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Hermosa Beach welcomes the 29th Annual AAU Junior National Beach Volleyball Championships running July 21-24th. We are excited to be here and catch all the action. Day 2 play featured 18, 16, 15 and 14U. 18U and 16U were battling in pool play to make Gold bracket. For 15 and 14U it was Day 1 of their pool play. With all matches at AAU played to one set anything can happen. Here are the teams which impressed us and made our Day 2 Show Stoppers.18UErin Inskeep/Ashley Pater – This team battled through the consolation pool to make the gold bracket. One of the top defending tandems, they can do it all with top tier ball control. Finding more offense can give them a deep run.Bailey Showalter/Madison White – This duo of USC commits dominated play. Showalter’s ability to reach over the net blocking is solid. White puts away balls with a quick and powerful swing, they are playing like the No. 1 seed overall.Ensley Alden/Taylor Hagenah – The power that these two possess is daunting. Both have a heavy swing complimented by excellent ball control. What really stands out watching this group is their on court chemistry. Communication, body language and energy is a big part of this team.Indigo Clarke/Phoenix Clarke – We love watching these two sisters play. Their tempo and style is upbeat, catching many teams scrambling to get into position. Phoenix has a good swing capable of some extreme angels.Malia Gementera/Kylie Vaickus – This team dominated. Gementera has an impressive high reach on her swing, giving her the ability to cut the ball sharply inside the block and score with ease. 16UVictoria Henkel/Stacey Reeves – Reeves continues to impress with her energy and court presence. Playing upbeat and backing it up with big swings sets a strong tone for her team. Henkel adds sound defense and good serves puts this duo in medal contention.Katherine Morley/Julia Waugh – Morley and Waugh are a sound ball control group who doesn’t make too many errors. Morley is very savvy at the net with her ability to mix up her shots confusing defenders. Waugh has an excellent passing touch and places the ball well with her swings.Claire Sun/Logan Tusher – This team has a deep run in them. Both 6-0 splits have good ball control and definitely can put balls away. Tusher has a good touch and controls the ball well. Sun has good court vision combined with a power swings, giving this duo plenty of offense.Haylee Lafontaine/Danielle Sparks – Sparks defense is clean. She reads and covers most shots complimenting Lafontaine’s effectiveness blocking. A good blocker Lafontaine can also hit a good heavy ball, making this a very balanced team. 15UElena Fisher/Kyra Zaengle – This group showed excellent ball control. They both locate their serve well leading to long serving runs. Zaengle is very quick picking up shots and on scramble plays not allowing opponents any easy points.Mikki Carlin/Kiara Edwards – Edwards was a force attacking today. A 6-0 attacker with a nice over the top swing, she see’s the court well. She’s able to not only power the ball cross court but also showed a good wrist away swing that produced good results.Audrey Davis/Samantha Hsu – Davis’ attacks were scoring a lot. Her athleticism shows when she simply overpowered the block with her jump to crush the ball straight down.Jade Curtis/Pyper Nelson – Curtis plays with good energy. She covers the court with her quick defense and proceeds to put balls in play while not making errors to put a lot of pressure on defenses. Nelson plays the net well, showing good athleticism reading the ball and then being able to hit a good ball in transition. 14UElla Olson/Addison Terrell – We enjoyed watching this duo. A smart team that takes advantages open spots on offense either with a variety of cut shots, plus the occasional option play, but also with the power of Terrell. She brings the heat with a good over the top swing peppering the sidelines.Layla Austin/Jordyn Scribner – Austin continues her hot play as of late. Making deep medal runs the last two tournaments her team dominated pool play. Her arm is electric and if she gets on top of it, watch out because that ball is coming in hot!Olga Nikolaeva/Thais Treumann – Olga continued her victory at the BVCA last week with a dominating day in pool play. On defense her fast feet combined with good footwork and powerful makes her conversion points hard to dig.Emma Champagne/Anabelle Redaelli – Champagne is a 6-0 blocker who has a good feel for the ball. She has the ability to block and contend tight sets. Also, she has a good jump and swing putting balls in play with pace.

