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Congrats to OT 17 Aaron for capturing the AAU 17 Open gold medal after defeating Top Select 17 Elite in the final. The four days of action saw many impressive standout individual efforts as players went all-out in hopes of ending the tournament on top. Below, we present vballrecruiter.com’s 17 Open All-Tournament Team. This is not to be confused with the honors awarded by AAU itself at the conclusion of the championship match. These picks are made from our observations and our observations alone. It would be easy to add more to each position or even include honorable mentions, but that’s something we do at the end of the year with our Club All-Americans. As for the All-Tournament Team selections, they are meant to be limited and difficult to make given all the talented players. To narrow the selections, we honored players from teams which made the gold bracket. We want to keep a team element to the award and making the gold bracket is a strong indicator of team success. The process does leave amazing players off, even some of the best in the field. But if we were to pick solely based on talent, we could pick the team ahead of time as we know in advance who many of the talented players are competing. Congrats to those named to this year’s AAU 17 Open All-Tournament Team as awarded by vballrecruiter.com. OUTSIDES Navea Gauthier Far Out 17 Black Hannah Benjamin A5 17 Jing Alaleh Tolliver Academy 17 Tsunami Fallon Stewart OT 17 Felix MIDDLES Logan Wiley A5 17 Jing Izabela Molina Miami Hype 17 Emilio Reese Ptacek Northern Lights Faith Young Tri-State Elite 17 Blue RIGHT SIDES Madison Loiselle OT 17 Aaron Sarah Schnell Miami Hype 17 Emilio Nayelis Cabello Top Select 17 Elite (S/RS) SETTERS Taylor Parks OT 17 Aaron Abbigail Pickard Far Out 17 Black Maria Drapp Tri-State Elite 17 Blue LIBEROS Maggie Meister Kairos 17 Alpha Luca Bredenberg Northern Lights 17-1 Carley Piercefield Far Out 17 Black

With the 17 Open division ending Sunday at AAUs, it meant the conclusion of the season for some of the athletes participating. For others, we’ll see them real soon in Chicago for the USAV national championships. Below, we highlight standout players with our Show Stoppers.   DAY 4 SHOW STOPPERS Juleigh Urbina S OT 17 Felix: Urbina – a 4-star Georgetown recruit – helped OT reach the gold bracket, falling to Far Out. Urbina has nice hands and mixes her sets around well to get her hitters involved. Caylan Russ L/DS OT 17 Felix: A 3-star Florida State commit, Russ is a super-quick libero who closes space in a hurry. She’s also a strong passer and defender and plays with lots of fire and passion. A’siya Magazine RS OT 17 Felix: A UNC-Wilmington commit, Magazine is a high-flying right side who can bash the ball down with authority. She gets utilized across the front by getting set in different spots, including out of the middle, to keep defenses guessing. Isabelle Swiercz RS Far Out 17 Black: Swiercz, a Central Michigan recruit, was coming with it on the right side. She’s a lanky attacker with a fluid swing and Far Out likes to get her the ball. She does well tooling blocks and scoring down the line. Kendall Hopewell MB Far Out 17 Black: A Northern Kentucky commit, Hopewell is a feisty middle who does well blocking and scoring in her role. She can get up and put balls down, as well as turn around and provide stuff blocks for points. Madison Evett OH Academy 17 Tsunami: Evett is a lanky outside with a loose arm and ability to let it fly when she connects. She was taking aggressive swings and nailing balls through gaps. Leah Richmond S Academy 17 Tsunami: A 3-star Western Michigan commit, Richmond is a bit undersized but she’s an athletic setter who gets her feet to the ball and sets with consistent accuracy. Alaleh Tolliver OH Academy 17 Tsunami: Tolliver – a 3-star Butler commit – is the big arm that powers the attack. When Academy needs a point it is Tolliver they are looking for. She’s an easy jumper with an easy swing and can crush balls. Hadley Burger RS Northern Lights 17-1: Burger is an undersized lefty right side but she’s fearless. She also has a whip for an arm