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There was an overwhelming collection of talented players who spent three days competing at the USAV 18s Girls Junior National Championships this past weekend in Phoenix. With so many stars around it’s not an easy task standing out. Below, vballrecruiter.com highlights the top setters we watched in action throughout the weekend. Bergen Reilly, Kairos 18 Elite – The Nebraska commit is silky smooth and moves the ball around to all her hitters effortlessly. A junior who is a five-star recruit, Reilly has great hands, a calming demeanor and the ability to make the players around her better. Sophie Skinner, 501 Volley 18 National – Part of last season’s Under Armour All-America game, Skinner runs a nice offense. She has nice hands and a consistent delivery. Kelly Belardi, Sunshine 18 LA – Few things fire up the Sunshine players like this 5-9 setter delivering a block. It’s not her forte obviously but few can move the ball around with the ease of Belardi. Sunshine passes well and is often in system and that allows Belardi to go to work creating one-on-one looks for her hitters with her soft touch and pin-point delivery. She’s headed to Stanford. Maddie Waak, Hou Skyline 18 Royal – Waak is a 5-11 setter on her way to LSU. She has strong command of the position and how to run an offense. She’s effective getting everyone involved when Hou Skyline is in system. Jordan Karlen, Capital 18 Adidas – An undersized setter at 5-9, Karlen has a smooth delivery and clean sets. She dishes with consistent accuracy to all her hitters. Harmony Sample, S/RS, Madfrog 18 Green – The Notre Dame recruit makes tremendous contributions as a two-way player. She’s a sharp setter with great touch who rarely misses delivering in the hitting window. She’s also a big-time attacker with nice hops and a lively arm to damage defenses with.  Havannah Hoeft, Rage 18 Westside – A Class of 2023 setter, Hoeft is a bit undersized at 5-7 but that doesn’t keep her from being effective. She has nice hands and consistently puts her hitters in good spots to score. She’s adept at moving the ball around and not over relying on any one hitter. Katie Hurta, S/RS, Adversity 18 Adidas – What a piece to the puzzle Hurta is for Adversity. A 6-1 Penn State commit, she’s a tremendous two-player. She has great hands and a strong sense on defense when she’s setting. She’s also a reliable scoring option with a great swing who can produce some big kills. Ava Sarafa, Mich Elite 18 Mizuno – This four-star recruit who is committed to Kentucky is a junior who was brought up from the 17s roster. She helped form a 6-2 package in Phoenix. She’s super smooth and can keep defenses guessing with her ability to set from different positions and angles. Rosemary Archer, Skyline 18 Royal – A 6-0 Pepperdine commit, Archer is a gamer. She plays hard and is a very consistent setter who rarely misses her location. Mattie Gantt, Madfrog 18 Green – Gantt – a 5-11 University of Texas at El Paso commit – really helped stabilize the setting position for Madfrog. She is part of a 6-2 and has solid hands to go with a strong ability to move the ball around to her various hitters with reliable accuracy. Natalia Hagopian, Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar – A bit undersized at 5-10, this Northeastern recruit spent time running a 6-2 but moved into a 5-1 role later in the year. She was a key part of Beach’s run to the quarters. She does well connecting with all her hitters and keeping defenses off-balanced. Cameron Berger, Vital 18-1 Gold – An at-large recipient, Vital took advantage in reaching the quarters. Another undersized setter at 5-10, Berger is a hustler on the court and shows strong leadership in directing the offense. She’s a Class of 2023 setter committed to Michigan State. Leah Wilton-LaBoy, Absolute Black 18-1 – A 5-9 setter committed to Utah State, Wilton-LaBoy plays with a lot of passion and energy. She’s feisty and knows how to get her hitters involved her smarts and ability to run a wide variety of sets. Addison Beagle, Dynasty 18 Black – On her way to Drake, this 5-11 setter helped Dynasty reach the challenge rounds with her keen sense and sharp location. Dynasty is undersized and needs to run tempo and put its hitters in favorable positions and that’s what Beagle does. Katie Dalton, FRVBC 18-1 Black – At 6-1, Dalton has all the skills to shine at Kansas, where she is signed. She’s tall with nice footwork and a competitive attitude.

