Big South

Without doubt the most exciting bid chase took place in 15 Open as the Big South Qualifier wrapped Sunday in Atlanta. Top Select 15 Elite, Mich Elite 15 Mizuno and AZ Sky 15 Gold were the fortunate trio taking home bids. OT 15 Randy – which opened as the No. 1 seed – held firm and finished ahead of everyone after defeating HPSTL 15 Royal in the 15 Open final. It was a strong back-to-back performance for HPSTL, which earned its bid last weekend at Show Me before finishing runner up at Big South. As we mentioned in our Day 2 recap all three bids were already known in 16 Open entering the last day as OT 16 Will, Gainesville 16 Black and Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite punched tickets to Nationals by making the gold pools. Triangle 16 Black wound up on top of the field Sunday, sweeping past Wave 16 Brennan in the championship match. In 17 Open, Wave 17 Juliana swept A5 Mizuno 17 Jing for the trophy. The qualifying spots were known before the conclusion of those gold pools with bids going to CHAVC 17-1, CUVC 17 Premier and Mich Elite 17 Mizuno. As for 15 Open, with four, three-team gold pools playing out on Day 3 previously-qualified OT and HPSTL helped create trickle down to fifth place. Both took first in their respective pools to make the four-team gold bracket. Mich Elite topped A5 Mizuno 15 Bob in three sets to claim its pool, making the top four and locking up its bid. The last pool was full of drama as GP 15 Rox – which already had its bid – Top Select and Next Level 15-1 tied at 1-1. They also shared the same set percentage, so we saw rare one-game playoffs take place between the three teams. Should GP have prevailed and made the gold bracket, trickle down would have extended to sixth place. That meant the four teams in the silver bracket could clinch a bid by winning their semifinal contests. That would have been too simple though and so GP obliged in the dramatics and went down to Top Select in the first sprint to 15. Next Level was waiting, with the winner getting its bid. And with GP out of the silver bracket as well now, the loser would join three others in the must-win-it-all silver bracket for the final bid. Top Select topped Next Level to earn its bid and set the stage for a four-team playoff between A5, AZ Sky, Next Level and Waves 15 Elite Rox. A5 downed Waves while AZ Sky outlasted Next Level in three to make the silver final. There, AZ Sky swept A5 to complete a long day of volleyball that was well worth the wait as the bid race was finally concluded. There was almost a set of one-game playoffs in 17 Open but almost was as close as we got. Top Select 17 Elite lost a key three-setter to CHAVC earlier in Pool 1 and that victory set CHAVC up nicely for a bid. But before CHAVC could fully celebrate it needed OT 17 John to defeat Top Select. Top Select still had a couple of options to bid at that point. It could have swept OT John to pick up a bid that way – assuming A5 beat CHAVC. Or if Top Select could beat OT in three, and A5 could sweep CHAVC, there would be a three-way tie at 1-2. In that scenario, Top Select, OT and CHAVC also would have tied in set percentages and that would have led to a couple of one-game playoffs. There’s a lot of ifs here, to be sure, but if that would have happened and OT would have finished fourth in the pool, it would have brought the fifth-place match into play for the final bid. All that created some tense moments as OT and Top Select started the third set of their contest. OT came out on top, which eliminated Top Select from qualifying and awarded CHAVC its bid. And with it, no one-game playoffs. Pool 2 wasn’t nearly as exciting, though Mich Elite – which finished in third place – was also hoping OT could pull through to keep things simple. When OT won, Mich Elite had its bid. CUVC also had its bid by taking second behind Wave. No Name 17-1 was the fourth-place finisher in that pool. Though the bids were already decided in 16 Open before play began, there was fun in watching the championship fight play out. Wave needed three sets to get past OT 16 Jason in their final pool match to reach the final. A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe was not as fortunate, as it dropped a three-setter to Triangle that helped shaped the title match. We’ll have more from the weekend in the next few days, including our standout players list as well as more from the champions and bid winners.

Before Saturday evening’s gold pools started in 16 Open, the three available bid recipients were already known. We’ll get to that shortly. Bids are still on the line in both 15 and 17 Open when Day 3 commences Sunday. vballrecruiter.com will have more coverage from the three-day event in days ahead, including our substantial standout players list. Some athletes we saw on Day 2 that you’re likely to find featured on that list include BVA 15 Mizuno outside hitter Kelly Kinney, Next Level 15-1 outside hitter Elena Maynulet and Triangle 15 Black setter/RS BreAnna McMillan. Also sure to be included is Top Select 16 Elite libero Mayte Camacho, Club V 16 Ren Wayne middle blocker Zoey Burgess and OT 16 Jason setter Taylor Parks. For now, we bring you three points of interest from Day 2. ALL WRAPPED UP Of course, the championship is yet decided in 16 Open. As are the final placings. But we need not wait any longer to know which clubs are leaving the Big South Qualifier with their bids. OT 16 Will, Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite and Gainesville Jrs 16 Black all punched their tickets to Nationals later this season by virtue of making the top eight. With A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe, Triangle 16 Black, Top Select, Wave 16 Brennan and OT Jason all making the gold pools and having their bids, the three remaining participants are guaranteed of qualifying regardless of their finish Sunday. It was up in the air as to whether or not all three bids would be awarded in 16 Open. However, both OT 16 Roberto and Club V 16 Ren Wayne were eliminated from Pool 4 in Round 2 as Triangle and Rockwood Thunder advanced. It seemed likely that with three teams in Pool 4 with bids, two would advance and that would possibly make for six teams with bids in the gold pools and only leave room for two bids to go out.  But now we know no bids will go back into the at-large pool from Big South. THIRD OR BETTER The way the 17 Open gold pools started off Saturday evening the odds are very much in favor of unqualified teams getting their bids if they can finish in third place or better in their respective gold pool. A5 Mizuno 17 Jing and OT 17 John picked up victories to open play in Pool 1. Wave 17 Juliana took its opening match in Pool 2. All three are previously qualified and should finish in the top six unless some crazy stuff happens Sunday morning. That would mean three of the remaining five teams would claim bids. Top Select 17 Elite, CHAVC 17 Black, No Name 17-1, CUVC 17 Premier and Mich Elite 17 Mizuno are all alive to qualify. Top Select and CHAVC are in Pool 1 together and it’s very likely going to come down to their head-to-head match in the 2 v 3 meeting as to which team gets a bid. Wave is favored to win Pool 2, which is more in flux. Mich Elite defeated No Name in three sets to open play Saturday evening, while CUVC fell to Wave. The team that finishes in last place in the pool has no way of qualifying. All three still have a path to a bid but only two of those three in Pool 2 can qualify. One result of note from Round 2 pool play was Wave beating OT John in straight sets in a matchup of two qualified teams. Another note came from Pool 3, where No Name upset Top Select to create a three-way tie at 2-1 with Paramount VBC 17-1. That was a huge victory for No Name, which ended up winning the pool instead of finishing in third and missing gold play with a loss. Top Select was second with Paramount losing out on the tiebreaker edge and taking third. LET’S PLAY TWO The format was much different in 15 Open, where there were six, three-team pools. That meant teams only played two matches Saturday instead of the typical three. All three clubs with bids – OT 15 Randy, HPSTL 15 Royal and GP 15 Rox – that were still in Round 2 survived to make the gold pools, which consist of four, three-team pools on Day 3. Should two or more win their respective pools and make the gold bracket, then it’ll bring the silver bracket into play for qualifying. However, if only one of the three make the gold bracket, there will be no need for the silver bracket. Of course, if none make the gold bracket, teams that do make the gold bracket will have to win at least one more match to qualify once there. Two of the best performances in Round 2 came from Academy 15 Diamond and Next Level 15-1. Academy came through as the No. 2 team in Pool 2 after downing Elevation 15 Crofton in the 1 v 2 match. No Name 15-1 had already defeated Elevation in the 1 v 3 match, so Elevation was eliminated while Academy won the pool and No Name took second. Next Level was the No. 3 team in Pool 6 but went 2-0 with victories over BVA 15 Mizuno and Jupiter Elite 15. BVA went 1-1 to make it out as well.

