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(Gold Medal Rundown) (Day 4 Show Stoppers) With the start of 14 Open earlier this week at the AAU Girls National Championships in Orlando, we’ve been releasing our daily All Red Hat Team. It’s something we’ll continue putting out for the remainder of national championship season from our time here and in Chicago coming up. 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 our daily all-stars who really stood out the most to us for one reason or another. 14 OPEN DAY 4 ALL RED HAT TEAM Sophia Puleo OH OT 14 Laura: It was a shorter day than anticipated for OT, which fell in the quarterfinals. OT was heavily reliant on its outsides, with Puleo sharing that load. You want to talk about dropping the hammer? Watch Puleo do her thing and unload. Standing close to the court, you can feel it. She’s definitely one of the hardest hitters in the division and loves showing off that power. Leilani Lawrence OH OT 14 Laura: Part of the Class of 2026, Lawrence is an explosive hitter who rises and rips in impressive fashion. She can blast balls from sideline to sideline as she has a variety of shots to keep defenses off-balanced. She had to also carry a big load and take a lot of swings to help OT stay in it. Riley Bethea MB A5 14 Helen: Bethea’s impact at the net can’t be ignored. She’s long and can be a disrupter with her blocking, touching balls or forcing hitters to change up to avoid her. She’s also a capable scorer who does a nice job of seeing the open space and sending the ball that way. Carsyn Comer MB Munciana 14 Chipmunks: We’ve featured Comer over the past four days and what a talent she is! She’s a six-rotation middle who shoulders a large chunk of the attack. Munciana gets her the ball as much as possible. She’s a strong hitter, with the ability to beat defenses all over the court. Addison Otto RS Northern Lights 14-1: We hadn’t seen Otto since Triple Crown and no doubt she’ll be moving up in our next rankings update. She’s a 6-0 lefty with great extension. It makes her dangerous and she’s a featured part of the offense, as she would be on just about any team in the country. Her potential is through the roof! Jenny Glushakov RS Top Select 14 Elite: Glushakov is another right side who can take over matches. She’s also on the taller side, and she plays six rotations. She swings from all over and is effective doing so. She also puts up a solid block to help in that regard as well. She’s definitely an up-and-comer and someone to keep track of as she progresses. Marissa Jones S A5 14 Helen: Anyone watching Jones can see her endless potential. The 5-star recruit is 6-2 and touching well over 10 feet. Her elbows are above the net blocking. She moves well and does a great job getting to the ball. When in system, she also does well connecting with all her hitters and getting them involved.   Josalyn Samuels S Kairos 14 Alpha: Samuels – who is part of the Class of 2028 – isn’t the athletic marvel that Jones is but she’s a phenomenal prospect in her own right. It’s fair to say no setter in 14 Open here had the touch of Samuels. She’s silky smooth, sees the game light years ahead and can dime any set. It’s scary to think what level she could reach down the road! Clara Christ L Northern Lights 14-1: From the perspective of the vballrecruiter.com team, Christ was the top libero in 14 Open. She’s a stud who owns the back row. She’s a step ahead defensively, reading where hitters are going. She’s a sharp passer out of serve receive and just another example of why the future of the sport is in good hands. Jenna Brooks L Top Select 14 Elite: It was a rough day overall for Top Select, which ended with the bronze medal. Brooks is a scrapper who does well out of serve receive and defending. She’s capable of making huge digs and saves and is a big reason Top Select had the run it did in medaling.