It was a fun time in Phoenix witnessing all the seniors wrapping up their club careers at the USAV 18s Girls Junior National Championships. vballrecruiter.com attempted to get to as many teams and players as we could in order to highlight the standouts. Here are the top middle blockers we watched. Mari Singletary, A5 Mizuno 18 Marc – Singletary is an undeniable presence in the front row who can impact matches on both sides of the ball. A 6-5 Texas commit, she touches an unbelievable 10-7. Combined with her agility, she takes up a lot of space at the net and is nearly unstoppable at times. Oluwalademi Ogunlana, HJV 18 Elite – At 5-11, Ogunlana is not the biggest middle of the bunch. Yet, she’s quick and moves well. It makes her a good option on the slide attack, which HJV likes to use her in. She’s headed to Rice.   Olivia Harrison, Rage 18 Westside – A 6-2 middle committed to George Washington, Harrison brings an added dimension to the Rage attack. She gets up quickly and can attack with a vengeance. Her big winners always pump up her teammates. Lucia Scalamandre, Sunshine 18 LA – An Ivy Leaguer who is on her way to Princeton, Scalamandre is an energetic, upbeat 6-2 middle who can often be seen smiling on the court. She touches 10-2, runs an effective slide and makes good reads at the net blocking. Kennedy Hill, Sunshine 18 LA – Northwestern landed a good one in Hill. She’s 6-0 and is very quick both laterally and jumping. Her swing is fast and she can produce some loud and impressive winners with her scoring ability. Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, Madfrog 18 Green – A 6-2 middle committed to Texas AM, Cos-Okpalla is a physical presence whether attacking or defending. She’s strong and can deliver resounding blocks to match her booming kills. Hannah Sherman, Metro 18 Travel – Sherman – a Louisville commit – gets off the ground quickly and has the arm to match. At 6-2, it makes her a difficult cover and defenses often pay the price for being up late against her. Rylie McGinest, Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar – McGinest is 6-1 but plays even longer than that. She has a high contact point and few middles put it down around the 10-foot line as often as this USC commit does. Rhiann Sheffie, Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar – Another 6-1 middle for Beach, Sheffie can be fiery at times, especially after delivering an eye-popping kill. She’s on her way to Long Beach State. Amaya Thomas, OT 18 Felix – A 6-3 Florida commit, Thomas is a game-changer in the middle. She’s long and can put up a big block to slow down attackers with. She can also hit high, which creates difficult angles for defenders to cover. Carter Mogridge, OT 18 Chad – This 6-4 middle is committed to North Carolina. She has a commanding presence in the middle and provides physicality on both sides of the ball. Vanessa Polk, Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite – The more Polk – a 6-2 middle committed to Pepperdine – gets involved the better the results go for Rockwood. Polk was a massive factor in the team’s upset of Coast to reach the top eight. She has a big arm and also a knack for delivering timely blocks. Grace Wuischpard, Absolute Black 18-1 – It’s a different game for Absolute when this 6-3 UC Santa Barbara commit checks in front row. She’s long and touches lots of attacks to help the back row. She’s also effective running the slide which helps open up the offense. Alex Dvorak, PVA 18 Elite – The thing about Dvorak is she just knows how to score. She’s not flashy but she doesn’t need to be with her smarts and ability to read defenses and counter. Serena Nyambio, Legacy 18-1 Adidas – A 6-2 middle committed to Michigan, Nyambio is one of the better middles in class with her ability to play both sides of the ball. She’s physical with a strong arm who can also present a big block.

National champions were crowned across seven divisions at the USAV 18s Girls Junior National Championships on Sunday in Phoenix. Before getting to that, a reminder that vballrecruiter.com will be releasing its standout performers list in the next couple of days featuring players who impressed over the course of our three days there. Some studs who are sure to be included are Skyline 18 Royal outside Emily Hellmuth, Sunshine 18 LA outside Elia Rubin and middle Kennedy Hill, Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar setter Natalia Hagopian and Madfrog 18 Green outside Maya Duckworth. *** As for the gold medals, Sunshine 18 LA capped its almost perfect run through 18 Open by sweeping Madfrog 18 Green in the final. Sunshine lost its only set of the tournament fighting off Skyline 18 Royal in three games in the quarterfinals before downing FC Elite 18 Elite in straight sets in the semis. Madfrog outlasted Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar in its quarterfinal meeting, then upgraded its medal by topping Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite in the semis. FC Elite earned its bronze medal by sweeping surprise Vital 18-1 Gold in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Rockwood Thunder clipped Adversity 18 Adidas in three games in the quarters to secure its bronze. We’ll have more on the 18 Open in the next day or two, as well as the other divisions that played out Sunday. Here’s how those results shook out: 18 National Final: Front Range VBC 18 Black d Alliance 18 Ren 25-20, 24-26, 15-13 Bronzes: MKE Sting 18 Gold; Norco 18 Black *** 18 USA Final: Sunshine 18 Westside d Capital 18 Adidas 25-18, 14-25, 15-12 Bronzes: Roots 18 UA Green; Kairos 18 Adidas *** 18 Liberty Final: GW/TZ 18 Asics d Arsenal 18 Gold 25-21, 25-21 Bronzes: TX Legacy 18 Elite; Elite VBC 18 Gold *** 18 American Final: SA Juniors 18 Adidas d Viper 18-1 25-19, 18-25, 15-5 Bronzes: BVA 18 Mizuno; Hou Skyline 18 Black *** 18 Freedom Final: Coast 18 Rachel d Paramount VBC 18s 25-20, 25-22 Bronzes: Webfoot 18-1 Brian; MJVA 18 Fields *** 18 Patriot Final: SG Elite 18 Rosh d Balboa Bay 18 Blue 25-15, 25-14 Bronzes: Vegas United 18 Navy; NNJ 18 Jason