and can blast balls that you might not expect her to be able to. Luca Bredenberg L/DS Northern Lights 17-1: A Lipscomb commit, Bredenburg was among the standout liberos. She patrols the back row like a predator on the hunt, not letting balls drop and defending with a passion. She’s also someone servers like to keep the ball away from, as she doesn’t get challenged a lot. *** Reese Ptacek MB Northern Lights 17-1: Ptacek – a 3-star Kanas commit – is an impactful middle on both sides of the ball. She times her blocks well and gets a lot of touches on shots. On the other side, she’s a smart hitter who can boom balls down or tip to open spots. Lucy Mott L/DS @legacyvolleyballclub 17-1 Adidas: Mott – a 3-star Boston College commit – is a steady setter who locates well and mixes the ball around. Samantha Bowron OH Top Select 17 Elite: Bowron, a Coastal Carolina commit, plays a valuable offensive role with her scoring. She’s a strong attacker, able to send the ball off blocks or cross court with pace. Kamyla Vega David S Top Select 17 Elite: Vega David is quick on her feet. She sets a clean, consistent ball and does well going behind her. Dionna Mitchell OH Top Select 17 Elite: Mitchell carries a big arm and she can tee off with it. She’s the type of hitter when she connects you can feel it. Kaylee Musick S Mintonette Sports m.71: Musick – a 3-star FIU commit – helped Mintonette reach the gold bracket by was stopped in the opening round by A5. Musick is a taller setter with smooth hands and spot-on location. Linnea Nesheim OH Kairos 17 Alpha: Nesheim is an undersized outside who doesn’t back down no matter the challenge. She’s a free swinger who knows how to score against and frustrated bigger blocks. Izabela Molina MB Miami Hype 17 Emilio: Molina is a force in the middle. She brings strength and physicality to the position. She has a powerful arm and Miami Hype likes getting her the ball as much as possible. Kelsey Niesen L/DS Tri-State Elite 17 Blue: Niesen plays with lots of energy and goes all out in efforts of making saves and digs to keep her team in the rally. Maria Drapp S Tri-State Elite 17 Blue: We’ve featured Drapp a couple times already and for good reason. She runs a smooth offense and knows how to get all her hitters involved. *** Taylor Bedinghaus OH OT 17 Aaron: Bedinghaus is a six-rotation mainstay. She plays solid defense and is a smart attacker who places her shots well. Olivia Hart OH OT 17 Aaron: Hart can send down highlight kills with the way she elevates and swings. She gets up and unleashes, leading to monster kills at times. Bella Lee L/DS OT 17 Aaron: Lee – a 3-star Florida commit – brings a defensive edge to the lineup. She’s vocal in the back row and is a sharp passer who covers ground well.

Twelve teams woke up with hopes and aspirations of winding up on the podium as the 17 Open division fought its way to its conclusion Sunday at the AAU Girls Junior National Championships in Orlando. vballrecruiter.com was on hand taking notes and we selected our last All Red Hat Team for this wave. The goal is to highlight a daily team consisting of two players from each position – outside, middle, right side, setter and libero who – were our absolute favorite players of the day. Favorite doesn’t mean only a 5-star recruit or a familiar name. These are players who stood out to us for a variety of reasons, from amazing play to great energy or attitude or making key hustle plays. These are daily all-stars who really stood out the most to us for one reason or another. DAY 4 ALL RED HAT TEAM Navea Gauthier OH Far Out 17 Black: Gauthier – a 5-star recruit from the Class of 2025 who spent the season playing up on the 18s – is a rock star on the outside. She’s a high-flying, hard-hitting slugger who takes swings from all over the court. She gets set on the left, the right, on combos, back row left, back row right. Defenses can never relax with her on the court. Hannah Benjamin OH A5 17 Jing: Benjamin – a 5-star Kentucky recruit – brings it on the outside. She has a powerful swing and can blast balls as hard as any hitter in the division. She doesn’t come off the court as she’s the go-to hitter and