUNO 16 GABE Comment: Losses to Dynasty and NKYVC place A5 at No. 3. But the Georgia club has clearly proven itself as one of the best with 19 victories against Open qualified teams. Two of the best ones came against TAV and Wave. It also has beaten Munciana twice. The only questionable loss for A5 came to AVC Cle Rox 16 Red, which is not qualified for Open. A5 has also lost to OT 16 Jason and Triangle, both of which are ranked in the Top 15. 4. CO JRS 16 SHERRI Comment: Co Jrs is a good illustration of the challenge ranking teams can bring about. Co Jrs carries a modest 8-5 against the Open field, yet it has beaten both TAV and Wave, as well as Circle City. TAV and Wave are clear-cut Top 10 teams, and Circle City is borderline Top 10. Co Jrs does have a couple tough losses, one of them coming to Seal Beach 16 Black. Co Jrs has also lost to Metro 16 Travel, but we count that as a quality loss. Tri-State Elite 16 Blue also owns a victory over Co Jrs, as does Triangle and Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar (twice). 5. WAVE 16 BRENNAN Comment: At the time of these rankings, Wave is 18-6 against the Open field. Two of those losses are to A5 and Dynasty. Another came against Triangle. Wave also lost to Coast 16-1 and Co Jrs 16 Sherri in PVL action. Among Wave’s victories are wins over NKYVC, TAV, OT Jason, Coast (three times) and Long Beach (three times). 6. TAV 16 BLACK Comment: The rankings again are presenting difficulties. TAV has an argument to be higher than No. 6. TAV is one of only two teams to have defeated Dynasty to date. It’s one of 10 victories against the Open field. TAV has lost to Pohaku 16-1, a non-Open qualified team. Among its quality losses are setbacks to A5, NKYVC, Wave, Dynasty and Co Jrs. 7. 1ST ALLIANCE 16 GOLD Comment: It’s been an interesting season for 1st Alliance, which has seen both sides of it often. The Illinois club is 10-11 against the Open field. Among its victories are KC Power (twice), Circle City, NKYVC and OT Jason. It has also lost to NKYVC, A5 (twice) and Dynasty (three times). It also has one setback against TVC 16 Black, which is not qualified for Open. 8. OT 16 JASON Comment: Of the five losses against the Open field suffered by OT Jason, only one – to Triangle – has come to a team ranked outside the Top 10. The other four defeats are against NKYVC, 1st Alliance, A5 and Wave. OT also owns a victory over A5, as well as Coast, Metro and Long Beach. It has a mark of 10-5 against the Open field. 9. KC POWER 16-1 Comment: KC Power grabs one of the last spots in the Top 10 on strength of victories over clubs like TAV, Wave, Triangle and Munciana. Excluding Muncie, those are part of 10 victories against the Open qualified field. It also has eight losses against the Open field, with two each to 1st Alliance, Dynasty and Premier Nebraska 16 Gold, and one each to Circle City and A5. 10. TRI-STATE ELITE 16 BLUE Comment: Tri-State Elite isn’t part of the Open bid chase and is focused on playing JVA events and AAUs at the end of the year. Still, it has been able to produce some big wins that earned the club a spot at No. 10. Among them are beating Munciana (three times), Co Jrs and Circle City. Other victories over Open qualified teams include beating MKE Sting 16 Gold and OT 16 Roberto. Some of the losses have included ones to NKYVC, Wave and Vision 16 Gold, as well as splitting a pair of matches with both Elevation 16 Butcher and Team Indiana Elite 16.1. 11. MUNCIANA 16 MOANA Comment: There’s been some solid victories so far for Muncie, including owning six victories over Open qualified teams in OT 16 Will, MKE Sting, Drive Nation 16 Red, Top Select 16 Elite, Circle City and NKYVC. It has also lost to Top Select, KC Power, Adidas KiVA 16 Red, and A5 (twice). 12. CIRCLE CITY 16 PURPLE Comment: Circle City has posted an

Read More »

List Of Qualified Open Teams (All Ages)