We spent the week releasing our final Club National Rankings. Last in line is the 14s divisions, which you can find below. You can find the 18s, 17s, 16s and 15s that were already put out by clicking on the links. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. There are power league results, qualifier results, national tournaments like Triple Crown and of course the USAV Girls Junior Nationals and AAU national championships. All these come into play. We put more weight on what happened at Junior Nationals than a qualifier because the whole season is built toward peaking at JN’s. We also had one steadfast rule we didn’t break no matter the circumstances. That rule was if Team A defeated Team B in a gold challenge match or gold bracket match at JN’s, Team A is always going to be ranked ahead of Team B. That’s because everyone comes to JN’s to win a gold medal and if Team A eliminates Team B from contention, it won at the absolute right time. It can make for some skewed overall rankings as a team might be too high or low overall but what’s the point if the biggest head-to-head matches of the season aren’t the most important ones? The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all. 1. MINTONETTE M.41 (6 – previous ranking) Going 10-1 overall, Mintonette captured the 14 Open gold medal at Junior Nationals after fedning off Flyers 14 Anthony in the championship match. Mintonette’s only loss came to Forza1 North 14 UA in the second round of pool play. That contest was one of seven consecutive three-setters for Mintonette, which went on to defeat NKYVC 14-1 Tsunami in the challenge round, Wave 14 Brennan in the quarters and Elevation 14 Molly in the semis, all in three as well, before sweeping Flyers. Mintonette beat Flyers in three sets in the first round of pool play as well and finish off the year going 26-11 against Open-qualified teams. Mintonette finished first at Northern Lights and fifth at both MEQ and Windy City, as well as Triple Crown. 2. FRISCO FLYERS 14 ANTHONY (5) Two of the three losses at Junior Nationals – where Flyers took home the silver medal in 14 Open – came to Mintonette. HPSTL 14 Royal was the only other team to top Flyers, coming in the first round of pool play. It was a tremendous year for Flyers, which took second at Lone Star, third at Salt Lake and fourth at Triple Crown. Flyers ends the season with a near identical record as Mintonette against the Open field at 26-12. 3. ELEVATION 14 MOLLY (9) Elevation capped its year with a bronze medal in 14 Open at Junior Nationals, falling to Mintonette in the semis. Elevation outlasted Austin Skyine 14 Royal in challenge play before scoring a big victory over TAV 14 Black in the quarterfinals. The only other loss in Indy came to SG Elite 14 Rosh in the first round of pool play. Elevation finished first at Big South and fourth at MEQ, as well as taking sixth at Triple Crown. Elevation went 24-15 against Open competition. 4. TAV 14 BLACK (3) It was TAV which ended the hopes of Boiler Jrs 14 Gold of ‘doubling up’ when the North Texas Region club took down the 14 Open AAU champion in the challenge round at Junior Nationals. TAV then was stopped in the quarterfinals by Elevation and finished tied for fifth in Indy. TAV ended first at NEQ, fifth at MEQ and 11th at Lone Star. TAV wraps up with a 21-12 mark versus Open teams. 5. BOILER JRS 14 GOLD (8) Though Boiler Jrs wasn’t able to advance to the gold bracket at Junior Nationals, the Hoosier Region club turned in one of the best seasons. Boiler Jrs captured gold in 14 Open at AAU and lost just twice in Indy, to TAV in the challenge round and to Flyers in the second round of pool play. Other results on the season include winning Windy City, taking second at NEQ and third at MEQ. Boiler Jrs also won Bluegrass and the JVA SummerFest and finished 15th at Triple Crown. Boiler Jrs compiled a 30-11 record when facing Open teams, the second-most victories of any team. 6. WAVE 14 BRENNAN (4) A loss to Mintonette in the quarterfinals kept Wave from medaling at Junior Nationals. The only other loss in Indy came to Alamo 14 Premier in the first round of pool pool as Wave finished tied for fifth overall. It was a remarkable season for the So Cal club, which finished first at the Red Rock Rave and fourth at Salt Lake City, as well as second at Triple Crown and winning the JVA West Coast Cup. All that led Wave to a 34-11 mark against Open competition, the most victories of any team against such opponents. 7. SG ELITE 14 ROSH (20) There are always surprises at Junior Nationals and SG was one of the biggest. The So Cal club upset Madfrog 14 Green in the quarterfinals before falling to Flyers in the semis to secure a bronze medal. SG Elite also took out Forza1 North 14 UA in challenge play and together it elevated SG Elite 13 spots in our final rankings. SG Elite – which finished 14th at Triple Crown – took second at the Red Rock Rave and third at PNQ. Its record against Open teams stands at 16-18, with five of those losses coming against Wave. 8. MADFROG 14 GREEN (1) It was a tough ending to an incredible season as Madfrog finished tied for fifth at Junior Nationals. Madfrog came to Indy having lost just once – to Elevation –