carries a big chunk of the attack. Logan Wiley MB A5 17 Jing: Wiley – a 4-star Georgia Tech commit – was virtually unstoppable on the attack. She’s wirey, high-flying hitter who bounces ball straight down at 12 feet on the regular. She’s quick and gets up fast, which makes her tough to block. Especially when she can get up high enough to go over blocks. Faith Young MB Tri-State Elite 17 Blue: We love Young, a 3-star Western Kentucky commit – and her play in the middle. She’s a workhorse and has a no-nonsense approach when it comes to competing and winning. She’s a fearless, heady attacker who can beat defenses with her power or her off-speed placement. She’s a vital part of the attack and she changes the offensive dynamic across the front row. Madison Loiselle RS OT 17 Aaron: Loiselle was holding down the right side. She’s a physical presence. She puts up a strong block and she crushes balls to the floor with her strength attacking. She plays a key role as she helps open up the attack by being a legit threat defenses must account for. Nayelis Cabello S/RS Top Select 17 Elite: Cabello – a 5-star Louisville commit – is the real deal and a huge reason for Top Select’s success. She’s a two-way star. She excels setting, as she moves and gets to the ball well. She can jump set well too, and she sets a clean, consistent ball that she locates accurately. She’s just as good on the attack. She jumps well, has a strong arm and rips winners corner to corner.   Abbigail Pickard S Far Out 17 Black: Pickard – a 4-star recruit from the Class of 2025 – is fun to watch run the show and do her thing. Far Out runs a more complex offense than most and it’s possible because of Pickard’s ability to dish the ball to different spots. Far Out runs a lot of combos and off-centered back row sets. It definitely keeps the defense on its toes. She’s also has great hands and connects well with all her hitters. Taylor Parks S OT 17 Aaron: Parks – a 4-star Florida commit – is another smooth operator at the setter position. She plays with so much poise, composure and confidence. She’s certainly a steadying presence. She’s also a terrific setter with great hands and silky delivery. She knows how to hold defenses too and not give all her sets away. Maggie Meister L Kairos 17 Alpha: Meister continues to impress and own the back row. Kairos is not a big team and must rely on its defensive play to hang in rallies. Meister is all over the court making plays. She’s a dime passer out of serve receive and doesn’t get flustered under pressure. Carley Piercefield L Far Out 17 Black: A Western Michigan commit, we love Piercefield’s play in the back row. She plays under total control and is seemingly always in the right spot to make the play in front of her. She’s another strong passer out of serve receive and she makes a few highlight saves each match.

What a total contrast 17 Open has been compared to 15 Open last week here at the AAUs Girls Junior National Championships in Orlando. With the 15s, we didn’t see any of the top six seeds lose until the third day. And even then, one of which lost still won its respective pool, while the other was the No. 6 seed which lost to the No. 7 seed in the 1 v 2 match in their pool. However, for the third consecutive day we watched the No. 1 overall seed go down, and for the second day in a row be eliminated altogether. First it was A5 17 Jing falling on Day 1, but A5 still managed to find its way to Sunday’s 12-team gold bracket and remains alive for a medal. Next, it was Summit 17 Blue Elite bowing out on Day 2 with a 1-2 showing. Following the unfortunate trend was Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal, which dropped contests to Northern Lights 17-1 and Kairos 17 Alpha in Pool A in going 1-2 and missing the gold bracket. If there’s one safe pick for the final day, it is that Kairos taking over the No. 1 seed is almost destined to lose, right? It’s been that type of unpredictable ride to this point and while a few teams are no doubt feeling fortunate to have survived Day 3, others who did not were surprising. Both VCNebraska 17 Elite and Boiler Jrs 17 Gold were knocked out of contention. Why