The decisions are in. USAV has officially announced the eight at-large selections for the 15 Open Division at nationals, and as always, it brings a mix of validation, debate and a tough omission. With eight bids available, this year offered more flexibility than most. But nonetheless, there’s always going to be teams which felt deserving and were left out. I think the selections were solid and check out. To me, there was really only one debate and I’ll get to that. First, I want to breakdown the eight recipients and why they were selected. Here are the eight picks: Iowa United 151 Elite AVC Cle 15 Red Mintonette Sports m.51 NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami HPSTL 15 Royal A5 15-1 Kelly MODE 15 National Nebraska Elite 15 Apex Let’s break down why each one earned their spot. A5 15-1 Kelly The No-Brainer Selection. Finishes: 5th Sunshine; 6th NEQ; 9th Salt Lake; 12th Big South Average finish: 8th Record vs Open: 14–15 (29 matches) If there was ever a lock in this process, it was A5. The résumé is elite. A5 played one of the toughest schedules in the country, stacked up 14 wins against Open-qualified teams and consistently finished in the top tier of major qualifiers. If there were only one at-large bid available, A5 gets it with no debate. With eight? This was automatic. *** Iowa United 151 Elite Consistent and Competitive. Finishes: 7th Northern Lights; 9th Sunshine Record vs Open: 4–5 A near .500 mark against Open competition paired with multiple Top-10 finishes should have been enough to get Iowa United in and it was. If there were only a few bids available, I think Iowa United’s case was as strong as anybody’s outside of A5. *** AVC Cle 15 Red Enough Wins, Just Enough Results. Record vs Open: 6–11 Top finish: 9th MEQ Other finishes: 21st Windy City, 25th Sunshine I wouldn’t have considered AVC Cle a lock or an automatic, even with eight bids. Sometimes you just don’t know how things are going to play out. I wouldn’t have been surprised either way with what happened with this group. Going 6-11 against the Open field, especially compared to other hopefuls, was a solid mark. Finishing 9th at MEQ also helped with AVC’s argument. It was finishing in the 20s at Windy City and Sunshine that would have made me a little nervous if I was AVC. *** MODE 15 National Efficiency Over Volume. Finishes: 5th West Coast; 9th PNQ Record vs Open: 3–6 I think the two Top-10 finishes carry weight. If there were only a handful of bids, this might not be enough. But in a year with eight openings, there’s definitely a case to be made for MODE to have been picked. *** HPSTL 15 Royal Rewarding the Grind. Record vs Open: 6–16 (22 matches) Finishes: 5th MEQ; 5th Boston; 13th Show Me; 15th Windy City Average finish: 9.5 HPSTL took on a loaded schedule and didn’t shy away from competition. I think that should be rewarded. And while the record against Open competition isn’t eye-popping, the six victories is still more than others in the conversation. That, combined with finishing 5th at Boston and MEQ, propelled HPSTL to one of the eight bids. *** NE Elite 15 Apex One Match Away Matters. Finishes: 6th Big South; 6th Northern Lights; 15th Salt Lake Record vs Open: 3–14 I think finishing 6th at Big South was it for NE Elite. NE Elite lost the fifth-place match and just missed qualifying by one spot as a result. I never see a problem with a team receiving an at-large when that scenario happens. It’s certainly not a guarantee that it will happen. Because if there were say only three at-larges, I don’t think NE Elite gets in. And while 3-14 isn’t a great mark against the Open field, it is reflective of playing a competitive schedule, which I like to see as well. *** Mintonette Sports m.51 Big Performances at Big Events Record vs Open: 3–19 (22 matches) Finishes: 9th Sunshine; 9th NEQ; 10th Windy City; 19th Salt Lake The 3-19 record against the field doesn’t scream success, but it does shout competitive schedule. And not only did Mintonette play a tough schedule, it did finish in the Top 10 three times and that should matter a lot. *** NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami The “Almost Qualified” Factor. Record vs Open: 1–9 Finish: 3rd Northern Lights Again, finishing one spot away from qualifying outright could be the difference between NKYVC getting picked or not. The 1-9 record against Open teams doesn’t stand out. And I would have been very nervous if I was NKYVC about getting picked. At the same time, I don’t see an issue when a team coming that close receives an at-large. *** The Notable Omission AZ Sky 15G Record vs Open: 4–8 Finishes: 5th (Red Rock), 9th (PNQ), 14th (Far Western) This was somewhat of a surprise to me. There’s a chance AZ Sky turned down the bid. It happens. But if that wasn’t the case, there’s no doubt this one stings if you are AZ Sky. There’s always going to be debate and this year AZ Sky came out on the wrong side of it. The 4-8 record against the field is solid. So is finishing 5th at Red Rock and 9th at PNQ. What probably kept AZ Sky out of the field is NE Elite and NKYVC both were one win away from qualifying, and MODE beat AZ Sky head-to-head at PNQ. *** Final Takeaways Other than the case around AZ Sky, I think the selections were on point. Teams seemed like they were rewarded for playing tough schedules, which I love. It seems others got in based on high-end finishes, which is great. And in a couple of cases, being one match away from qualifying appeared to make the difference, which I have zero issues with. This the reality of the at-large process.