The final National Rankings release party continues on with the 15s divisions below. You can find the 18s, 17s and 16s that were already put out by clicking on the links. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. There are power league results, qualifier results, national tournaments like Triple Crown and of course the USAV Girls Junior Nationals and AAU national championships. All these come into play. We put more weight on what happened at Junior Nationals than a qualifier because the whole season is built toward peaking at JN’s. We also had one steadfast rule we didn’t break no matter the circumstances. That rule was if Team A defeated Team B in a gold challenge match or gold bracket match at JN’s, Team A is always going to be ranked ahead of Team B. That’s because everyone comes to JN’s to win a gold medal and if Team A eliminates Team B from contention, it won at the absolute right time. It can make for some skewed overall rankings as a team might be too high or low overall but what’s the point if the biggest head-to-head matches of the season aren’t the most important ones? The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all. 1. ALAMO 15 PREMIER (19 – previous ranking) Alamo is the perfect example of the beauty that is Junior Nationals. The only at-large team in the field, Alamo stormed its way to the 15 Open gold medal. Alamo showed flashes during the season. One instance was taking fifth at the Salt Lake City qualifier. Alamo also finished seventh at the Sunshine Classic, but came in 11th at the Lone Star Classic and 17th at Triple Crown. While Alamo was most assuredly deserving of the lone at-large, there was hardly a case to be made for Alamo winning it all. The Lone Star Region club came into the tourney with a 9-14 mark against the Open field then reeled off nine victories to finish on top, including beating Arizona Storm 15 Thunder in the championship match. Alamo ends the year with a 18-17 mark against Open teams. 2. ARIZONA STORM 15 THUNDER (1) There’s no doubt Storm was the best, most consistent team throughout the club season. However, Storm’s only loss at Junior Nationals happened to come in the championship match to Alamo. Storm’s year included a ninth-place finish at Triple Crown and winning both the Salt Lake City and Red Rock Rave qualifiers, as well as the JVA West Coast Cup. Storm lost just four matches to teams in its age group – Dynasty 15 Black, Aspire 15 Premier, Seal Beach 15 Black and Alamo. It finishes the season with a 30-2 record against Open opponents. 3. TAV 15 BLACK (3) TAV is well deserving of a Top 5 ranking after the season it turned in. The North Texas Region club wrapped up an incredible year with a bronze medal at Junior Nationals after falling to Storm in the semis. It capped a year in which TAV never finished lower than fifth place, which came at the Lone Star Classic. TAV finished first at NEQ and third at Red Rock and finishes with an impressive 28-7 clip against Open-qualified clubs. 4. DRIVE NATION 15 RED (21) With its remarkable run at Junior Nationals, Drive Nation makes a huge leap in our final rankings and climbs inside the Top 5 after taking home the bronze medal in Indy. Drive Nation upset Hou Skyline 15 Royal in the quarterfinals before falling to Alamo. Along with Alamo winning gold, it was one of the most surprising results in 15 Open. Drive Nation entered JNs with a 5-14 mark against the Open field but reminded everyone that it’s not how many but when the victories come that matters most. Drive Nation finishes the season with an 11-19 mark against Open teams, but most importantly it earned itself hardware. 5. HOU SKYLINE 15 ROYAL (2) For Hou Skyline it was simply a case of losing at the wrong time as the Lone Star Region club was upended by Drive Nation in the quarterfinals and settled for a fifth-place finish at Junior Nationals. Regardless, it was an incredible year for Hou Skyline, which never finished lower than fifth place. It included coming in first at both the Northern Lights and Sunshine qualifiers, as well as a third at Lone Star and fifth at Triple Crown. Hou Skyline ends with a hefty 20-6 record against Open teams. 6. 1ST ALLIANCE 15 BLACK (6) Another club which showed tremendous consistency all season, 1st Alliance was in position to medal at Junior Nationals but came in fifth after falling to Alamo in the quarterfinals. Among the results this past spring for 1st Alliance include winning Triple Crown, taking second at MEQ, third at Windy City and fifth at Sunshine. 1st Alliance finishes with a great 20-8 mark playing Open opponents. 7. LEGACY 15 ADIDAS (8) The AAU 15 Open champions had its medal hopes dashed at Junior Nationals after losing to TAV in the challenge round. Overall, Legacy turned in a strong year, coming in third at Triple Crown, second at the Sunshine Classic and fourth at MEQ, as well as winning the JVA SummerFest. Legacy went 22-13 against Open teams. 8. OT 15 RANDY (7) OT Randy finished with a silver medal in 15 Open at AAU before heading to Junior Nationals, where it came in fifth after going down to Arizona Storm in the quarterfinals. This is another club that was steady and consistent throughout the season, never finishing lower than fifth. It featured winning the Big South qualifier, as well as taking second at Triple Crown, third at Sunshine and fifth at MEQ. On the