was that surprising? They were the fifth and seventh highest-ranked teams competing from out Top 50 National Rankings. VCNebraska checks in at No. 25, while Boiler is just behind at No. 27. The other top-ranked teams pulled through in No. 5 A5, No. 9 OT 17 Aaron, No. 22 Tri-State Elite 17 Blue and No. 23 OT 17 Felix, as well as No. 26 Academy 17 Tsunami. Of the 13 ranked teams to begin, nine made the 12-team gold bracket. Others include No. 39 Top Select 17 Elite, No. 46 Miami Hype 17 Emilio, No. 48 Northern Lights 17-1 and No. 49 Mintonette Sports m.71. The ranked teams joining VCNebraska and Boiler Jrs outside the gold bracket are No. 38 Ku’Ikahi 17 RSB Wahine and No. 40 Adidas KiVA 17 Red. Both Ku’Ikahi and KiVA were eliminated on Day 2. As for Saturday’s third round of pool play, Tri-State Elite caught a bit of a break in finishing in a three-way tie at 2-1 with Legacy 17-1 Adidas and Boiler Jrs. Tri-State lost to Boiler, which had just lost to Legacy, and needed to beat Legacy to advance. Meanwhile, VCNebraska lost to Mintonette and OT Aaron to go 1-2. Top Select and NE Elite 17 Top Gun were both 1-1 heading into their 1 v 2 contest in Pool F, with only the winner advancing. Top Select prevailed, taking first ahead of Far Out 17 Black. *** 17 OPEN DAY 3 SHOW STOPPERS Natalie De Paula S/RS Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal: With her two-way role, De Paula shoulders lots of responsibility and is a key part of the lineup. She’s a steady, quick setter who does well moving the ball around. As a hitter, she’s a springy lefty who takes a lot of swings in helping drive the attack. Elizabeth Havlicek MB Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal: Havlicek did her part in giving Tribe a middle presence. She puts up a solid block and can turn around and send it down with power. Amelia Wass de Czege MB TVA 17 Smack Megan: TVA did well making it to the third round. Wass de Czege was a force in the middle for her team. She has a huge arm and hits with tons of power. Amelia Haggins OH TVA 17 Smack Megan: Haggins, a Tulane commit, is an athletic outside who gets set a lot when she’s front row. She jumps well and can bring the heat on the outside. Sophia Adkins RS Tri-State Elite 17 Blue: Adkins, a Providence commit, holds down the right side with her strength and power. She opens the attack across the front row with her big arm capable of producing pounding kills. Audrey Kocon S/RS Northern Lights 17-1: Kocon was a big reason why Northern Lights remains in contention. She starred in her two-way role. She did a nice job running the attack and going against the flow. When hitting, she can bring the thunder with her heavy left-arm attack. Nora Wurtz MB NE Elite 17 Top Gun: Wurtz, a 4-star Creighton commit, is a 6-4 middle/right side who puts up a huge block. She’s also difficult to slow offensively with her ability to go over blocks and send balls down with authority. Carly Ries OH NE Elite 17 Top Gun: Reis, a 6-3 South Dakota commit, is another lengthy attacker defenses must be concerned about with the NE Elite attack. She can hit at a high contact point and has a fluid swing to match. Emerson Lionberger MB VCNebraska 17 Elite: Lionberger did well in her role in the middle, providing timely offense. She was taking advantage of her opportunities and giving VCNebraska a reliable option in the middle. Paisley Douglas L/DS VCNebraska 17 Elite: Douglas, a USC commit, is a speedy libero who does well covering and picking off shots. She’s a sound passer out of serve receive as well. *** Delaney Lawson OH Munciana 17 Pandas: A Utah State commit, Lawson carries a big offensive load swinging front and back row. She can unload at times and bounce balls straight down. Hattie Welker MB Mintonette Sports m.71: Welker is a lanky middle who helped Mintonette reach the gold bracket with her attacking and blocking. She did well getting her hands on balls and slowing down the attack. Taylor Bahnub OH Mintonette Sports m.71: Bahnub doesn’t back down, coming with aggressive swings and challenging blocks. She hits a hard ball and was taking care of business. Sarah Schnell RS Miami Hype 17 Emilio: