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FREE: Triple Crown Preview And Players To Watch

When it comes to the Triple Crown NIT, there is no debating the event has established itself as the premier tournament outside the season-ending national championships. The same rings true as the latest version rolls around this coming President Day’s weekend in Kansas City, once again delivering an unmatched depth of the field with the format allowing for something we don’t see elsewhere throughout the season. It is really a perfect combination.

That’s the beauty of Triple Crown. There is no national championship on the line. No team in the field is chasing any bids to qualify. The results really don’t mean much in the big scope of the season and yet because so many of the top teams from around the country are in attendance, there is undeniable prestige when it comes to winning the one-of-a-kind tournament.

Like the national championships and qualifiers, teams do begin Day 1 of Triple Crown in pool formats. However, that’s about the only similarity between the tournaments. The format of Triple Crown varies in that it uses a Power Pool format for the opening day, in addition to traditional pool play. The 15-18s have four, eight-team power pools, while the 14s have three, eight-team power pools. These teams are guaranteed to make the 64-team bracket. That’s another difference, with bracket play starting on Day 2.

Also, teams not in Power Pools can still advance to the 64-team bracket. It’s unique in that there is no Open, Premier or Club divisions, so any team entered in a respective age division has a chance to win it all regardless of initial placement. The fact remains that we get to see so many high-octane matches from first serve is what truly separates this tournament. It’s even different than USAV’s national championships, which feature 36 of the best teams in the country. Even then, the top teams are split up and don’t play each other over the course of the first two days. At Triple Crown, we are going to see powerhouse clubs going head-to-head on the first match of the weekend!

Get ready, it doesn’t get any better than what’s ahead. Below, we run through the 14-18s divisions, highlighting the teams in the Power Pools and where they are ranked in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 National Rankings, as well as spotlighting Players to Watch and providing brief analysis and predictions (that are sure to fail!).

(Updates, fixes, changes or questions please email chris@vballrecruiter.com)

18s

POWER POOL A (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 1 Drive Nation 18 Red
  • No. 3 Premier Nebraska 18 Gold
  • No. 4 Sunshine 18 LA
  • No. 5 Coast 18-1
  • No. 8 MAVS KC 18-1
  • No. 10 Club V 18 Ren Reed
  • No. 12 A5 18 Marc
  • No. 25 Munciana 18 Samurai

POWER POOL B (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 2 1st Alliance 18 Gold
  • No. 6 Wave 18 Juliana
  • No. 7 Gainesville 18 Black
  • No. 9 MN Select 18-1
  • No. 11 Skyline 18 Royal
  • No. 13 Mintonette Sports m.81
  • No. 16 Arizona Storm 18 Thunder
  • No. 18 Legacy 18-1 Adidas

POWER POOL C (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 19 AVC Cle 18 Red
  • No. 20 HJV 18 Elite
  • No. 21 Hou Skyline 18 Royal
  • No. 26 Adidas KiVA 18 Red
  • No. 27 Tri-State Elite 18 Blue
  • No. 28 Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar
  • No. 29 Northern Lights 18-1
  • No. 30 KC Power 18-1

POWER POOL D (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 17 NPJ 18 Forefront
  • No. 22 Triangle 18 Black
  • No. 23 Madfrog 18 Black
  • No. 35 Elevation 18 Spinney
  • No. 37 OT 18 John
  • No. 40 FC Elite 18 Elite
  • No. 42 Tstreet 18 Chandler
  • Ku’Ikahi 18 Wahine RSB

Other vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs Outside Power Pools

  • No. 31 MKE Sting 18 Gold
  • No. 32 Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite
  • No. 34 NKYVC 18-1 Tsunami
  • No. 36 Dynasty 18 Black
  • No. 39 Actyve 18 Black
  • No. 41 Alamo 18 Premier
  • No. 44 Excel 18 National Red
  • No. 45 Mich Elite 18 Mizuno
  • No. 47 Adversity 18 Adidas
  • No. 48 South County 18 Darice
  • No. 49 Rev 18-1 Avengers