Day 2 of the USAV 18s Girls Junior National Championships is the most unique day of volleyball of the season. Essentially, the second day of competition in 18 Open begins with 48 teams still in contention – though a few might have been mathematically eliminated the notion remains the same – and ends with eight left and still able to claim the coveted gold medal. There’s nothing else like it. Everyone started the morning trying to break pool and get into the challenge rounds. Then after 16 challenge matches we finally know the quarterfinals. Before continuing, a reminder vballrecruiter.com will have post-tourney coverage which includes our standout players list. Some players who stood out Saturday and are sure to be featured are Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite right side Madison Scheer, Team Indiana Elite 18.1 libero Emma Halter, Circle City 18 Purple outside Courtney Jones and Adversity 18 Adidas S/RS Katie Hurta and libero Gillian Grimes. *** It’s hard to know even where to start. Either with at-large Vital 18-1 Gold winning its pool and making the quarterfinals or the riveting match that saw Madfrog 18 Green sweep and eliminate top-seeded A5 Mizuno 18 Marc in one of the challenge matches. Madfrog, seeded No. 3 overall to start with, dropped a pair of pool matches and took third place based on tiebreakers after finishing in a tie with Adversity 18 Adidas – which also made the quarterfinals – and Gainesville Jrs 18/17. That placed Madfrog in the same challenge group as A5. Madfrog first defeated PVA 18 Elite to set up the showdown with A5. Both PVA – at Triple Crown – and A5 – in Nashville – owned prior victories against Madfrog this season but Madfrog delivered payback, including sweeping A5, 25-23, 26-24, in the highest-level match of the weekend so far. A5 libero Emma Farrell was phenomenal in the loss, while outside Maya Duckworth was outstanding for Madfrog. Duckworth made the play of the match when she dove into the Madfrog bench for a save that led to Madfrog going up 25-24 in the second set. Madfrog faces Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar in one quarterfinal match. Long Beach finished behind Skyline 18 Royal in its pool and reached the top eight by beating both SASVBC 18-1 and OT 18 Chad in challenge round action. Vital, meanwhile, came out on top of Pool 6 after going 4-1 and earning the head-to-head tiebreaker over Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite, which was also 4-1. Vital then took care of AVC Cle Rox 18 Red in its challenge match to reach the quarterfinals. The Minnesota club entered as the No. 37 overall seed and was one of four teams to receive an at-large bid into the field. Vital has just two players over six-feet on its roster – middle Kendall Minta and outside Lilly Wachholz. Also, setter Cameron Berger is the lone junior on the roster. Vital goes against FC Elite 18 Elite in the quarters. FC Elite ended on top of Pool 3 and needed to win only one round of challenge action as a result. FC Elite eliminated at-large Circle City 18 Purple in challenge play to remain in the hunt. Rockwood Thunder joined the top eight after beating Absolute Black 18-1 in three sets in its first challenge outing then sweeping Coast 18-1 in its next one. Coast was undefeated at 5-0 after winning its pool. Rockwood Thunder draws Adversity in its quarterfinal. Adversity had quite the Day 2. First it upset Madfrog in pool play, then earned a shot at the quarterfinals by downing MN Select 18-1 in its first challenge meeting. That set up a clash with No. 4 overall seed Hou Skyline 18 Royal. Adversity didn’t let up, pulling out the victory in three games as Hurta finished it off with a powerful kill. The last quarterfinal contest features Skyline and Sunshine 18 LA. Both are undefeated so far. Skyline got past Team Indiana 18.1 in its challenge match. Sunshine clipped Rage 18 Westside, 25-23, 25-23, in its challenge round. *** There’s an interesting twist to the 18 Open format and the challenge rounds that we don’t see in the younger Open divisions. In the younger ages the top 16 advance to the challenge rounds and play one match for a spot in the quarterfinal. With 18 Open, 24 teams break pool play and the eight pool winners receive byes. The second and third-place teams in pool play an earlier challenge match with the first-place teams awaiting the winners. While it might seem advantageous to receive the bye, the feeling here is that it actually might be better to play in the earlier match simply because of the long wait time the pool winners have to deal with. Most everyone in 18 Open is done by noon on Saturday with pool play. The pool winners aren’t scheduled to play again until 7pm, while the first challenge matches go off at 5pm. The thinking here is that it can be better to get that 5pm match in and loosen up some while the first-place teams sit around and wait a long time. The results were evenly split Saturday night, with four-first place winners losing challenge matches and four of them winning. A5, Hou Skyline, OT Chad and Coast were the unfortunate ones. Vital, Skyline, FC Elite and Sunshine survived, but even Sunshine wasn’t as sharp as normal against Rage. There might be something there. There might not be. It’s just something of interest to think about.