July 19 marked the final day of the BVCA 2022 National Championship. Below is a recap of the Gold bracket for 14U, which had exciting finishes along with the dominating performance of Madsand in the Open Division of 5 versus 5.14UQuarterfinals Gentry Barker/Haylee Wright vs Tiana Shaw/Layli Ostovar – Shaw and Ostovar were patient defending the power of Wright. Wright’s got such a powerful swing it was scoring tons of points leading up to this match. Ostovar’s answers with a big swing of her own and along with Shaw’s defense, they served smarter and kept the ball in play more often for a three-set victory.Layla Austin/Jordyn Scribner vs Allyn Brewer/Sophee Peterson – Austin has one of the hardest swings on the beach and it sure helped keep her team undefeated into this match. Both Peterson and Brewer handle the net duties well. Peterson was really strong blocking at the net winning most blocking and jousts. While Brewer, who jumps well and has a whip for an arm swing, had no problem scoring. This duo won in straight sets with their ball control.Blaire Bowers/Gabriella Rodriguez vs Shayla Martinez/Ciela Luna Hendrickson – Martinez and Hendrickson have good ball control. With Hendrickson’s good serves and stellar defense, matching up with quickness and good left-handed swing of Martinez, they made for a well-balanced team. They just ran into the power of Bower’s big swing, whether with a full approach or short one she gets the same results, a big kill. While Rodriguez digs most balls that get past the block and can also convert with a good jump for this small defender. They won in two close sets to move on.Audrey Flanagan/Olga Nikolaeva vs Kennedi Diamond/Paisley Pavliska – Diamond and Pavliska complement each other well on offense. Diamond primarily on the right side has got a good cross court swing that gave defenders fits, while Pavliska has got a good high reach and disguises her swing with roll shots to keep defender guessing. Nikolaeva had a big impact in this match going on long serving runs with her pinpoint accuracy. Flanagan chipped in with big swings of her own and this duo won in straight sets.Semifinals Blaire Bowers/Gabriella Rodriguez vs Audrey Flanagan/Olga Nikolaeva – What an exciting match. Within the first seven points there were three blocks and many defensive thrillers. The tone was set. Rodriguez and Nikolaeva were both amazing to watch as they mirror each other with their hustle and energy playing behind the block. Bowers had big moments with her kills that gave her team momentum. Flanagan matched her blocking counterpart with big swings of her own, but the separation came from her blocking. That skill took the other team out of the game plan and the moved on to the finals with a 2-0 victory.Tiana Shaw/Layli Ostovar vs Allyn Brewer/Sophee Peterson – These two teams mirrored each other with the same style. Low error, ball control groups that force opponents into errors. In this match Brewer and Peterson excelled at their craft. Peterson’s athleticism at the net blocking was forcing a lot of errors and easy dig and conversions for Brewer. With Brewer’s tough serves this duo breezed into the finals with a dominating two-set victory.FinalsAudrey Flanagan//Olga Nikolaeva vs Allyn Brewer/Sophee Peterson – This match pitted the ball control and Brewer and Peterson going up against the strength of Flanagan at the net. Brewer continues to impress with her arm as she was getting big swings past the block of Flanagan early on and winning a joust versus the 6-1 blocker. Peterson was showing her athleticism with quick drop off the nets then quickly transitioning for amazing points. Flanagan got her revenge with three blocks in the set coupled with many aces as her team won 21-17. The second set was a blend of power and savvy for Flanagan’s team. Nikolaeva surprised everyone by going with the option play continuously to keep the defense off balance. While Flanagan absolutely dominated at the net recording five blocks in this set as they cruised to 21-11 win giving them the BVCA 14U title. ***Open Division 5v5A recap of how this tournament is formatted. This division pits club versus club. Each club picks five pairs to represent a team and in the matchup the first team to have three out of five pairs wins. Madsand won the Open Division of 5v5 in dominating fashion. This club brought enough pairs to make two teams, a Madsand White and Madsand Black. The Black team had a strong run, going undefeated on Day 1 and eventually lost in the quarterfinals. This team had a pair that went undefeated in play. The domination was with the White team which won it all with a 7-0 record. The amazing numbers comes from their pairs as they went 30-0 in matches and an unbelievable 60-3 in sets! They were only pushed to three sets in three out of 30 matches. Below we have highlighted Madsand’s six pairs that went undefeated as our Show Stoppers of Day 5. Maggie Boyd/Gabrielle Walker – Boyd-UCLA, Walker-USC Liv Johnson/Madison Morrow – Johnson-LMU, Morrow-SFA Mabyn Thomas/Madison Goellner – Thomas-USC, Goellner-USC Kaileigh Truslow/Harper Cooper – Truslow-FSU, Cooper-UCLA Kaylee Young/Dylan Kate Brewer – Young-USC, Brewer-FGCU Presley Wright/Katherine Hansen – Wright-South Carolina, Hansen-Santa Clara A big spotlight goes to Maggie Boyd/Gabriella Walker as they won AVP 18U, BVCA 18U and 5v5 titles this past two weeks. They should bring some Hermosa sand back home to Texas as a reminder of their great run. In their their tournaments they were pushed to three sets five times, while going undefeated with a 26-0 record!