In a lot of ways it was a slow-going opening day at the Big South Qualifier in Atlanta. That doesn’t mean the action passed without anything uneventful happening though. Two top seeds were bounced from contention in their respective divisions, with both holding bids already and reducing the possible trickle down along with it. Also, we’ll have plenty more when the tournament concludes, including our substantial standout players we watched throughout the weekend. A few that are sure to make the list are Top Select 17 Elite setter/RS Nayelis Cabello, Wave 17 Juliana libero Koko Kirsch and A5 Mizuno 17 Jing outside hitter Jurnee Robinson. Others include SC Midlands 16 National middle Christina Greene, Miami Hype 16 Emilio right side Sarah Schnell and GP 15 Rox outside Victoria Hill. Below, we write about three talking points from Day 1. WAVE GOODBYE As usual, the biggest storyline from Day 1 of any qualifier is upsets. Friday at Big South, there were few to speak of but there was one big one that could potentially have big ramifications. In 15 Open, No. 2 overall seed Wave 15 Scott was eliminated from contention after going 1-2. Elevation 15 Crofton and Next Level 15-1 scored upsets over Wave and with it one of the four teams with bids already in the division was knocked out. In terms of trickle down, that now means it can go no lower than sixth place as OT 15 Randy, HPSTL 15 Royal and GP 15 Rox are the ones left with bids. Wave had qualified two weekends ago at the Red Rock Rave in Las Vegas, where it took fourth place. It earned Wave a high seed in Atlanta but the So Cal club won’t factor into the rest of the results here. The rest of the division played out relatively in order. The other noteworthy occurrence came in Pool 7, a three-team pool where all three clubs ended up moving onto Day 2. Jupiter 15 Elite took first place, with Top Select 15 Elite in second and Academy 15 Diamond in third. Top Select and Academy both needed to win crossover matches though to advance and both did so to remain in the hunt. MORE UPSETTING NEWS Playing in consecutive qualifiers presents its challenges but even then it was hard to predict what happened in 17 Open on Friday. Overall sixth-seed Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite was upset in Pool 6 by both Mich Elite 17 Mizuno and No Name VBC 17-1 and won’t be in contention the rest of the way. While Rockwood Thunder is sure to be disappointed, the team did earn its bid last weekend at Show Me so it won’t have an impact on RT’s qualifying hopes. However, it could have implications for the rest of the 17 Open division in Atlanta. Rockwood Thunder was one of four teams with bids but like 15 Open now only three remain so trickle down can’t go past sixth place. Still alive with bids are A5 Mizuno 17 Jing, OT 17 John and Wave 17 Juliana. They combined to go 9-0 on Day 1. Yet, with Wave’s opening seed it does make for an interesting Day 2 as both Wave and OT are together in Pool 2. ALMOST PERFECT PECKING ORDER The top teams in their respective pools faired very well in 16 Open. All moved on but one. The lone exception took place in Pool 2. There, the No. 3 team in the pool A5 Mizuno 16 Steve downed Paramount VBC 16-1 in the 2 v 3 match to go 2-1 and move on along with No. 2 overall seed Wave 16 Brennan. The only other result that kept the top 16 seedings from being perfect came in Pool 6. While the top teams in the pool both advanced the result flip-flopped when No. 2 HPSTL 16 Royal defeated No. 1 OT 16 Roberto. OT is coming off a qualifying performance last weekend at Show Me where it clinched its bid. OT and Wave are among seven teams with bids still in the hunt on Day 2. The other five are A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe, OT 16 Jason, Triangle 16 Black, Club V 16 Ren Wayne and Top Select 16 Elite. However, that number is guaranteed to be reduced down to at least six going into gold pools. Triangle, Club V and OT are all in Pool 4 for Round 2 on Saturday, so one is not going to make it out. That means at least two bids are going to get awarded as trickle down can extend to eighth place.