5-Star Athletes

4-Star Athletes

OUTLOOK/PREDICTION: The 18s are in a much different spot than the rest of the age groups. The 18s have already started their qualifying season and thus have played more volleyball on bigger stages than the youngers. In fact, 17 of the 19 Open qualifiers are in attendance. Metro 18 Travel and Paramount 18 VBC are the only two with Open bids so far not here. Every team from vballrecruiter.com’s Top 10 is here, and Circle City 18 Purple joins Metro as the only Top 20 teams missing from the field. Overall, 42 of the 50 teams in our national rankings are participating. Last year’s USAV 17 Open gold medalist 1st Alliance 18 Gold starts off in Power Pool B. Drive Nation 18 Red has captured two qualifiers so far and is looking to keep its hot start going. Historically, tournament winners come from Power Pool A but the depth of teams in Power Pool B could upset that fact this year. 1st Alliance and Wave 18 Juliana are both capable of coming out of Power Pool B and winning it all. But of course the top suspects are coming from Power Pool A. Drive Nation, Coast 18-1, Sunshine 18 LA and A5 18 Marc are among the handful of teams I’m picking from to win it all. Munciana 18 Samurai came on and surprised last year in an upset, so we can’t discount Munciana. However, the feeling here is the title match is going to come down to Drive Nation and Club V, with Drive Nation leaving with another trophy to add to its collection so far this season.

***

17s

POWER POOL A (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 1 A5 17 Jing
  • No. 2 Dynasty 17 Black
  • No. 3 TAV 17 Black
  • No. 5 HJV 17 Elite
  • No. 9 Premier Nebraska 17 Gold
  • No. 12 Wave 17 Juliana
  • No. 13 Drive Nation 17 Red
  • No. 23 OT 17 Aaron

POWER POOL B (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 4 1st Alliance 17 Gold
  • No. 6 Co Jrs 17 Kevin
  • No. 8 Hou Skyline 17 Royal
  • No. 16 Coast 17-1
  • No. 24 Momentous 17 Dan
  • No. 32 Adidas KiVA 17 Red
  • No. 34 Academy 17 Tsunami
  • No. 37 Boiler Jrs 17 Gold

POWER POOL C (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 10 Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite
  • No. 11 Madfrog 17 Green
  • No. 19 Skyline 17 Royal
  • No. 21 AVC Cle 17 Red
  • No. 27 VCNebraska 17 Elite
  • No. 28 NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami
  • No. 29 Tri-State Elite 17 Blue
  • SCVC 17 Roxy

POWER POOL D (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 7 Triangle 17 Black
  • No. 14 Vision 17 Gold
  • No. 17 OT 17 Felix
  • No. 18 KC Power 17-1
  • No. 20 AJV 17 Adidas
  • No. 22 Club V 17 Ren Matthew
  • No. 26 Top Select 17 Elite
  • No. 30 Elevation 17 Ulland

Other vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs Outside Power Pools

  • No. 25 SG Elite 17 Rosh
  • No. 33 Team Pineapple 17 Black
  • No. 35 AZ Sky 17G
  • No. 36 MAVS KC 17-1
  • No. 38 Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar
  • No. 39 City 17-1 Gold
  • No. 41 AZ Rev 17 Premier
  • No. 42 Arizona Storm 17 Thunder
  • No. 44 Northern Lights 17-1
  • No. 46 MKE Sting 17 Gold
  • No. 47 NORCO 17 Black
  • No. 48 Miami Hype 17 Emilio
  • No. 49 Shockwave 17-1
  • No. 50 Legacy 17-1 Adidas

5-Star Athletes

4-Star Athletes

OUTLOOK/PREDICTION: There are only five teams missing from vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 national rankings! That’s how loaded this division is. The storyline of the 17s is can anyone touch the very top of the division? Dynasty 17 Black, TAV 17 Black and A5 17 Jing lead an unbelievable field but we want to know if anyone can surpass them? Yes, HJV 17 Elite has defeated TAV this season, so we know it’s definitely possible. But will it happen? Dynasty, A5 and Premier Nebraska 17 Gold already have secured their Open bids, but for many of the rest Triple Crown represents the first big travel tournament of the season. It’s much less predictable than the 18s. That’s the fun of this division, is we are going to see teams rise up and establish themselves as the next tier of teams behind the Big 3. I was a bit surprised not to see Co Jrs 17 Kevin and 1st Alliance 17 Gold both land in Power Pool A. Instead, both are in Power Pool B. They are a pair of teams to watch as both could make very deep runs and wind up in medal contention. Two dark horses – if you can call any team from any Power Pool a dark horse – are Vision 17 Gold and Triangle 17 Black. Both are strong enough to be in Power Pool B, but are both in Power Pool D. I could see them causing trouble and making noise. In the end, we are going with a straight forward pick to win it all. The pick is Dynasty topping TAV for gold.

