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It only takes one match for things to go boom! And with it, the 16 Open division on Day 2 at the Sunshine Classic took on an entirely unexpected look. The opening round Sunday saw nationally-ranked No. 41 Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal upset No. 1 Legacy 16-1 Adidas in straight sets. The recent Triple Crown champion and newly-appointed top-ranked team in the country in our Top 50 rankings finished in a three-way tie at 2-1 with Tribe and GP 16 Rox. However, Legacy lost out in the tiebreaker because of the head-to-head defeat to Tribe and wound up finishing third, behind first-place GP and second-place Tribe. Legacy had a shot at winning the pool, but needed to sweep GP in the final match but instead pulled it out in three. Joining the shock of Legacy not advancing was Tribe 16 Elite Navy going 3-0 as the No. 3 team in Pool 6. It included upending national No. 13 WPVC 16 Armour Black. STVA 16 Mizuno was another No. 1 seed in its pool to not make Monday’s gold pools. STVA went 0-3 in Pool 5, as A5 16-1 Gabe (3-0) and Triangle 16 Black (2-1) advanced. Mintonette Sports m.61, Skyline 16 Royal and Arizona Storm 16 Thunder all went 3-0 and held their seeds going into Day 3. There was drama in Pool 4 behind Storm’s performance as HJV 16 Elite, Wildfire 16 Open and OT 16 Roberto all went 1-2. HJV took second to stay in bid contention. In 17 Open, the big surprise came out of Pool 3. Nationally-ranked No. 7 Excel 17 National Red had a rough ride, going 0-3 with losses to Legacy 17-1 Adidas, Sky High Adidas 17 Elite and OT 17 Felix. The latter three clubs all tied at 2-1, with Sky High taking first and Legacy second to advance. Arizona Storm 17 Thunder, Skyline 17 Royal, HJV 17 Elite and TAV 17 Black all went 3-0 as No. 1 seeds in their pools. GP 17 Rox also took first as the No. 1 team in Pool 6, but only after finishing in a three-way tie at 2-1 with Circle City 17 Purple and Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar. Long Beach, the No. 4 team, took second based on tiebreakers. AZ Sky 17 Gold and KC Power 17 Black joined Long Beach as moving on as a No. 4 team. AZ Sky went 2-1 in Pool 1 to stay alive. KC Power, the No. 4 team in Pool 4, beat Triangle 17 Black and PVA 17B. *** With teams settling in after opening-day jitters, the action kicked up a notch Sunday. There were difficult pools to navigate and with a chance to stay in contention for bids on the line, the competition was intense. Below, we highlight the players who caught our attention the most with their performances with our Day 2 Show Stoppers. DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS Karis Carpenter L/DS STVA 16 Mizuno: STVA lost all three matches in three sets, with Carpenter providing a boost defensively. She was making digs all over the court and extending rallies. Isabella Umpierre RS WPVC 16 Armour Black: Umpierre – a 3-star recruit – is a heavy-armed right side who shoulders a fair share of the attack. She can hit through or off blocks with consistency. Jolene Oddo MB Triangle 16 Black: Oddo’s length creates all sorts of advantages on her side of the net. She can easily go over blocks and score at will at times. She can also get in the way of attackers with her reach. Nadiya Johnson RS Metro 16 Travel: Johnson – a 5-star recruit – is filled with endless potential. She gets set a ton and for good reason. She can absolutely sky and extends way up in the air to produce highlight kills. Kiley Brooks L/DS Skyline 16 Royal: A 3-star recruit, Brooks was covering the back row with reckless abandon. She brings intensity to the defensive side and was passing well out of serve receive. Lily Rolfes S Arizona Storm 16 Thunder: Rolfes does a nice job directing the attack and moving the ball around. It helps keep the defense guessing. She also does well going behind her and going against the flow. Hayden Conner MB Arizona Storm 16 Thunder: Conner – a 3-star recruit – is part of a strong middle group for Storm. She has a strong arm and can power shots down with authority. Brooke Harwood MB Arizona Storm 16 Thunder: A 5-star recruit, Harwood is