(Day 4 Show Stoppers) (Day 4 All Red Hat Team) When A5 14 Helen couldn’t get Elleora Utecht’s serve back over the net, the dogpile celebration was officially on for Northern Lights 14-1. There was more than once when the eventual 14 Open AAU national champion looked beat during gold-bracket action on the final day of the division. The original No. 11 seed took its first loss of the tournament on Day 2, falling in three sets to Top Select 14 Elite. A rematch with Top Select came on Day 4, in the semifinals. That was partly set up by Northern Lights falling to Munciana 14 Chipmunks in Day 3 pool play. The other half was Top Select upsetting A5 on Day 3. More on that later. When Top Select dispatched Legacy 14-1 Adidas in the quarterfinals followed by Northern Lights sweeping Adidas KiVA 14 Red, the two sides were set for another clash. It was a one-sided affair in Top Select’s favor. Until it wasn’t. After dominating the first set, Top Select was doing much of the same in building up a 20-12 advantage in Game 2. That’s when it got really interesting. A quick side note, this is also the point when the club scheduled for the next match on the same court started stalking Northern Lights’ sideline like a vulchers do injured prey. A couple Northern Lights girls looked over, wondering what was going on. Whether that fired up Northern Lights or not, the rally was on! Overcoming an eight-point deficit that late is remarkable in its own right, but Northern Lights fought off three match points trailing 24-21 before going on a 5-0 run and forcing a third set. Top Select seemed unfazed by letting such a big lead slip away, going ahead 10-6 and 11-7 in the final set. Northern Lights was once again in a precarious situation, but as we would see later in the day, this team doesn’t rattle and does an excellent job of keeping its composure and staying the course. That was certainly the case as Top Select went up 14-12, earning its fourth and fifth match points. But like the first three, they came and went and in a blink of an eye Northern Lights was celebrating the three-set comeback victory, 16-25, 26-24, 16-14. As for Northern Lights’ opponent in the final, A5 was in the position it was having lost to Top Select on Day 3 and thus drawing top-seeded OT 14 Laura in the quarterfinals to start its day. A5 came out smoking, building up a large lead before OT cut it to 22-20. A5 closed it out and was up comfortably in Game 2, 22-17, and looking to finish it. That’s also when it got real interesting real fast. A 7-0 run turned the momentum and had OT up 24-22. OT held set points as well at 25-24 and 26-25 before A5 held on for the sweep, 25-21, 28-26. A5 took care of Munciana in the semis, 25-16, 25-19, to set up the gold medal showdown. There wasn’t any mystery surrounding the final. When two teams with the combined size and athleticism as these two hook up it’s really just a matter of which team is going to stay in system more. Northern Lights – with outsides Ellie Osowski and Utecht and right sides Addison Otto and Kaelyn Bjorklund – runs its attack pin-to-pin, with few sets going to the middles. A5 – with outsides Mia Ray and McKenzie Burrell, right side Megan McLarty and middles Riley Bethea and Layla Dunn working with 5-star setter Marissa Jones – is difficult to slow in system because they can get points from everywhere. It was A5 controlling its side in Game 1, with Northern Lights returning the favor in Game 2. When A5 raced to a 9-6 advantage midway through Game 3 it looked like the Southern Region club was well on its way to lifting the championship trophy. But Top Select knows a lead is never safe with the way Northern Lights stays in the fight. And that’s exactly what happened as Northern Lights fought back and went in front. At 14-13, Lights had the first crack at it and didn’t let the opportunity pass for nothing. Utecht’s serve wasn’t returned and that was the match. Obviously, Northern Lights deserves an unbelievable amount of credit and props for doing what it did. How many teams in the semifinals – knowing they have a bronze medal secured – toss in the towel down 20-12? There is also all the bragging rights that come with winning AAU. And it’s going to open a debate around the USAV GJNC. Northern Lights was among the teams we had in consideration for an Open at-large. We broke it down here and hindsight is always helpful. Based on the at-large selections, it was hard to argue Northern Lights should have been among the seven picked given all the factors. Northern Lights had a 4-3 mark against the Open field, which is a great record. But Northern Lights played in two qualifiers, coming in sixth at Show Me (out of 10 teams) and 17th at Northern Lights. Still, given