***

16s

POWER POOL A (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 1 Arizona Storm 16 Thunder
  • No. 2 HJV 16 Elite
  • No. 3 1st Alliance 16 Gold
  • No. 4 Drive Nation 16 Red
  • No. 5 Hou Skyline 16 Royal
  • No. 9 MKE Sting 16 Gold
  • No. 11 Surfside 16 PV Legends
  • No. 32 Coast 16-1

POWER POOL B (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 6 TAV 16 Black
  • No. 8 Mich Elite 16 Mizuno
  • No. 16 A5 16 Gabe
  • No. 17 OT 16 JP
  • No. 18 Wave 16 Kevin
  • No. 25 Legacy 16-1 Adidas
  • No. 36 Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar
  • AZ Sky 16G

POWER POOL C (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 10 Austin Skyline 16 Royal
  • No. 14 Tri-State Elite 16 Blue
  • No. 21 Madfrog 16 Green
  • No. 22 Absolute 16 Black
  • No. 24 Adidas KiVA 16 Red
  • No. 33 OT 16 Roberto
  • No. 39 HPSTL 16 Royal
  • No. 40 GP 16 Rox

POWER POOL D (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 12 Nebraska One 16 Synergy
  • No. 13 Munciana 16 Blaze
  • No. 19 Alamo 16 Premier
  • No. 20 Dynasty 16 Black
  • No. 27 Skyline 16 Royal
  • No. 31 NorCal Black 16-1
  • No. 41 Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite
  • Northern Lights 16-1

Other vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs Outside Power Pools

  • No. 23 MAVS KC 16-1
  • No. 28 AVC Cle 16 Red
  • No. 29 AZ Rev 16 Premier
  • No. 30 ID Crush 16 Bower
  • No. 34 AJV 16 Adidas
  • No. 35 Excel 16 National Red
  • No. 37 OT 16 Will
  • No. 38 NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami
  • No. 42 Top Select 16 Elite
  • No. 43 Co Jrs 16 Shannon
  • No. 44 FC Elite 16 Navy
  • No 45 Triangle 16 Black
  • No. 46 Vision 16 Gold
  • No. 47 Club V 16 Ren Wayne
  • No. 48 Illini Elite 16 Cardinal
  • No. 50 Boiler Jrs 16 Gold

5-Star Athletes

4-Star Athletes

OUTLOOK/PREDICTION: Teams from Power Pool A in MKE Sting 16 Gold and 1st Alliance 16 Gold, and Power Pool B teams in A5 16 Gabe, Legacy 16-1 Adidas and Mich Elite 16 Mizuno participated in Central Zone three weekends ago in Indianapolis. Much of the rest of the field is traveling for the first time, getting out of regional play and seeing what the nation has to offer. Circle City 16 Purple, at No. 7, is the only team from our Top 10 rankings not in the field at Triple Crown. Team Pineapple 16 Black, at No. 15, is the only team from the Top 20 not here along with Circle City. To me, this division comes down to the state of Texas plus Arizona Storm 16 Thunder and 1st Alliance 16 Gold. I don’t see anyone other club winning this tournament. 1st Alliance looked great in winning Central Zone and is looking to defend its Triple Crown title it won last season as 15s. Storm has been a major factor in this age group for years and that won’t change in 2023. The rest of the contenders all hail from Texas in Drive Nation 16 Red, HJV 16 Elite, Hou Skyline 16 Royal and TAV 16 Black. I would be shocked if one of these six teams didn’t win it all. But then again, I felt the same way last summer in Indy when Alamo 15 Premier rose up and ended up winning it all. So we don’t really know, but that won’t stop me from making erroneous picks for the final. The call here is 1st Alliance beating Arizona Storm for gold.