Our final Club National Rankings release continues on with the 16s division. You can find the 18s and 17s that were already put out by clicking on the links. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. There are power league results, qualifier results, national tournaments like Triple Crown and of course the USAV Girls Junior Nationals and AAU national championships. All these come into play. We put more weight on what happened at Junior Nationals than a qualifier because the whole season is built toward peaking at JN’s. We also had one steadfast rule we didn’t break no matter the circumstances. That rule was if Team A defeated Team B in a gold challenge match or gold bracket match at JN’s, Team A is always going to be ranked ahead of Team B. That’s because everyone comes to JN’s to win a gold medal and if Team A eliminates Team B from contention, it won at the absolute right time. It can make for some skewed overall rankings as a team might be too high or low overall but what’s the point if the biggest head-to-head matches of the season aren’t the most important ones? The Top 25 teams have comments to hopefully give some insight as to why they are ranked where they are. A select few from 26-50 have comments as well but not all. 1. MADFROG 16 GREEN (22 – previous ranking) Madfrog put together an unbelievable run in winning the 16 Open gold medal at Junior Nationals. There was no way to predict Madfrog could pull off the unexpected the way the North Texas Region club did. Madfrog had a good but not great season heading into Indy. There was a 13th-place finish at Triple Crown followed by coming in 11th at the Salt Lake City qualifier. Madfrog then qualified by taking third at PNQ and finished off with a fifth at the Lone Star Classic qualifier. We had Madfrog ranked No. 22 heading into JN’s. Madfrog actually lost two of its first three outings in Indy, falling to MKE Sting 16 Gold and NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami with a victory over SG Elite 16 Rosh in between. But after the loss to NKYVC, Madfrog reeled off eight consecutive victories, including beating A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe in the second round of pool play and again in the gold medal match. Madfrog also topped AJV 16 Adidas in challenge play and then 1st Alliance 16 Gold in the quarterfinals and Premier Nebraska 16 Gold in the semis. Madfrog entered JN’s with seven victories against Open teams and surpassed that number with eight wins in Indy. Madfrog ends the season 15-12 against Open foes. 2. A5 MIZUNO 16 GABE (3) It was a tough ending to a remarkable year as A5 fell one victory short of pulling off the double. Few teams had the overall consistent A5 displayed. The team never finished lower than fifth place, where it placed at Triple Crown. A5 ended first at Central Zone and Bluegrass, as well as winning the Sunshine Classic qualifier. A5 also earned second at Northern Lights and third at Big South. A5 went undefeated in winning 16 Open at AAU and then brought home the silver medal in 16 Open at Indy. It lost three times in Indy, twice to Madfrog and once to KC Power 16-1, which came in the last match of the first round of pool play after A5 already had the pool clinched. A5 earned a big victory over TAV 16 Black in challenge play and then topped original No. 1 seed Dynasty 16 Black in the semis. A5 posted a 27-7 mark against Open-qualified teams, as well as beating Munciana 16 Moana twice and Tri-State Elite 16 Blue once. 3. DYNASTY 16 BLACK (1) If Junior Nationals carried equal weight as every other tournament this season, Dynasty would be the top team in the nation in our final rankings. No team put up better results heading into Indy than Dynasty. It included winning Triple Crown, MEQ, Windy City and Northern Lights, as well as taking third at Show Me and earning the bronze medal at JN’s. Dynasty started slow in Indy, losing two of its first three matches to OT 16 Roberto and TAV. It was surprising given Dynasty only lost two matches coming into the tourney – to TAV and NKYVC. Dynasty earned the bronze by beating NKYVC in the quarters before falling to A5 in the semis. Dynasty finishes 26-5 against Open opponents. 4. NKYVC 16-1 TSUNAMI (2) NKYVC was remarkably steady and consistent all season and showed strong at Junior Nationals, losing only to Dynasty in the quarterfinals. NKYVC’s showing at Indy included beating eventual champion Madfrog in pool play. NKYVC didn’t finish lower than fifth at any event. NKYVC won Central Zone, took seconds at Show Me, Triple Crown and the JVA SummerFest, thirds at Bluegrass and NEQ and tied for fifth at MEQ. NKYVC went 21-8 against Open competition. 5. 1ST ALLIANCE 16 GOLD (7) It was not surprising to see 1st Alliance tie for fifth place at Junior Nationals. Not after the season put together by the Great Lakes Region club. 1st Alliance lost to Metro 16 Travel in the first round of pool play and to MKE Sting 16 Gold in the second round of pool play, but defeated Seal Beach 16 Black in challenge play, as well picking up victories over Coast 16-1 and Co Jrs 16 Sherri. After coming in 29th at Triple Crown, 1st Alliance went on a tear and didn’t finish lower than second place until JN’s. It featured runner-ups at Sunshine, Windy City and MEQ. 1st Alliance finishes 16-14 against Open opponents. 6. PREMIER NEBRASKA 16 GOLD (18) Premier Nebraska makes a huge leap into the Top 10 in our final national rankings, moving up 12 spots from No. 18. Perhaps