Two of the top seeds looked like expected powerhouses on Day 1 of the USAV 18s Junior Nationals Championships. A couple other top seeds didn’t. Plus, there was one team which really surprised. We’ll get to all that in a moment, but first vballrecruiter.com will have post-tournament coverage as well that will include our standout players list. Some of the best we saw in action Friday who are sure to be recognized include FC 18 Elite libero Saige Damrow, A5 Mizuno 18 Marc libero Emma Farrell, Madfrog 18 Green S/RS Harmony Sample, Rage 18 Westside middle blocker Olivia Harrison and PVA 18 Elite outside Ava Martin. *** Top-seeded A5 Mizuno 18 Marc and No. 2 overall seed Sunshine 18 LA performed on Day 1 like two clubs destined to meet up in the 18 Open championship when the final day of competition rolls around in Phoenix. Sunshine was virtually untouchable, posting a 1.5957 points ratio in going 3-0. A5 wasn’t far behind with a points ratio of 1.303 in also moving to 3-0. Coast 18-1, the No. 5 seed, was the only other one in the ballpark of those numbers with a 1.2016 points ratio in pushing to 3-0. Two other tops seeds, however, stumbled Friday and the left door open for opponents to take first place in those respective pools. Third-seeded Madfrog 18 Green was bested by FC Elite 18 Elite in its final match of the day to fall to 2-1. FC Elite is 3-0 and only needs a victory over either Gainesville Jrs 18/17 or Premier Nebraska 18 Gold on Day 2 to clinch first place in Pool 3. Fourth-seeded Hou Skyline 18 Royal was upended by Rage 18 Westside in its first outing and finished 2-1. While a big victory for Rage, the Nor Cal club couldn’t fully capitalize and finished 2-1 after going down to Excel National 18 Red in its last contest. The biggest surprise of the day was neither Madfrog nor Hou Skyline losing however. That honor went to SASVBC 18-1. The Hawaiian team is playing short-handed and is missing star outside and Texas commit Devin Kahahawai, plus outside Maui Robins, right side Lucky-Rose Williams, both liberos in Payton Oliveira and Jaelyn Tang, and half of its 6-2 setting duo in Jaclyn Matias. Still, SAS managed to go 3-0 as the top seed in Pool 6 as Nicanora Clarke moved from right side to outside to help fill the void. Tanea Loa also filled in at outside, while Alyssa Kamealoha stepped in at libero as SAS defeated Legacy 18-1 Adidas, Top Select 18 Elite and KC Power 18-1. In Pool 4, all teams are within one game of each other, as Rage, Hou Skyline and Circle City 18 Purple sit at 2-1. Wave 18 Kevin, AZ EVJ 18 Tempe and Excel are 1-2. The top three teams in each pool advance to the challenge rounds that begin Saturday evening, so a lot is still to be determined in that pool. But Pool 4 wasn’t even the wildest pool of the day. It was Coast’s pool that was. Coast was perfect followed by Rage 18 Cory at 2-1. Yet, Tri-State 18 Elite, Northern Lights 18-1, Team Indiana 18-1 and VC United 181 Elite are all 1-2. While Coast looks safe to advance, anything goes behind the So Cal club come Saturday. Pool 7 is tight as well. Skyline 18 Royal held its mark as the No. 7 seed and went 3-0. Excel NW 18-1 Rox is 0-3 but the other four are within a game of one another. Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar and OT 18 Felix sit at 2-1. Absolute Black 18-1 and Triangle 18 Black are right behind at 1-2. In Pool 8, Metro 18 Travel – the No. 8 seed – finished 3-0, as did OT 18 Chad, the No. 2 team in the pool. AVC Clev Rox 18 Red also positioned itself well by going 2-1. Dynasty 18 Black – the No. 2 team in Pool 1 – was the only other club to go 3-0 on Day 1. Arizona Storm 18 Thunder missed going 3-0 when it was upset by MN Select 18-1, which pulled into a tie with Storm at 2-1 with the victory in Pool 2. Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite came out strong in Pool 6 but stalled in its final match when it was uprooted by at-large Vital 18-1 Gold. That knocked RT to 2-1 on the day.