more than a handful in the middle. She runs a really effective slide attack that opponents have a tough time slowing down. Eva Long S Legacy 16-1 Adidas: Long – a 4-star recruit – showed consistent location. She connects very well with both of her middles and runs a balanced offense. Jenelle Legates S Vision 16 Gold: Legates has a nice touch and release. She sets a clean ball and did well getting her feet in position. *** Isabella Sohl S HPSTL 16 Royal: Sohl is a feisty setter who did well guiding the attack and moving the ball around. Bennett Raterman MB HPSTL 16 Royal: Raterman – a 5-star recruit – is a presence in the middle on both sides of the ball. She puts up a very strong block. She is also an effective scorer who can hurt defenses in a variety of ways. Amaya Love OH HJV 16 Elite: Love is an athletic outside with lots of potential. She can extend and hit at a high contact point and is one of the featured parts of the attack. Marianne Garcia L/DS AZ Sky 16G: Garcia is a quick libero who covers lots of ground. She was solid out of serve receive and putting the ball on target. Gracison Saylors MB A5 16-1 Gabe: Saylors was making an impact in the middle. She was delivering when called upon and showed she’s a reliable scoring option. Gabby Nichols MB Triangle 17 Black: Nichols – a 4-star Penn

There are different ways at looking at an event like the Sunshine Classic. One way is coming off the Triple Crown weekend two weeks ago and with no events in between, the opening day here in Orlando could feel like somewhat of a letdown. On the other hand, the results on the first day of Triple Crown didn’t really matter to those in power pools and the same couldn’t be said at Sunshine. Plenty of hopefuls arrived aiming for one of the three available Open bids in the 16s and 17s division and of those 48-team fields, already half have been eliminated. One of the most entertaining and toughest pools on Day 1 came In Pool 1 for 16 Open. It featured nationally-ranked teams in No. 24 GP 16 Rox, No. 26 Academy 16 Diamond and No. 32 Metro 16 Travel. That’s a brutal pool for the first day and it was Academy Diamond paying the price by going 1-2 and missing out on moving on. GP went 3-0, while Metro went 2-1. Not all was well for another No. 1 seed in their respective pool in TVC 16 Black. Coming off its third-place finish at Central Zone in early February, No. 35 TVC was the No. 5 overall seed but fell to STVA 16 Mizuno and Mobile Storm 16 Nat Black won’t be advancing. Those were the only two No. 1 seeds in their pools not to advance. Both No. 41 Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal and No. 25 Vision 16 Gold both went 2-1. Tribe was upended by No. 22 AZ Sky 16G while Vision was topped by No. 30 HJV 16 Elite. Vballrecruiter’s top-ranked team in Legacy 16-1 Adidas, as well as No. 2 Skyline 16 Royal, No. 3 Mintonette Sports m.61, No. 10 Arizona Storm 16 Thunder, No. 13 WPVC 16 Armour Black, No. 14 A5 16-1 Gabe, No. 34 TAV Houston 16 Adidas and No. 47 Team Indiana 16 Elite all went 3-0. In 17 Open, only one No. 1 team in its pool was eliminated from bid contention. That was No. 30 HPSTL 17 Royal. The Gateway Region club went 1-2 on Saturday with losses to Tx Performance 17s and USA South 17 Premier Purple. Another higher-seed not advancing is No. 13 Metro 17 Travel, which finished in a three-way tie at 1-2 with No Name 17 Sarah and Mintonette Sports m.71. Mintonette earned the tiebreaker to move on as the No. 4 team. Nationally-ranked No. 21 Madfrog 17 Green and No. 28 Sky High Adidas 17 Elite both went 2-1 as a No. 1 team and finished second. Excel 17 National Red, ranked No. 7 nationally, also went 2-1 as a No. 1 team but still won its pool. Ranked teams going 3-0 on Day 1 included No. 2 Arizona Storm 17 Thunder, No. 8 Skyline 17 Royal, No. 9 Legacy 17-1 Adidas, No. 10 Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal, No. 15 TAV 17 Black, No. 17 Circle City 17 Purple, No. 23 OT 17 Aaron, No. 33 Triangle 17 Black and No. 37 GP 17 Rox. *** There was plenty of action to get through in the Open divisions as the Sunshine Classic kicked off Saturday at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Coming