***

15s

POWER POOL A (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 1 Mintonette Sports m.51
  • No. 2 Boiler Jrs 15 Gold
  • No. 3 Skyline 15 Royal
  • No. 5 Madfrog 15 Green
  • No. 8 Elevation 15 Tony
  • No. 9 Wave 15 Brennan
  • No. 12 Legacy 15-1 Adidas
  • No. 21 Tstreet 15 Curtis

POWER POOL B (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 4 Hou Skyline 15 Royal
  • No. 6 NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami
  • No. 7 TAV 15 Black
  • No. 11 Alamo 15 Premier
  • No. 14 Forza1 North 15 UA
  • No. 16 SCVC 15 Roxy
  • No. 17 AZ Sky 15G
  • No. 31 Arizona Storm 15 Thunder

POWER POOL C (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 15 MKE Sting 15 Gold
  • No. 18 AVC Cle 15 Red
  • No. 19 GP 15 Rox
  • No. 25 HJV 15 Elite
  • No. 26 HPSTL 15 Royal
  • No. 28 Far Out 15 Black
  • No. 35 High Tide 15 Elite
  • No. 37 AP 15 Adidas

POWER POOL D (w/vballrecruiter.com National Rankings)

  • No. 13 Austin Skyline 15 Royal
  • No. 20 Pohaku 15-1
  • No. 32 Team Pineapple 15 Black
  • No. 36 SG Elite 16 Rosh
  • No. 39 A5 15 Bob
  • No. 41 WPVC 15 Armour Black
  • No. 47 Top Select 15 Elite
  • OT 15 Semei

Other vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs Outside Power Pools

  • No. 10 TAV Houston 15 Adidas
  • No. 22 Tri-State Elite 15 Blue
  • No. 23 AZ Rev 15 Premier
  • No. 24 Premier Nebraska 15 Gold
  • No. 27 Dynasty 15 Black
  • No. 28 Northern Lights 15-1
  • No. 30 Actyve 15 Black
  • No. 38 Drive Nation 15 Red
  • No. 42 Co Jrs 15 Sherri
  • No. 44 Triangle 15 Black
  • No. 46 Union 15-1 UA
  • No. 49 1st Alliance 15 Gold

5-Star Athletes

4-Star Athletes

OUTLOOK/PREDICTION: The younger we go, typically the more that can happen. Is that how it will be in the 15s this coming weekend at Triple Crown? This age group is so exciting because I feel it is much more wide open in terms of the top teams. I could make a case for anyone in Power Pool A to win it all and I can’t say that about the older age groups. Mintonette Sports m.51 of course captured the USAV 14 Open gold medal last summer and started 2023 in fine form by winning 15 Open at Central Zone, where it beat Boiler Jrs 15 Gold in the final. Elevation 15 Tony and Legacy 15-1 Adidas were also at Central Zone. The Texas teams have prepped with the Tour of Texas, while a team like Wave 15 Brennan is going to face the stiffest competition it has seen so far. As far as a winner, the pick is Skyline 15 Royal downing Mintonette in the final.

***

14s

POWER POOL A

  • Madfrog 14 Green
  • Adidas KiVA 14 Red
  • Elevation 14 Molly
  • Legacy 14-1 Adidas
  • Arizona Storm 14 Thunder
  • Tstreet 14 Carson
  • Mizuno Long Beach 14 Rockstar
  • TAV 14 Black

POWER POOL B

  • Munciana 14 Chipmunks
  • WPVC 14 Armour Black
  • Tri-State Elite 14 Blue
  • A5 14 Helen
  • Club V 14 Rev Silver
  • Skyline 14 Royal
  • AZ Sky 14G
  • Premier Nebraska 14 Gold

POWER POOL C

  • MKE Sting 14 Gold
  • Mintonette Sports m.41
  • Drive Nation 14 Red
  • AP 14 Adidas
  • Wave 14 Tammy
  • GP 14 Rox
  • AZ Rev 14 Premier
  • City 14 Gold

PLAYERS TO WATCH

OUTLOOK/PREDICTION: The 14s is without question the division we are still learning and getting to know the players. That’s why we are super excited to get to see so many top teams in action in one place. The 14 Open division in Central Zone was promising, as it was great competition and we saw plenty of the next generation of rising stars. There are going to be so many more teams and names we learn about in our three days in Kansas City we can hardly wait! This was a division that was owned by a handful of teams in the 13s a year ago. The big question this weekend is can anyone break up the trio of TAV 14 Black, Madfrog 14 Green and Arizona Storm 14 Thunder? They have proved themselves as truly the teams to beat. With that said, how can you go against one of them? The pick is Arizona Storm beating TAV for gold.

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