what we saw from Northern Lights the last four days – and especially on Saturday – I would love to see Northern Lights in the 14 Open field in Chicago. Northern Lights went 3-1 against Open qualifiers in Orlando, beating GP 14 Rox, Top Select and A5. Half of the gold bracket featured teams participating in 14 Open in Chicago in A5, Top Select, OT and Legacy. KiVA, Munciana and Kairos 14 Alpha – the other quarterfinalist – won’t be playing in Chicago. Northern Lights is set to compete in 15 National in Chicago and should be a real factor there. No doubt A5 will use what happened here in Orlando as plenty of motivation for Chicago. At No. 8, OT was the highest-ranked team from vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 competing here, followed by KiVA at

(Day 2 Show Stoppers) In case you missed our first-ever All Red Hat Team from the opening day of 14 Open at AAUs in Orlando, you can find it here. We’ll be releasing a daily All Red Hat for the remainder of our time in Florida as well as for the USAV Girls Junior National Championships coming up in Chicago at the end of the month. Our 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. Without further delay, our Day 2 All Red Hat Team for 14 Open is below. 14 OPEN DAY 2 ALL RED HAT TEAM Bradee Boyd OH Tribe 14 Elite Cardinal: Overall it was a rough day for Tribe, which despite upsetting top-seeded OT 14 Laura in its first outing was eliminated from contention. Boyd grabbed our attention with her six-rotation contributions. The 5-9 outside is a consistent, steady attacker who showed nice range with her swings. She’s an aggressive attacker who isn’t afraid of challenging the defense. Caroline Hanchar OH Munciana 14 Chipmunks: Hanchar is a bit undersized but she’s full of competitiveness. She’s another fearless six-rotation outside who does a lot of valuable things on the court. She’s a strong passer, solid defender and a smart attacker who knows how to score against bigger blocks. Kennedi Boomsma MB Kairos 14 Alpha: Sometimes you stumble across a fitting last name and Boomsma was doing just that out of the middle. Going boom! She’s a physical middle who puts up a strong block and powers down balls. Kairos is tough to defend in system and Boomsma being available in the middle is part of the reason for it. Blockers struggled slowing her down all day. Alexa Espin MB Miami Hype 14 Nekane: Did Espin come alive on Day 2 or what? She caught fire in helping Miami Hype to a huge upset of Tribe that allowed Miami Hype to advance and remain in the hunt. She was sending kills down with nearly every swing as Tribe had no answers for her in the middle. Jaylynn Carter RS CJV 14 Kim: If you want to talk about a rising prospect, Carter is a perfect candidate. She’s a high-flying right side with tremendous upside! She’s already putting up a big block as she gets well up over the net. Her arm speed and strength are only going to keep improving and they are both above average for her age. This is a name you’ll be hearing for years! Mia Diouf RS GP 14 Rox: Diouf is another right side with a bright future. She has a great on-court demeanor. The lefty can bring it on the attack. There’s no doubt GP looks to get her the ball as much as possible when she’s across the front row. She jumps and swings well and if she continues to add inches then watch out! Marissa Jones S A5 14 Helen: Jones is our only official 5-star recruit playing in 14 Open. That pretty much sums it all up as far as her talent. But we’ll add more for fun. She’s listed at 6-0 but seems 6-2. She’s touching 10-2 and is silky smooth with her movement. She effortlessly gets up and gets her arms over the net blocking. She also locates consistently setting. There’s no doubt she’s the real deal! Leah Biyadglign S Kokoro 14-1: Biyadglign is a bit undersized to other setters we’ve highlighted the first two days but that doesn’t prevent her from running a nice offense. She moves well and gets to the ball. She also has nice hands and a calming demeanor. Clara Christ L/DS Northern Lights 14-1: Northern Lights has developed its fair share of liberos and all signs point to Christ being next in line. She’s a straight-up baller! She can hold it down as part of a two-player serve receive. Teams keep the ball away from her at all cost, as she didn’t touch many balls in serve receive. She covers and defends at a high-level and does well seeing plays developing. Rory Oleksik L/DS A5 Chattanooga 14-1 Jenni: A5 Chattanooga saw its run end with a 0-3 day. However, Oleksik showed what she’s capable of in the back row. She’s a sound passer out of serve receive who was putting passes right on target. She’s another strong defender too, making digs and keeping rallies alive.