off covering both Tour of Texas stops, Central Zone and Triple Crown, we turned our attention on Day 1 on teams and players we have yet to cover and/or write about. You can see those who stood out the most to us below with our Day 1 Show Stoppers. DAY 1 SHOW STOPPERS Isabelle Bardin S/RS Metro 17 Travel: A 3-star Purdue commit, Bardin plays a vital role for Metro. While the team finished 1-2 and failed to advance, she was dynamic in her play setting and hitting. She’s a smooth disher with nice hands. She’s also a heady attacker who sees the court well. Lydia Chinchar RS No Name 17 Sarah: Chinchar – a 5-star recruit from the Class of 2027 – is playing up two age groups but you wouldn’t know unless you checked. She has a strong arm, a wide range of shots and is relentless on the attack. Mattea Casale L/DS No Name 17 Sarah: Another Purdue commit, Casale is a 3-star L/DS who brings a lot of tenacity and presence to the back row. She reads and reacts well and is a sound passer out of serve receive. Ella Duong OH Vision 17 Gold: Duong is a bit undersized on the outside but she’s a fun player to watch regardless. She’s a quick jumper with a fast arm and she’s fearless in attacking the block. Emelyn Stettin S/RS Sky High Adidas 17 Elite: Stettin – a Baylor commit – is a two-way contributor. She does well delivering a hittable ball while also being a factor with her scoring prowess. Alexa Haley L/DS PVA 17-B: A Florida Gulf Coast commit, Haley helped PVA go 2-1 and remain in the hunt for a bid. She plays under control and stays calm in tight situations, as well as putting the ball on target out of serve receive. Mariyana Cardwell RS Wildfire 17 Open: Cardwell is a high-flying lefty who can entertain at times with her ability to send one down in impressive fashion. Addison Pollock L/DS Wildfire 17 Open: A 3-star Penn commit, Pollock brings a lot of fire to the defensive side of things. She does well extending rallies and keeping her team in the point. Nenu Kpea MB Madfrog 17 Green: Kpea was holding it down in the middle on both sides. She brings athleticism to the position. She moves well and does a nice job getting touches at the nt. Greer Chambless OH Excel 17 National Red: Chambless – a Cal commit – was getting after it on the outside. She has a solid arm and wasn’t go right at blockers and tooling consistently. *** Asia Harvey OH 575 17-1 Ella: A 5-star Missouri commit, Harvey has the wow factor. She can get

Though we’ve seen the qualifying season open for the 17s and 15s at Northern Lights at the end of January, the Sunshine Classic kicks off the full-fledge sprint over the next two months to earn one of the coveted Open bids in the 14-17s divisions. Below, we preview the 16 and 17 Open divisions for this coming Saturday-Monday as well as offer our predictions for the tournament and bid winners. 17 OPEN Number of Teams: 48 Number of Bids Available: 3 Previously-Qualified Teams: n/a Vballrecruiter Nationally-Ranked Teams (21): 2. Arizona Storm 17 Thunder 7. Excel 17 National Red 8. Skyline 17 Royal 9. Legacy 17-1 Adidas 10. Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal FL 15. TAV 17 Black Jon 17. Circle City 17 Purple 21. Madfrog 17 Green 23. OT 17 Aaron 25. HJV 17 Elite 28. Sky High Adidas 17 Elite 30. HPSTL 17 Royal 33. Triangle 17 Black 35. Vision 17 Gold 37. GP 17 Rox 38. Alamo 17 Premier 40. Metro 17 Travel 41. AZ Sky 17G 43. Top Select 17 Elite 46. OT 17 Felix 47. AVA TX 17 Adidas   5-Star Players To Know Kelly Kinney OH Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal (Minnesota) Charlotte Glass S Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal (Duke) Amina N’diaye OH OT 17 Felix (Miami) Jordan Taylor MB HJV 17 Elite (Minnesota) Campbell Flynn S Legacy 17-1 Adidas (Nebraska) Asia Harvey OH 575 17-1 PCVC (Missouri) Zoe Gillen-Malveaux MB Skyline 17 Royal (Duke) Teraya Sigler OH Arizona Storm 17 Thunder (Nebraska) Megan Fitch OH Alamo 17 Premier (Texas AM) Lydia Chinchar OH No Name 17 Sarah (2027)   4-Star Players To Know Gabby Nichols MB Triangle 17 Black (Penn State) Olivia Guzman MB Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal Mija Bendziute