May 19, 2022

Below you’ll find the running list of Open qualified teams. We’ll update the list each week as more teams earn Open bids. *updated May 31 17 Open Qualified Clubs Bids Available: 36 Bids Awarded: 36 1st Alliance 17 Gold (NL) Premier Nebraska 17 Gold (NL) MAVS 17 KC (NL) Circle City 17 Purple (NEQ) Dynasty 17 Black (NEQ) OT 17 John (NEQ) Club V 17 Ren Reed (SLC) Alamo 17 Premier (SLC) AZ Rev 17 Premier (SLC) TAV 17 Black (MEQ) Drive Nation 17 Red (MEQ) Legacy 17-1 Adidas (MEQ) Madfrog 17 Green (PNQ) ID Crush 17 Bower (PNQ) AJV 17 Adidas (PNQ) Coast 17-1 (RRR) Tstreet 17 Naseri (RRR) Wave 17 Juliana (RRR) A5 Mizuno 17 Jing (Sunshine) Skyline 17 Royal (Sunshine) Metro 17 Travel (Sunshine) MN Select 17-1 (Show Me) Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite (Show Me) Mintonette Sports m.71 (Show Me) CUVC 17 Premier (Big South) CHAVC 17-1 Black (Big South) Mich Elite 17 Mizuno (Big South) HJV 17 Elite (Windy City) Sunshine 17 LA (Windy City) UPVBC 17 Open (Windy City) Hou Skyline 17 Royal (Lone Star) KC Power 17-1 (Lone Star) Club V 17 Ren Matthew (Lone Star) SynergyForce 17 Jeff (Far Western) Absolute Black 17-1 (Far Western) Top Select 17 Elite (At-Large) ***** 16 Open Qualified Clubs Bids Available: 36 Bids Awarded: 36 At-Large bids currently available: 0 Co Jrs 16 Sherri (SLC) Club V 16 Ren Wayne (SLC) Coast 16-1 (SLC) Dynasty 16 Black (NL) A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe (NL) Premier Nebraska 16 Gold (NL) 1st Alliance 16 Gold (MEQ) KC Power 16-1 (MEQ) OT 16 Jason (MEQ) Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar (PNQ) AJV 16 Adidas (PNQ)     Madfrog 16 Green (PNQ) Wave 16 Brennan (RRR) Vision 16 Gold (RRR) Drive Nation 16 Red (RRR) Flyers 16 Dylan (Sunshine) Top Select 16 Elite (Sunshine) Triangle 16 Black (Sunshine) Circle City 16 Purple (Show Me) NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami (Show Me) OT 16 Roberto (Show Me) TAV 16 Black (Lone Star) Skyline 16 Royal (Lone Star) Alamo 16 Premier (Lone Star) Metro 16 Travel (Windy City) MKE Sting 16 Gold (Windy City) Capitanas 16-1 (Windy City) Gainesville 16 Black (Big South) OT 16 Will (Big South) Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite (Big South) Norco 16 Black (NEQ) Seal Beach 16 Black (NEQ) Hou Skyline 16 Royal (Far Western) SG Elite 16 Rosh (Far Western) OJVA 16-1 Gold (Far Western) Arizona Storm Elite 16 Thunder (At-large) ***** 15 Open Qualified Clubs Bids Available: 36 Bids Awarded: 36 At-Large bids currently available: 0 AZ Storm 15 Thunder (SLC) Miz Long Beach 15 Rockstar (SLC) Austin Skyline 15 Royal (SLC) Hou Skyline 15 Royal (NL) Drive Nation 15 Red (NL) Nebraska One 15 Synergy (NL) Dynasty 15 Black (MEQ) 1st Alliance 15 Gold (MEQ) Circle City 15 Purple (MEQ) Absolute Black 15-1 (PNQ) NorCal Black 15-1 (PNQ) Madfrog 15 Green (PNQ) Tstreet 15 Curtis (RRR) TAV 15 Black (RRR) Wave 15 Scott (RRR) Legacy 15-1 Adidas (Sunshine) OT 15 Randy (Sunshine) GP 15 Rox (Sunshine) NE Elite 15 Matrix (Show Me) Northern Lights 15-1 (Show Me) HPSTL 15 Royal (Show Me) Mich Elite 15 Mizuno (Big South) Top Select 15 Elite (Big South) AZ Sky 15 Gold (Big South) Six Pack 15 (Windy City) HJV 15 Elite (Windy City) Skyline 15 Royal (Lone Star) Excel 15 National Red (Lone Star) AJV 15 Adidas (Lone Star) Surfside 15 PV Legends (NEQ) NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami (NEQ) MAVS KC 15-1 (NEQ) AZ Rev 15 Premier (Far Western) Coast 15-1 (Far Western) ID Crush 15 Bower (Far Western) Alamo 15 Premier (At-Large) ***** 14 Open Qualified Clubs Bids Available: 36 Bids Awarded: 36 At-Large bids currently available: 0 Madfrog 14 Green (SLC) AZ Sky 14G (SLC) Flyers 14 APX-Bill (SLC) MKE Sting 14 Gold (MEQ) Pohaku 14-1 (MEQ) Boiler Jrs 141 Gold (MEQ) Mintonette Sports m.41 (NL) NKYVC 14-1 Tsunami (Sunshine) GP 14 Rox (Sunshine) A5 Mizuno 14 Helen (Sunshine) Skyline 14 Royal (PNQ) SG Elite 14 Rosh (PNQ) Wave 14 Brennan (RRR) Forza1 North 14 UA (RRR) Hou Skyline 14 Royal (Lone Star) OP2 14-1 (Lone Star) TAV Houston 14 Adidas (Lone Star) Austin Skyline 14 Royal (Windy City) Rev 14-1 Fuego (Windy City) Elevation 14 Molly (Big South) High Tide 14 Elite (Big South) Dynasty 14 Black (Show Me) SCVC 14 Roxy (Far Western) SF Tremors 14 Wolverines (Far Western) Drive Nation 14 Red (Far Western) TAV 14 Black (NEQ) Academy 14 Diamond (NEQ) Alamo 14 Premier (NEQ) AVC Cle Rox 14 Red (At-large) Arizona Storm 14 Thunder (At-large) AP 14 Adidas (At-large) AZ Rev 14 Premier (At-large) Tstreet 14 Carson (At-large) HPSTL 14 Royal (At-large) Premier Nebraska 14 Gold (At-large) WPVC Armour Black (At-large) ***** 13 Open Qualified Clubs Bids Available: 24 Bids Awarded: 24 At-Large bids currently available: 0 Madfrog 13 Green (SLC) Skyline 13 Royal (SLC) TAV 13 Black (MEQ) AP 13 Adidas (MEQ) Drive Nation 13 Red (NL) Premier Nebraska 13 Gold (NL) Legacy 13-1 Adidas (Sunshine) WPVC 13 Armour Black (Sunshine) Mizuno Long Beach 13 Rockstar (PNQ) Madfrog 13 Black (PNQ) Club V 13 AR Jess (RRR) Tstreet 13 Bailey (RRR) Excel 13 National Red (Lone Star) Flyers 13 Jason (Lone Star) KC Power 13-1 (Show Me) GP 13 Rox (NEQ) Vaqueras 13-1 (NEQ) MKE Sting 13 Gold (Windy City) Elevation 13 Lippert (Big South) Rockwood Thunder 13 Elite (Big South) AZ Sky 13 Gold (Far Western) Vision 13 Gold (Far Western) AZ Storm 13 Thunder (At-Large) Forza1 13 UA Aaron (At-Large)

Read More »

17s: Top 50 National Club Rankings

May 18, 2022

vballrecruiter.com presents its 17s Top 50 National Rankings. At the conclusion of the national championships we will release our final rankings. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all. 1. 1ST ALLIANCE 17 GOLD Comment: There’s no clear-cut No. 1 but 1st Alliance takes it based on a couple of factors. All three losses – two to Drive Nation 17 Red and one to A5 Mizuno 17 Jing – are to top-tier teams. On top of that, 1st Alliance owns a victory over Circle City 17 Purple, plus 17 more victories against qualified teams. Some of those are over TAV 17 Black, Premier Nebraska 17 Gold (three times) and Legacy 17-1 Adidas. 2. CIRCLE CITY 17 PURPLE Comment: Had it not been for Circle City’s loss to 1st Alliance, the Hoosier Region club would have been the choice for No. 1. Circle City has some impressive victories under its belt, including A5, Legacy (three times), Dynasty 17 Black and Hou Skyline 17 Royal. It’s part of 16 victories when facing Open qualified opponents. The other losses were to TAV 17 Black and Rev Raptors 17-1, an unqualified team but one Circle City has also beaten. 3. A5 MIZUNO 17 JING Comment: A5 has a couple of tough losses to unqualified teams in PVA 17 Elite and Top Select 17 Elite that could have caused A5 to be ranked lower. But, A5 did also beat both PVA and Top Select as well. It has A5 coming in at No. 3 on the strength of victories over Coast 17-1, Drive Nation and 1st Alliance. Overall, it has 14 victories over the qualified field. 4. COAST 17-1 Comment: Coast makes the Top 5 in part by owning 15 victories against the qualified field. Some of its biggest ones include beating Drive Nation (twice), Hou Skyline, Legacy, TAV, Club V 17 Ren Reed and Wave 17 Juliana (three times). Coast has lost five times, all to qualified teams. Those setbacks were to Wave, A5, OT 17 John, AZ Rev 17 Premier and Club V. 5. DRIVE NATION 17 RED Comment: There’s an argument to be made for Drive Nation being No. 1. For one, Drive Nation has produced 21 victories against the qualified field. That’s a big number. Victories include 1st Alliance (twice), TAV (twice) and Club V. Keeping Drive Nation from being ranked higher are losses to Coast (twice) and TAV (twice), plus A5 and Tstreet 17 Naseri. Though Drive Nation did also beat Tstreet. 6. WAVE 17 JULIANA Comment: With victories over Coast, A5 an Club V, as well as OT John, Wave has earned its placement inside the Top 10. It’s part of 13 triumphs over qualified teams. It has six losses against the field, including three to Coast, and one each to Sunshine 17 LA, ID Crush and Club V. Wave also owns two victories over Sunshine. Wave’s only questionable loss is to unqualified Elevation 17 Goller. 7. HOU SKYLINE 17 ROYAL Comment: Hou Skyline has racked up 15 victories against Open qualified clubs. Some of its best to date feature ones over Club V (twice), Dynasty and Legacy. It does have eight losses against the field, including to Coast, Circle City, OT John, Club V and Drive Nation, as well as Metro 17 Travel, Skyline 17 Royal and KC Power 17-1. 8. CLUB V 17 REN REED Comment: Club V has turned in a strong season thus far. It has led to 18 victories against qualified teams. Beating Dynasty, Wave, TAV, Hou Skyline and Coast are among the best ones. Club V’s setbacks have come against Hou Skyline (twice), Coast, Wave, Drive Nation, HJV 17 Elite and SynergyForce 17 Jeff. Club V also owns a victory over SynergyForce. Club V has also split a pair of matches with Legacy Girls 17 Pyramid, which earned a bid at the Red Rock Rave but declined accepting it. 9. TAV 17 BLACK Comment: TAV has more losses – 11 – against the Open field than anyone else in the Top 10. 1st Alliance, Drive Nation, Club V and Coast are ones to teams ranked higher here. On the flip side, TAV owns some big victories as well. One of those is against Circle City. TAV also owns a pair of wins against Drive Nation as well. 10. LEGACY 17-1 ADIDAS Comment: Rounding out the Top 10 is Legacy based on the strength of its head-to-head victory over Premier Nebraska. Legacy’s only questionable loss is to MKE Sting 17 Gold, a club Legacy also owns a victory over too. Other setbacks have come to Circle City (three times), 1st Alliance, Coast, Sunshine, Dynasty and Hou Skyline. Legacy has also beaten Sunshine this season, as well as Metro, Skyline and KC Power. 11. PREMIER NEBRASKA 17 GOLD Comment: Almost half of Premier Nebraska’s losses are to 1st Alliance, which has beaten Premier Nebraska three times. The other setbacks have come to A5, Legacy, Skyline and MAVS KC 17-1. Premier Nebraska does own one victory against a team in the Top 10 in TAV. Some other victories against qualified opponents include MAVS, Dynasty and OT John. 12. AZ REV 17 PREMIER Comment: As we get deeper into the rankings, the results start getting more mixed as well. Some of the better victories for AZ Rev feature Dynasty, Coast and Sunshine (twice). Losses have come against Club V (three times), Sunshine, Drive Nation and Wave, as well as Tstreet, Mintonette m.71 and AZ Storm 17 Elite, a team AZ Rev has defeated as well.   13. MN SELECT 17-1 Comment: Among some of MN Select’s better victories are a pair of wins against Dynasty, plus ones over OT John and KC Power. MN

Read More »

PVL 15s-17s: Under The Radar Players, Plus All-Stars (Part 2)

May 17, 2022

In case you missed it, we released Part 1 of our PVL Under The Radar Players – plus 17s and 16s PVL All-Stars – Monday. Below, you’ll find Part 2. A reminder, the Under The Radar Players are ones we have not written about during qualifying season. The PVL All-Stars were mentioned during qualifying season and are who we would pick if putting together an all-star from PVL competition. 15s PVL All-Stars OH – Kaci Demaria, Surfside OH – Quinn Loper, Tstreet OH – Simone Roslon, Long Beach OH – Ava Poinsett, Coast OH – Mae Kordas, Wave OH – Kianna Greer, Long Beach MB – Kalyssa Blackshear, Long Beach MB – Memphis Burnett, Tstreet RS – Layli Ostovar, Long Beach RS – Keila Gabriel, Wave RS – Olivia Ip, SG Elite S/RS – Ruby Hill, Tstreet S – Isabella Jones, Long Beach S – Ayva Ostovar, Long Beach L – Yuri Park, Wave L – Brooklyn Bowman, Coast L – Molly LaBreche, Surfside *** Under The Radar Players (Part 2) Madi Moore, OH, A4 Volley 17 Joaco – Moore is another six-rotation player with a strong arm. She hits solid ball and can move it around to different spots as well. Payton Tully, RS, A4 Volley 17 Joaco – At 6-0 and a lefty, Tully is continually improving. She puts up a solid block. When she gets a hold of one you can tell as she’s also becoming more of a terminator. Paige Buzzerio, OH, A4 Volley 17 Joaco – A 6-2 Navy commit, Buzzerio’s length presents problems for blockers. She can extend well and sees the court well. That allows her to strike equally well cross court or deep down the line. Holly Hopkins, OH, Balboa Bay 17 Blue – Hopkins, at 6-0, showed flashes of what she can bring. She has a good arm and is getting better at becoming a finisher. Anabel Kotzakov, OH, Balboa Bay 17 Blue – A six-rotation player, Kotzakov is 6-2 and a reliable option on the attack. She has a nice arm and is consistently aggressive with her swings. Kahea Carvalho, S, Seal Beach 17 Black – A bit undersized at 5-9, Carvalho makes up for it with good hands and consistent location. She’s a hard worker with a calming presence who knows how to run an offense. Addison Klunder, RS, Actyve 17 Black – Somewhat undersized at 5-10, Klunder was taking some aggressive swings. She has a solid arm and wasn’t afraid to go at bigger blocks.   Milani Lee, S/RS, Legacy Girls 17 Pyramid – Lee is part of a 6-2 system. She’s consistently on point with her location and can run tempo sets at times too. At 5-11, she’s not the tallest attacker but doesn’t overdo it and plays within herself. Aubry Beaver, OH, Temecula Viper 17 Poyer – A 6-0 Cal State Fullerton recruit, Beaver is a key component in the Viper lineup. She’s a six-rotation outside with the ability to score from the back row and showed to be a steady passer out of serve receive. Ashley Li, OH, Tstreet 17 Asics – We only saw Li once at the very beginning of the season. She’s a four-star recruit committed to Cal. At 6-3, she’s lanky with a very good arm that has her delivering pace on her swings. Hayden Lin, S, SCVC 16 Roxy – At 5-5, Lin is an undersized setter but she runs the offense well. She has soft hands and a great touch and rarely misses her spot. Kendall Beshear, OH, SCVC 16 Roxy – Beshear, at 5-10, is a really good all-around outside. She’s a smart attacker with a big arm. She passes and defends very well in the back row and is a glue piece for SCVC. Chloe Hynes, MB, SCVC 16 Roxy – Hynes has upside to her game. She’s a 6-0 middle but can play on the pins as well. Her swing is smooth and she can play some in the back row as well. Taylor Deckert, L, SCVC 16 Roxy – A freshman playing up, the more there is to see of Deckert the more there is to like. She doesn’t appear to get rattled and is a steady, reliable defender and passer. Sade Ilawole, S, Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar – Ilawole allows Beach to run a 6-2 if it wants, depending on the match ups. She’s quick with steady placement. Katrina Catalan, RS, Temecula Viper 16 Mauro – At 5-8, Catalan is undersized on the right. Still, she is strong with a powerful swing. She’s aggressive and doesn’t back down from bigger blockers. Molly McCluskey, RS, Tstreet 16 Carson – A three-star recruit, this 6-3 lefty right side has lots of potential. She touches 9-11 and can already go over blocks. She has a good swing and will add more and more power as she continues to develop. Lauren Coady, MB, Tstreet 16 Carson – A 6-2 freshman playing up, Coady is another one with lots of upside. She has a nice swing and connected on a few balls well. She’s going to be a great option as she keeps learning and growing. Ella Irwin, OH, Tstreet 16 Carson – A six-rotation outside, at 5-11 Irwin was showing what she brings to the court. She has a quick swing that generates good pace. She can also attack out of the back row to help open up the offense. Manaia Ogbechie, MB, Oaks 15 Gold – Ogbechie is a prospect. She’s 6-1 and already touching 10-0. She hits with power. She has the skill set to potentially move to the pin. Sarah Shaw, MB, Oaks 15 Gold – Shaw, at 6-1, is another with tremendous upside. She carries a smooth swing and has the ability to play in the back row as well. She too could be a future pin. Kelsey Kim, OH, SG Elite 15 Rosh – An undersized outside at 5-9, Kim plays a pivotal role. She takes a lot of swings. Though

Read More »

PVL 15s-17s: Under The Radar Players, Plus All-Stars

May 16, 2022

vballrecruiter.com spent the past weekend at the Premier Volleyball League 15s-17s championships. As for team results, Tstreet 15 Curtis defeated Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar in the 15 Premier final. In the 16 Premier final, Wave 16 Brennan downed Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar. Wave 17 Juliana topped Club V 17 Ren Reed in the 17 Premier final. Club V was visiting from Utah and isn’t a normal participant of the PVL. Congrats to the overall winners! Meanwhile, our Saturday and Sunday was filled watching players we have not written about this year during qualifier action. Thus, these players have flown under the radar until now! We present our list in two parts. The first part is below. The second part is to be released Tuesday. However, we didn’t stop there. We also came up with a PVL All-Star team for the 15s, 16s and 17s. You can find the 17s and 16s below. The 15s will come out in Tuesday’s Part 2. 17s PVL All-Stars *** 16s PVL All-Stars *** Under The Radar Players (Part 1) Clara Cronin, Libero, Encore 17 Kalekonas – We hadn’t seen Cronin in action until this past weekend. She was passing well out of serve receive when targeted, which wasn’t very often. She was also picking up cross court shots well and extending rallies. She brings great energy and communicates well. Ava-Marie Lange, RS, Sunshine 17 LA – A 6-2 outside/right side committed to Harvard, Lange was part of the Sunshine 18 LA team that won gold in Phoenix. She has a strong arm and is a smart hitter who attacks defenses in various ways. Catherine Maffei, MB, Sunshine 17 LA – A bit undersized at 5-11, Maffei provides much-needed stability in the middle. She has good timing on her blocks and is heady enough to score against bigger ones. Fatimah Hall, S/RS, Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar – A 5-9 three-star SDSU commit, Hall plays a vital role. She’s a solid setter with the ability to run a 5-1. She’s also able to hit across the front row in a 6-2 and has a powerful arm. Silina Damuni, S, Club V 17 Ren Reed – A 5-9 BYU commit, Damuni is part of a 6-2 package. She has a soft touch and a smooth jump set. Kalia Kohler, S, Club V 17 Ren Reed – A three-star recruit, Kohler remains uncommitted. Her location is consistent and she can set behind her well. She also does a good job of mixing her sets up to get all her hitters involved. Maia Niemen, OH, Tstreet 17 Naseri – A 5-10 three-star recruit, Niemen was carrying a good portion of the attack as Tstreet was playing short-handed. She’s a six-rotation mainstay in the lineup who can pass and score with smart shot selection. Sophia Stalcup, OH, Tstreet 17 Naseri – Stalcup was part of the 18s this season and has since moved down. She’s 6-2 and committed to West Point. She brings physicality to the lineup and has a strong arm. Milan Bayless, OH, Coast 17-1 – Bayless – who is committed to Colgate – is a glue piece for Coast. She’s not necessarily a featured part of the offense but she’s a very capable scorer and plays well across the back row passing and defending. Lily Dwinell, OH, Wave 17 Juliana – A former middle, Dwinell has proven she can be a reliable option on the outside. The Colorado commit is a steady presence in a Wave lineup that features plenty of offensive options. Saniyah Sobers, L, Rancho Valley 16 Premier – A freshman playing up, Sobers flashed definite potential. She plays with high-energy and can fly around the court trying to keep plays alive. Sarai Ross, MB, Rancho Valley 16 Premier – A bit undersized at 5-11, Ross showed her upside. While she wasn’t getting set a lot while we watched, when she did she delivered with some power. Danica Rach, OH, City Volleyball 16 Gold – Rach, at 6-1, is a key contributor as a six-rotation player. She’s lanky with a really good swing and ability to beat defenses in different ways. Isabella Marrero, L, City Volleyball 16 Gold – A three-star recruit, Marrero isn’t a flashy libero but rather steady with accurate passing. She was seemingly in the right spot most of the times to make the play she needed to. Havyn Rolle, MB, City Volleyball 16 Gold – At 5-10, Rolle isn’t the tallest middle but she can jump well and has a fluid swing. She also provides some versatility as she can play on the right side as well. Ximena Cordero, OH, Coast 16-1 – This 5-10 outside has a good variety of shots. She can beat defenses with off speed rolls or physical swings to the corners. Ashley Repetti, OH, Seal Beach 16 Black – A big strength of Seal Beach is the reliability of their outsides. Repetti, a freshman playing up, is surely part of that. She’s a steady passer and smart attacker who can carry the offense along at times. Haylee LaFontaine, OH, Seal Beach 16 Black – A 6-0 outside, LaFontaine is a big contributor. She has a strong arm and hits with good pace. Dani Sparks, S, Seal Beach 16 Black – A setter in Seal Beach’s 6-2, Sparks has great hands. She delivers consistent sets and can move the ball around well when in system. Madison Snow, OH, Temecula Viper 15 Costa – Snow is a big key for Viper. A six-rotation outside, she’s the team’s best offensive option with her smarts and strong swing. Melanie Hewlett, S/RS, Temecula Viper 15 Costa – Part of a 6-2, Hewlett’s a very strong setter. She has nice hands and great touch. She consistently put the ball in the window for her hitters. Alison Chapin, S/RS, Temecula Viper 15 Costa – Also part of the 6-2 Viper runs, Chapin’s strength is the offense she brings when front row. She has a strong arm and is able

Read More »