(Day 2 All Red Hat Team) In terms of seeding, there was very little upheaval on Day 2 of 14 Open at AAUs in Orlando. Much of the day’s excitement was contained to Pool 1, where the topsy-turvy action meant no one was safe. It was a Florida slugfest in the pool as top-seeded and nationally-ranked No. 8 OT 14 Laura, unranked Miami Hype 14 Nekene and national No. 23 Tribe 14 Elite Cardinal were together along with Panda 14-1 Simo. Skipping ahead, OT, Miami Hype and Tribe finished in a three-way tie at 2-1. It was Tribe getting the short end of the tiebreaker, coming in third and being eliminated from gold-medal contention. It was really a heart-breaking day for Tribe, which opened up on such a positive note. Tribe took down OT in three, 25-21, 18-25, 15-11, to open the action. Taking down the top seed is a big deal, but it might have been too big of a deal. In covering volleyball over the years, riding the high and lows of victories and defeats is commonplace, especially the younger the age groups. When I saw Tribe celebrating its big victory over OT with a dogpile, I was a little concerned how Tribe would respond in its next match. A dogpile after an 8am victory with two matches to go is not something you see every day covering volleyball. It made me think Tribe was riding way too high. It made Tribe susceptible in its next outing against Miami Hype when the ensuing low hits. While Miami Hype was seeded higher, Tribe is ranked in our Top 25 while Miami Hype is unranked. So here, Tribe was favored but it didn’t play out like that. In fact, Miami Hype swept in convincing fashion, 25-22, 25-18. That result alone didn’t eliminate Tribe, but it put Tribe’s chances of advancing out of its hands. Miami Hype needed to beat OT outright for Tribe to advance. If OT came through, either in two or three, then Tribe had no chance of advancing based on the set percentages. OT swept Miami Hype handily, 25-15, 25-13, to create the three-way tie and knock Tribe out. As far as advancing to Friday’s Group 1 pools, there was only one result to go against seed. It came in Pool 6, where the No. 2 team GP 14 Rox swept Vaqueras 14-1 in the 1 v 2 match to finish 3-0. A5 14 Helen, Adidas KiVA 14 Red, Mauloa 14 Green and Munciana 14 Chipmunks all went 3-0, 6-0 as Nos. 1 teams. *** DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS McKenzie Burrell OH A5 14 Helen: Burrell is one of many attackers who can get up and deliver for A5. She gets off the ground well and can bury balls down with her strong arm. Layla Dunn MB A5 14 Helen: Dunn was making an impact at the net with her attacking. She’s a quick middle with a nice arm. A5 likes to take advantage and utilize her in transition. Riley Bethea MB A5 14 Helen: Bethea is another middle opponents need to be concerned about. She’s long and takes up space with her reach and block. She’s also a capable scorer when she gets the opportunity. Elleora Utecht OH Northern Lights 14-1: Utecht was bringing it. She was a key part of the offense giving Northern Lights a reliable, consistent scorer on the outside. She gets up well and swings hard. Danielle Lewis L/DS CJV 14 Kim: Lewis is a quick libero who flies around the court. She can run down balls and keep plays alive with her hustle. Brighton Richards L/DS Temecula Viper 14 Leanna: Richards was an anchor in the back row. She did well in serve receive and is very vocal on the court with her communication. Airyss Celestine MB Temecula Viper 14 Leanna: Celestine is a bit undersized but she’s a quick jumper who can get up and score before the block sets up. London Evans S/RS Munciana 14 Chipmunks: Evans plays a vital role for Muncie as a setter and hitter. It can be tough to gauge what she’s better at, as she does well with both. She has a nice touch and locates well. She also has a strong arm and can provide her share of offense across the front. Kamryn Roberts L/DS Mintonette Sports m.41: Roberts was among the standout liberos. She has a good court awareness and her passing and defending were on point. Bryn Meyer OH Mintonette Sports m.41: A 6-1 lanky outside, Meyer is a 4-star recruit with lots of upside. With her length, she has nice extension and can contact at a high point which allows for angles others can’t hit. *** Shelby Fuller L/DS Triangle 14 Black: It was a solid day for defenders, with Fuller making an impression as well. She’s a steady passer with a strong platform and was putting the ball on target. Leilani Lawrence OH OT 14 Laura: Lawrence, a 2026 outside, showed off her athleticism. She has the ability to get up and unload, something she was doing plenty of in helping OT fight off elimination and advance. Mesa Jameson MB Kokoro 14-1: We wrote about Jameson on Day 1 as well and she was back at it again. Her upside is amazing. She’s long, moves well and has a nice arm. Brooklyn Sippio MB GP 14 Rox: Sippio is among the middle prospects to be sure. She’s a 4-star recruit who is very long and makes an impact on both sides of the ball with her blocking and hitting. Josalyn Samuels S Kairos 14 Alpha: Samuels was featured on our All Red Hat Team on Day 1 and was very close to being on it again. She’s a phenomenal talent. She’s another Class of 2028 recruit playing up. She’s silky smooth, knows how to move the ball around and does an excellent job of getting her hitters 1-on-1 looks. Kennedy Shockley L/DS Munciana Indy 14 Otters: Shockley is