The excitement and good times rolled on during Day 4 of the Beach Volleyball Club of America at Hermosa Beach. Monday’s play included the start of the Club versus Club National Championships, as well as the continuation of gold bracket for 14U. We followed the Open Division 5-on-5 Club versus Club. In this format there are 4 clubs in each pool. Each club chooses its best pairings and proceeds to play against another club’s five pairs at the same time. The first club to win three out of the five matches is declared the winner. After Monday’s pool finishes all 16 teams are reseeded for Tuesday’s championship bracket. Here are the pairings that impressed us in our Day 4 Show Stoppers.Club v ClubTaylor Hagenah/Ensley Alden – The duo of tall and strong attackers showed hustle and touch on a play we saw. Alden dug a hard driven ball to the end line, forcing Hagenah to hustle and bump set a high, perfect set to the net. It culminated in Alden’s big swing for an impressive kill.Arden Besecker/Macey Butler – Butler, a UCLA commit, is a savvy attacker. While she does possess a good arm swing, we saw her change it up and chip to an open area for seemingly effortless points.Mackenzie Miller/Kealy Dirner – Miller has a good smart swing. The tall blocker has a good wrist snap that produces good topspin. Couple that with her ability to hit line or angle makes her hard to stop.Haylee LaFontaine/Danielle Sparks – Sparks generates many easy points. The serving catches opponents off guard, and when digging the easy balls her court sense allows her to put balls in spots that are impossible to get to.Presley Wright/Katherine Hansen – Wright has a good swing. Her high reach and wrist snap gives the ball heat and lands at sharp angels. With a quick approach it’s hard to time a block against her.Bailey Showalter/Kelsey Richards – Showalter has one of the highest reaches on the beach. On tight sets she has the ability to snap and hit good angels and if her opponents set tight, she usually smothers the ball with her block.Kyleen Filimaua/Abbie Wolf – Filimaua has the strongest hands on the beach. Her great timing allows her to win most jousts while watching her set the ball is very satisfying as it comes off so smooth and clean.Carra Sassack/Ashley Vincent – Sassack is one best athletes we’ve seen. Her net play leaves you speechless at times. Not only does this lefty have a powerful swing, she often hangs in the air. Blocking wise this helps her delay block and get more touches and with hitting she’s just able to wait and see what’s open.Maggie Boyd/Gabriella Walker – Boyd has one of the best jump serves. At the net she’s a beast blocking with good timing and strong arms. Walker hitting on the right side is amazing as she has a hard cross court shot or a wrist away down the line that is impossible to read.Liv Johnson/Madison Morrow – Johnson’s power and quickness showed on plays we saw her on the net. She has a strong jump and times her blocks and jousts well. Her quickness showed when she block jumped then picked up a shot behind her and proceeded to get back up and get a good swing in. It was impressive. Kaileigh Truslow/Harper Cooper – Truslow can do it all. Her quickness in defense and ability to convert is good. Her supportive and positive attitude on the court makes her a great teammate.Savannah Standage/Erin Inskeep – Standage’s net play was instrumental in going undefeated. Good footwork and strong hands gave her key blocks while her explosive jump and strong arm finished off her attacks with big kills.Zoey Henson/Clara Stowell – Henson’s ball control was evident. Her stellar serving forced opponents into tight situations. Stowell finished a couple of those points off with big blocks.Kate Morley/Stacey Reeves – Reeves hustles on defense. We saw her pick up a couple of roll shots and immediately converted to points with good swings. 14ULayla Austin/Jordyn Scribner – This duo of strong attackers gives this team a good shot at a deep run. Scribner’s swing has good pace while Austin’s high contact gives defenses so many different looks.Blair Bowers/Gabriella Rodriguez – The energetic Rodriguez frustrates her opponents. Never giving up on any shot, she will dive and hustle for any ball and convert it for a point.Audrey Flanagan/Olga Nikolaeva – Flanagan is impressive at the net. Her block timing is good and creates some blocks but many soft touches. Nikolaeva in turn picks up the soft contact and easily converts with her many shots.Nafanua Alofipo/Ella Olson – Olson’s court sense and her ability to control her shots makes defending  her a tough task. Alofipo compliments her with good net play and consistent setting.Zoe Znider/Addison Williams – Znider’s left-handed float serves gives opponents problems as she goes on many long serving runs. Williams chips in with some well placed cut shots.

On Day 3 of the Beach Volleyball Club of America the 18 and 16U national champions were finally crowned on the sands of Hermosa Beach. The 18s division featured 157 teams battling it out while 16s included 125 pairs competing for gold. Sunday also marked the start of 14U division. Here are the teams from all three divisions which caught our attention in our Day 3 Show Stoppers. 18U Maggie Boyd/Gabriella Walker – It was back-to-back 18U champs for this team! They are the most complete team on the sand. At the net both are strong attackers but Boyd produced some big blocks. Defensively and in serve receive they both read and have a good passing touch allowing for consistent looks for offense. Boyd has got one of the best jump serves on the beach. It’s consistent and has a little cutting action making it tough to read. Carra Sassack/Ashley Vincent – What a great run to second place for this team. Vincent is just exciting to watch. Her big swing produces so much force and always gets the crowd going. Sassack athleticism was on display in the finals. Being a smaller block she would delay and hang up to get touches while also cutting amazing shots by the big blocks. Savannah Standage/Erin Inskeep – Inskeep had a week to remember. Last weekend she got second in both 16U and 18U at the AVP tourney. On Sunday, her team had an impressive third-place finish in a stacked field. Her defensive ball control is absolutely amazing, then you add her ability to hit for power and finesse and you get an absolute stud. Delaney Karl/Chloe Hooker – Karl – a USC commit – was dominating. Her ball control for a blocker was a big reason for her third-place finish. Her serve receive has good passing touch and the defensive transition for big kills showed how athletic and powerful her swing can be. Sydney Miller/Kaitly Smith – This group was the winner of the silver bracket and Miller impressed in the championship match. With a 6-2 frame and a high reach she hits tough to defend angels. Her athleticism shows in her footwork at the net blocking and ability to drop and defend. 16U Madeline Walker/Vivian Johnson – This duo’s run to gold here showed poise. With a deep field, not only was their ball control relied upon but they showed how tough they were with a couple of three-set wins. Johnson is an athletic blocker with good control and court vision. Ingrid Timon-Johnson/Mallory LaBreche – This duo had a great run and finished second. Johnson has good defensive energy with the ability to convert with power. LaBreche doesn’t rattle under pressure. Time and time again she produced big points in tight situations. Kate Morley/Stacey Reeves – This duo’s ball control and defense rivals anyone else on the beach. Both Morley and Reeves cover an enormous amount of court. While they don’t hit for power their court vision and shot making abilities got them a third-place finish. Alexandra Kurz/Bella Adishian – Adishian’s net play contributed big time to her team’s third place. She has an excellent block reach allowing her to surprise teams with her block coverage. Kealoha Phillips/Aensley Matautia – This team took the silver division championship. Phillips’ powerful swing and Matautia’s defense rallied this team back for an exciting three-set win. 14U Gentry Barker/Haylee Wright – The No. 1 seed had no problems. Wright was a force at the net with her big blocks and crushing kills, while we saw Barker making amazing digs and converting for points. Audrey Flanagan/Olga Nikolaeva – Flanagan is intimidating. Her 6-0 frame at this age allows her to block so many balls not usually seen. Nikolaeva carries a wide variety of shots in her arsenal and her serves are rockets. Sara Moynihan/Kara Namimatsu – Moynihan, a southpaw, is explosive. Teams at this age usually don’t see a power swing from that arm angle. Namimatsu covers the court well and shows a good passing touch. Layla Austin/Jordyn Scribner – Scribner drives her team with her big, powerful swings and fiery emotions. She brings a lot of energy. Austin does a good job picking up balls and converting for points. Blaire Bowers/Gabriella Rodriguez – A well-balanced team. Rodriguez patrols the end line and doesn’t let many balls drop, while Bowers brings the heat with her big blocks and powerful swings.

Welcome back to Day 2 of the Beach Volleyball Club of America National Championships. It was an overcast Saturday at Hermosa Beach. With the conclusion of pool play from Day 1, the agenda for Day 2 was to pare down the field to gold brackets and start single elimination play. The 16U division started with 125 teams and was trimmed to 54. The 18U division began with 157 pairs and was narrowed down to 67 for gold brackets. 16U will finish until there are eight teams left and 18U will stop when there are 16 teams left on Saturday night and finish play Sunday morning. Here are the Day 2 Show Stoppers who made a splash. 16U Madeline Walker/Vivian Johnson – This duo with their ball control breezed through their matches. Their defense was tight as passing and communication were seamless. A hidden key is they both can find a weak area in serve receive and capitalize for long serving runs. Haylee Lafontaine/Danielle Sparks – The combination of Lafontaine’s impact at the net and Sparks’ wizardry on defense give this duo a good shot at a deep run. Lafontaine combines athleticism with her height resulting in big swings and blocks. Carly Hixson/Mikki Carlin – Hixson’s defense is stellar. Her reads and ability to convert with a big swing is a major weapon. Add Carlin’s passing touch and shot making ability and they have a deep run available to them through their ball control. Alexandra Marie Kurz/Bella Adishian – Adishian will punish any tight sets either getting a stuff block or a big kill. Kurz has a high reach on her swing making it difficult to block while also allowing her to cut the ball with extreme angels. Ingrid Timon-Johnson/Mallory LaBreche – Another team with excellent ball control. This team’s ability to handle serve receive make them a threat because they’re always in system and attacking. Charlotta Bell/Savanna Lau – Lau is very good in the back row. Her positioning is good and her ability to run down shots and convert is a positive. But this duo’s deep run will depend heavily with the net play of Bell. One of the best blockers in her age group, she shuts down plenty of attacks and her ability to transition with a big kill is key. Kate Morley/Stacey Reeves – We’ve watched Reeves long enough to know if there’s anyone who can will her team to victory it’s her. The energy she brings and her ability to back it up with big swings for points is huge. Pairing her up with Morley is genius as Morley is another run through the wall type player and never giving up. This duo was fun to watch and will give everyone fits. 18U Zoey Henson/Clara Stowell – Stowell had a huge day putting max pressure at the net. Her offense was clicking but her blocking impacted the game deeply. With Henson patrolling the back court and picking everything up this team had no problem advancing. Portia Sherman/Chloe Hoffman – This duo puts max pressure on opposing defenses. Both are strong attackers that do a lot of damage approaching behind the set forcing the block and defender to shift on time or get caught in between. Phoenix Clarke/Indigo Clarke – The sisters from Hawaii play with such explosive energy. With their good passing skills they run a quicker offense catching many teams off guard. Phoenix plays the net well making good reads which leads to getting touches on most attacks. Taylor Hagenah/Ensley Alden – This team has balance. Both are 6-0 splits who have no problem at the net or on defense. Their ball control is clean, giving this group an ability to attack on most plays. Their height and play at the net will be key for them to medal here. Bailey Showalter/Kyleen Filimaua – A definite contender, this team with two big splits also showed their athleticism with great defensive plays. Filimaua made great reads and scrambled for hustle plays culminating in big momentum kills. Maggie Boyd/Gabriella Walker – Boyd’s jump serve is legit good. She was getting aces and a lot of free balls back to her team, giving these big hitters those opportunities leading to easy points. Carra Sassack/Ashley Vincent – Sassack is a beast in the back row. Her quickness allows her to get to many balls while transitioning with her southpaw swing gives defenders fits. Vincent is one of the beach’s most explosive attackers. If her sets are high enough watch out as there is a lot of pace behind that swing. Savannah Standage/Erin Inskeep – Inskeep, with her two podium finishes last week, will look for a third on Sunday. Her ball control and attack vision allows her to hit any set. With Standage’s big swings it will also be fun to see if they can medal.