OH Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal (UCLA) Chichi Nnaji RS Skyline 17 Royal (Notre Dame) Taylor Cook S Skyline 17 Royal (Kansas) Naya Salfiti RS Skyline 17 Royal Sophia Thornburg OH Skyline 17 Royal (Notre Dame) Isabella Ocampo OH Skyline 17 Royal (LMU) Elena Maynulet OH GP 17 Rox (Columbia) KK Green S/RS GP 17 Rox (Holy Cross) Zoey Matias L/DS Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal (Missouri) Izzy Mahaffey L/DS Arizona Storm 17 Thunder (Long Beach State) Kenna Cogill MB Arizona Storm 17 Thunder (Oregon) Devyn Wiest OH Arizona Storm 17 Thunder (Utah) Leni Stanton-Parker OH Metro 17 Travel (Michigan) Sydney Bryant OH HJV 17 Elite (Vanderbilt) Aaliyah Smith OH HJV 17 Elite (Rice) Lauryn Mack OH TAV 17 Black Taryn Morris RS TAV 17 Black (Texas AM) Alex Richter OH TAV 17 Black (Georgia) Sarah Pfiffner S TAV 17 Black Madison Winkler L/DS TAV 17 Black Sarah Mendoza L/DS TAV 17 Black Shelby Burris MB TAV 17 Black (Princeton) Reese Dunkle MB Circle City 17 Purple (Northwestern) Logan Bell OH Circle City 17 Purple (Oregon) Kennedi Rogers OH AVA TX 17 Adidas (SMU) Izzy Mogridge S OT 17 Aaron (Oregon)   Outlook: The field for 17 Open is loaded! None of the qualifiers from Northern Lights are here, however, so that means no trickle down. Teams are going to have to finish in the top three and with the caliber of competition it’s going to lead to real fireworks. All the ranked teams participating were also at Triple Crown two weekends ago, except for Circle City and Metro. The seeding for Sunshine doesn’t necessarily follow how teams finished at Triple Crown and we’re not saying it should. Arizona Storm grabs the No. 1 seed here, coming off its fifth-place showing in Kansas City. Meanwhile, Skyline, which came in 19th in KC, is the No. 2 overall seed. Neither Triple Crown champion MKE Sting – which is already qualified – nor runner-up 1st Alliance is here, but third-place finishers Madfrog and Legacy are and they as the No. 6 and No. 9 overall seeds respectively. Tribe had a great showing at Triple Crown, finishing seventh, but begins as the No. 12 overall seed. That’s the type of tournament Sunshine offers. There is plenty of depth and talent. Toss in Texas clubs like TAV, HJV and Excel, as well as a local club in OT plus previously-mentioned Circle City and we are in for a guaranteed ride. Prediction: It’s a very difficult call to make, but we are going with Skyline to beat Storm in the final. We like Tribe beating TAV and securing the final bid. *** 16 OPEN Number of Teams: 48 Number of Bids Available: 3 Previously-Qualified Teams: n/a Vballrecruiter Nationally-Ranked Teams (18): 1. Legacy 16-1 Adidas 2. Skyline 16 Royal 3. Mintonette Sports m.61 10. Arizona Storm 16 Thunder 13. WPVC 16 Armour Black 14. A5 16-1 Gabe 22. AZ Sky 16G 24. GP 16 Rox 25. Vision 16 Gold 26. Academy 16 Diamond 30. HJV 16 Elite 32. Metro 16 Travel 34. TAV Houston 16 Adidas 35. TVC 16 Black 41. Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal 44. Alamo 16 Premier 46. Top Select 16 Elite 47. Team Indiana 16 Elite   5-Star Players To Know Gigi Artiles OH Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal Brooke Harwood MB Arizona Storm 16 Thunder Genevieve Harris S Academy 16 Diamond Kayla Nwabueze MB Legacy 16-1 Adidas Gabby Divita OH Legacy 16-1 Adidas Ella Andrews MB Legacy 16-1 Adidas Keoni Williams MB Skyline 16 Royal Emma Cugino L/DS Mintonette Sports m.61 Bennett Raterman MB HPSTL 16 Royal   4-Star Players To Know Taylor Clarke RS Skyline 16 Royal (2025) Levariya Pinder OH Skyline 16 Royal Ryan Sadler OH A5 16-1 Gabe Sofia Guerrero-Wilson MB/RS A5 16-1 Gabe Kalyssa Taggart S/RS A5 16-1 Gabe Nadiya Johnson RS Metro 16 Travel Morgan Williams OH Metro 16 Travel Ryea Jackson MB IMG 16 Erin Clark S/L/DS Arizona Storm 16 Thunder Leilani Lawrence OH OT 16 JP Sarah Hickman RS HJV 16 Elite Katherine Byergo MB HPSTL 16 Royal Lydia Stahley OH Team Indiana 16 Elite Elle Mottola S WPVC 16 Armour Black Paisley Pavliska OH STVA 16 Mizuno Layla Hoying OH Mintonette Sports m.61 Sara Snowbarger OH Mintonette Sports m.61 Mallory Matheny S Mintonette Sports m.61 Meredith Martin L/DS Legacy 16-1 Adidas Rylan