JVA West Coast Cup

Back in the gym for a national tournament for the first time since qualifying season ended, it was exciting to see teams preparing for their year-end events. vballrecruiter.com was on hand at the JVA West Coast Cup in Long Beach all three days. We took notes on players who impressed us the most. We start with our right side Show Stoppers from 14-17 Open. 14 Open Sophia Johnson, Wave 14 Brennan – Johnson is 5-3 with a 9-4 approach touch that is pretty impressive. She glides through the air on her approach that makes it impossible to time. She has a quick arm as well. Reagan Wallraff, Arizona Storm 13 Thunder – Blessed with long arms and athleticism is what makes Wallraff tough to defend. She’s dynamic enough to hit with a traditional approach as well as going off one foot. Sara Moyniham, S/RS, Tstreet 14 Carson – A hybrid right side who sets in the back row and hits in the front row, this lefty can stretch the defense and hits both deep angle and line effectively. Camellia Ding, SG Elite 14 Rosh – At 5-10 with a high, strong contact is what makes Ding effective. Add in her court vision and power and she can be unstoppable. Avery Junk, Surfside 14 Legends Jess – A strong lefty with a powerful swing, Junk has no problem hitting through blocks that aren’t ready for her. Caroline Tadder, Coast 14-1 – Tadder has a quick approach that allows her to get to the sets consistently. She can hammer down the line consistently. 15 Open Izzy Romero, Vision 15 Gold – Defenses were having trouble slowing down Romero, who was a key part of the attack for Vision. She was scoring from the left and right side, using her power and aggression to consistently beat defenders. Cadence McDonald, Drive Nation 15 Red – A three-star recruit, McDonald was a valuable piece of the offense. She changed the dynamic of the attack anytime she went across the front row, as Drive Nation looked to get her involved as much as possible with her power and placement.  Raegan Richardson, Arizona Storm 15 Thunder – Richardson – who is a three-star recruit – has shown improvement from season’s start. She carries a big arm and can unleash some eye-popping kills at time. She’s definitely one to keep watch on as she continues to develop. Ashlee Chavez, Dynasty 15 Black – A bit undersized at 5-9, this lefty right side was taking some powerful swings. She was blowing up a few blocks and showing some physicality. Keila Gabriel, Wave 15 Scott – A 6-3 lefty, Gabriel has tremendous upside. She’s tall enough to go over blocks. Defenses give her attention anytime she’s front row and she’s a key piece in the Wave attack. Stella Dillon, Coast 15-1 – Dillon was brought up from the 2s team to help fill a need on the right side. At 6-0, she adds some much-needed size to the lineup and flashed her potential with some nice kills. 16 Open Kennedy Osunsanmi, 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. Halie McGinest, Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar – McGinest – who stands at 5-11 – had moments where she was ripping the ball and providing key production from the right side. Cymarah Gordon, Momentous 16 Dan – At 6-0 and touching over 10-feet, Gordon is an impact player across the front row. A three-star recruit, she puts up a giant block and can overpower defenders with her physicality when on the attack. Cleo Hardin, Vision 16 Gold – We’ve mentioned Hardin a couple times this season and are doing so once more because this 6-3 pin hitter is an integral part of the offense. A three-star recruit, she has a high ceiling because of her length and ability to score. Addison Collum, Seal Beach 16 Black – Another three-star recruit, Collum is one of those players who gets up and puts it down. She’s a tough cover who swings well and forces defenses to take notice of her. Julia Kakkis, S/RS, Momentous 16 Dan – Kakkis plays a pivotal role as both a setter and hitter. When she catches a ball with her full strength, watch out! At times she can hit as hard as just about anyone in the age group. 17 Open Olivia Babcock, Sunshine 17 LA – A five-star recruit committed to Pitt, Babcock commands attention. She’s 6-2 with a quick arm swing to hit any set. She also possesses excellent footwork and timing as a blocker that would give any outside hitter fits. Ryleigh Patterson, RS/MB, Wave 17 Juliana – At 6-1 and touching over 10-feet, Patterson gets off the floor well and has a great arm to boot. A Harvard commit, she’s a versatile player who can fill in at either middle or right side with the same effectiveness. Ireland McNees, Club V 17 Ren Reed – McNees is undersized at 5-9 but makes up for it as she can touch 10 feet. She’s a strong attacker and also has great timing on her blocks. Olivia Ruy, Club V 17 Ren Reed – A three-star recruit committed to Arkansas, Ruy is a 6-0 right side with a good arm. She can score consistently and helps keep the Club V attack from being too predictable. Noemie Glover, Coast 17-1 – A four-star recruit committed to Oregon, Glover has huge potential to star at the next level. The way she gets up she can hit some incredible shots and angles that keep defenses guessing as to what she’s going to do next. Alexandra Farquhar, Absolute Black 17-1 – A 6-3 lefty right side, Farquhar can cause problems for opposing attackers with her length. She also has a high contact point allowing her to

The 2022 version of the JVA West Coast Cup has come and gone. Sunday ended with champions crowned in 14, 15, 16 and 17 Open. There’s more on those divisions below, plus we’ll have additional coverage in the next couple of days. First, we introduce our Day 3 Show Stoppers. These are 10 players who stood out to us and caught our attention the most Monday. They’ll be included in our extensive post-tournament Show Stopper lists coming out in the next couple of days as well. vballrecruiter.com DAY 3 SHOW STOPPERS Teraya Sigler, OH, Arizona Storm 15 Thunder – This five-star recruit – as she’s done all season – proved to be a difference maker. With her physicality, Sigler is simply overpowering at times. She’s also a solid passer and defender. And she even stepped in and helped set for a bit when Storm lost its starting setter for a short period of time. Cadence McDonald, RS, Drive Nation 15 Red – A three-star recruit, McDonald was a valuable piece of the offense. She changed the dynamic of the attack anytime she went across the front row, as Drive Nation looked to get her involved as much as possible with her power and placement.   Julia Blyashov, OH, Wave 17 Juliana – A five-star and Stanford commit, Blyashov can be memorizing at times. She’s a long 6-3 with great extension and snap. She can blast balls to any part of the court and produces highlight kills on the regular. Torrey Stafford, OH, Sunshine 17 LA – Another five-star recruit, this 6-2 outside is headed to Pitt. Like Blyashov, she delivers highlight kill after highlight kill. Stafford explodes off the ground and with her quick arm swing generates great pace on her shots. Drew Wright, L, Sunshine 17 LA – Wright’s been playing outside for Sunshine but made the move to libero and it paid huge dividends. Wright has been Sunshine’s best-passing pin and took that skill to the libero position. It really helped steady serve receive in addition to her making some big-time saves. Madison Triplett, OH, Coast 16-1 – At 5-9, Triplett is a bit undersized but she came up huge for Coast on Day 3. She hits hard and is aggressive with her attacks. She also came up with a few timely blocks when targeted. Maya Evens, L, Wave 16 Brennan – A three-star recruit, Evens is a smooth defender and passer. Teams rarely go at her in serve receive. She’s also a game-changer in the backrow with her ability to pick up balls and extend rallies. Ryah Brock, OH, Forza North 14 UA – Brock’s ability to hit line effectively rallied her team from down one set to come back and beat AZ Storm 13 Thunder in the semifinal. Swing after swing she gave her team an identity that helped secure a 15-13 win in the third set. Sarah Uebelhoer, OH, Wave 14 Brennan – Down a set with the offense struggling Wave found Uebelhoer to lean on and take them to the finals and eventually the championship. She took all the tough swings to get momentum for her team, scoring on four straight swings during one stretch. Her serving game was on point as she tallied ace after ace and also forced many tough passes from her targets. Presley Thompson, Libero, Wave 14 Brennan – The amount of quality hitters that she faced Day 3 was daunting but Presley was up to the challenge. Watching her dig the heat, then dive for tips and cover half the court was exciting to watch. Add the fact that she went on long serving runs with that great serve, she gave a masterclass on being a stud libero. *** Wave volleyball was involved in the two most compelling championship matches as the JVA West Coast Cup came to a conclusion Monday in Long Beach. In 17 Open, nationally-ranked No. 6 Wave 17 Juliana outlasted No. 20 Sunshine 17 LA in three sets, 23-25, 25-20, 15-12, to cap an undefeated run. Wave – which went 9-0 – dropped just two sets on the weekend. One in the final and one to No. 8 Club V 17 Ren Reed in the semifinals. Sunshine reached the finals by upsetting No. 4 Coast 17-1 in the quarters and No. 5 Drive Nation 17 Red in the semis. Sunshine won both the contests by the same third-set score of 15-12. It was national No. 4 Wave 14 Brennan capturing the 14 Open title after fending off No. 13 Forza1 North 14 UA in the final, 25-18, 21-25, 15-7. It completed an undefeated weekend for Wave, including downing No. 21 Tstreet 14 Carson in three games in the semifinals. It was the only loss for Forza North, which upended No. 17 Arizona Storm 13 Thunder in three in the semis. There was a somewhat surprising champion in 16 Open in Coast 16-1. Coast – which is ranked No. 16 nationally – took care of No. 33 Momentous 16 Dan in straight sets, 25-19, 25-18, in the final. It came after a dramatic victory over No. 4 Wave 16 Brennan in the semis. Coast prevailed in a nail-biter, 21-25, 25-22, 18-16, to hand Wave its only loss. Coast finished 9-0. The only other set it lost was to No. 39 SCVC 16 Roxy to end Day 2 action. Momentous’ loss to Coast was the only one of the weekend for the So Cal club. Momentous – which downed No. 4 Co Jrs 16 Sherri and No. 26 Drive Nation 16 Red on Day 2 – defeated No. 24 OT 16 Roberto and No. 19 Vision 16 Gold on Monday to reach the final. In 15 Open, national No. 1 Arizona Storm 15 Thunder shook off its loss on Day 2 to unranked Seal Beach 15 Black to capture the crown. Storm beat upstart Vision 15 Gold – which fell short of qualifying for Open and is unranked – in the final, 25-14, 25-18. Storm reached

After a slow Day 1 at the JVA West Coast Cup, Day 2 action in Long Beach was anything but! Three top-ranked teams suffered upsets. It set the stage for a wild finish come Day 3. Before getting into the top headlines from Sunday’s play, we first want to highlight our Top 10 Show Stoppers from Day 2. These are the players who stood out to us and they’ll be included in our extensive post-tournament Show Stopper list as well. In case you missed the Day 1 Show Stoppers you can find that here. vballrecruiter.com DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS Fatimah Hall, S/RS, Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar – This three-star recruit and San Diego State commit is an athletic setter who delivers with great tempo. Mixing her athleticism and deception makes her valuable when passes are not in system. Olivia Babcock, RS, Sunshine 17 LA – A five-star recruit committed to Pitt, Babcock commands attention. She’s 6-2 with a quick arm swing to hit any set. She also possesses excellent footwork and timing as a blocker that would give any outside hitter fits. Reese Robins, MB, Drive Nation 17 Red – This five-star recruit and Louisville commit controls the net. She closes her blocks and presses her hands over the net consistently. She also gets in transition and her setter loves to find her for easy kills. Tessa Larkin, OH, Arizona Storm 13 Thunder – With Storm playing up in 14 Open, it allowed Larkin to display her skill set. She’s dynamic and gets off the floor to attack with such ease she makes defending her a tough task. She’s a major weapon from the back row as she hits the bic effectively. Finley Krystkowiak, OH, Wave 14 Brennan – At 6-2, Krystokowiak is the volleyball unicorn. Her height and athleticism makes her play at the net impressive. Yet her passing touch in serve-receive and defense makes her a six-rotation stud. Presley Johnson, OH, Tstreet 14 Carson – Watching this 5-6 outside continually score versus a double block can be attributed to not only her court vision but also her willingness to tool a block. She’s also solid in serve receive and defends the whole court in the backrow. Westley Matavao, OH, Forza North 14UA – Matavao is a solid six-rotation hitter who does everything at such a high level. Her ability to snap on the ball at a high contact point allows her to hit any shot. It makes her a big asset out of the back row too with her jump serve and pipe attack. Mae Kordas, OH, Wave 15 Scott – Kordas was helping power the offense along with her various shots. Using her height to her advantage, she was going over blocks deep to the cross-court corner. Or she was going high hands and tooling blocks regularly. Izzy Romero, RS, Vision 15 Gold – Defenses were having trouble slowing down Romero, who was a key part of the attack for Vision on Day 2. She was scoring from the left and right side, using her power and aggression to consistently beat defenders. *** It was not a good day to be a fourth-ranked team in our national rankings! Co Jrs 16 Sherri and Dynasty 15 Black – each ranked No. 4 in the nation in their respective age divisions – both failed to advance out of Day 2 pools and will miss out on Monday’s gold bracket play. Dynasty fell to No. 23 Wave 15 Scott and No. 14 Coast 15-1 in Pool 2 to finish 1-2 and in third place. Coast won the pool at 3-0 with Wave taking second at 2-1. It was a stunning development to say the least! I mean, who could have predicted it? Dynasty hasn’t finished lower than fifth place in any national tournament this season. It took fifth at Triple Crown; second at both Windy City and Show Me; and first at MEQ. It was equally shocking to see Co Jrs not make the gold bracket in 16 Open. Co Jrs has a first-place showing in Salt Lake City and also grabbed second at NEQ. However, it was No. 26 Drive Nation 16 Red and No. 33 Momentous 16 Dan – which didn’t make Open this year – upsetting Co Jrs in Pool 2. Momentous also topped Drive Nation to finish 3-0. Drive Nation went 2-1 as both advanced. Now wait for this. While Co Jrs and Dynasty not advancing were big deals in how much they impact the overall tournament, neither of them suffered the biggest upset Sunday! That’s how incredible Day 2 was in Long Beach. The most unpredictable result of the season so far was unranked Seal Beach 15 Black sweeping national No. 1 Arizona Storm 15 Thunder in Pool 1 in 15 Open. If anybody said they saw this coming they are lying!! Storm’s loss to Seal Beach was only its third this season against teams in its own age division. Dynasty took down Storm at Triple Crown while Aspire 15 Premier beat Storm during regional action. So this was only the second time Storm lost all season on a national stage. How crazy is that? Here’s the kicker though. Storm still won its pool and enters Monday’s gold bracket as the top seed despite the wild dramatics. That’s because Storm finished in a two-way tie at 2-1 with No. 46 OT 15 Meg and took first based on their head-to-head result. Of the nationally-ranked teams in 15 Open, No. 20 Tstreet 15 Curtis joins Dynasty in missing the eight-team gold bracket. Tstreet fell to both No. 11 Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar and No. 15 Absolute Black 15-1. The other ranked team in the final eight not mentioned yet is No. 21 Drive Nation 15 Red. With 14 nationally-ranked teams in 16 Open and only 10 spots in Monday’s gold bracket, some were guaranteed to miss the cut. Joining Co Jrs in missing out are No. 17 Arizona Storm 16 Thunder, No. 23 SG

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.

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

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