While previously qualified Circle City 17 Purple was going for its fifth championship of 2022, the rest of the 17 Open field was looking to gain one of the three available bids at MEQ. Those went to TAV 17 Black – the event winner – Drive Nation 17 Red and Legacy 17-1 Adidas. We recap the top four’s weekend in Indy below.
TAV 17 BLACK (FIRST, 10-0)
- Day 1: d Supernova 17 All Stars 25-15, 25-11; d Boiler Jrs 17 Gold 25-13, 25-15; d GP 17 Rox 25-14, 25-17
- Day 2: MKE Sting 17 Gold 25-23, 25-20; d MAVS 816 17-1 25-22, 25-12; d MN Select 17-1 27-25, 25-16
- Day 3: d Mintonette Sports m.71 25-15, 25-13; d MAVS KC 17-1 25-14, 25-16; d Drive Nation 17 Red 25-23, 25-17; d Circle City 17 Purple 25-23, 17-25, 16-14
The only real statement made comes at the end of the season at Junior Nationals. With that said, if TAV 17 Black wanted to steal the spotlight and shine it on itself it did just that after downing Circle City 17 Purple in the 17 Open final at MEQ.
With Circle City owning a victory over Triple Crown champion A5 Mizuno 17 Jing, the Hoosier region club has been viewed as the top team in the division much of the season and was riding a 44-match winning streak into the final against TAV.
“Getting a bid was nice but the main goal of being here was to win the whole thing,” TAV assistant coach Clayton Bristow said. “I think a couple of the girls have chips on their shoulders because they have not been getting the same recognition as the outside on Circle City. That was a little extra added incentive.”
With Circle City previously qualifying at NEQ, TAV wrapped up its bid by winning its gold pool matches over Mintonette Sports m.71 and MAVS KC 17-1 in straight sets. It set up a showdown with fellow North Texas region foe Drive Nation 17 Red. TAV swept that one in impressive fashion.
“Against Drive Nation everything came together,” Bristow said. “We were blocking well. We were passing well. We were terminating early and often. That’s the best we played all season and it came at the right time.”
With 9 players in vballrecruiter.com’s Class of 2023 player rankings, TAV is loaded led by five-star recruit and outside Kyndal Stowers. Middle Hannah Pfiffner and setter Audrey Clark are four-star recruits. Right sides Stephanie Gutierrez and Kamille Gibson, outside Sydney Breon, middle Kate Hansen and defenders McKenna Gildon, and Zoe Winford are all three-star recruits.
“Just getting better at the little things like passing, defense, hitting,” Bristow said about how TAV can keep improving. “The simple things like serving well. We’re focused on getting a little better each game we play.”
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CIRCLE CITY 17 PURPLE (SECOND, 9-1)
- Day 1: d Six Pack 17 25-9, 25-6; MAVA Adidas 17 Select 25-4, 25-17; d Mich Elite 17 Mizuno 25-10, 25-10
- Day 2: NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami 25-17, 25-6; d CHAVC 17 Black 25-12, 25-14; d Mintonette Sports m.71 25-18, 25-23
- Day 3: d MN Select 17-1 27-25, 25-22; d Academy 17 Diamond 25-15, 20-25, 15-7; d Legacy 17-1 Adidas 25-19, 25-21; l TAV 17 Black 25-23, 17-25, 16-14
Central Zones, President’s Day Classic, Bluegrass and NEQ. Those are all of Circle City 17 Purple’s major tournament titles to date. The home club was looking to add another at MEQ but had to settle for runner up after seeing its 44-match winning streak halted by TAV 17 Black in the 17 Open final.
“We’ll have some takeaways and use it to improve in some areas,” Circle City coach Chris Due said. “We need to get used to the speed of the game a little more. TAV has been getting a lot better this year as well. They had some bumps early but they are starting to play at a high level and very consistently.”
Despite not playing at Triple Crown, Circle City still managed to put a target on its back. And even with teams coming for them, Circle City was not folding as it stood tall most of the time at MEQ. It was walloping opponents until getting a close sweep over MN Select 17-1 to open gold pool play. Then, Academy 17 Diamond pushed Circle City to three in the next one. Circle City regained its form in sweeping Legacy 17-1 Adidas in the semis ahead of facing TAV.
“I thought overall we played pretty well this weekend,” Due said. “We were tough with our service pressure overall and that really helped. When we are serving tough and passing well we are very tough to beat.”
At the center of what Circle City does is vballrecruiter.com five-star recruit and outside Chloe Chicoine. Her phenomenal talent is always on display. She’s teamed up with four three-star recruits in right side Quinci Thomas, middle Ella Chapman, outside Ava Smith and libero Molly Urban. They still have one qualifier left in Windy City, where the group could triple-qualify so to speak as well as begin a new streak.
“The girls really enjoy it,” Due said. “They enjoy volleyball in general and enjoy each other. We’ve had a successful season so far. We had won 44 matches in a row before that one in the final. They are working hard all the time and are really improving.”
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DRIVE NATION 17 RED (T-THIRD, 8-1)
- Day 1: d VC United 17 Elite 25-11, 25-19; d L2 17-1 25-20, 25-10; d CHAVC 17 Black 25-22, 25-13
- Day 2: Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite 25-10, 25-18; d Six Pack 17 25-14, 25-10; d AVC Cle Rox 17 Red 25-18, 25-19
- Day 3: d Rev 17 Raptors 25-16, 25-18; d Northern Lights 17-1 25-18, 25-18; l TAV 17 Black 25-23, 25-17
After finishing in second at Triple Crown certainly Drive Nation 17 Red came to MEQ as one of the top contenders to qualify as well as to take home the title. It delivered on one of those two outcomes by securing its bid with a third-place tie with Legacy 17-1 Adidas.
Up until falling to TAV 17 Black in the semis in straight sets, Drive Nation was dismantling the competition. The North Texas region club only allowed 20 or more points in two sets through eight matches. The streak included sweeping surprise Rev 17-1 Raptors and Northern Lights 17-1 in its gold pool to claim one of the three bids.
“The team played well this weekend in showing improvement handling the ball in serve receive, which led our offense to be successful,” Drive Nation assistant Noel Caballero said. “Defensively, we played well at the net showcasing one of our biggest strengths, our blocking.”
There’s no denying the talent on Drive Nation, which has 10 players featured in vballrecruiter.com’s player rankings. Middles Leah Ford and Reese Robins are five-star recruits. Outside Halle Schroder, right side Ceci Gooch and setter Lily Nicholson are four-star recruits. Outsides Samantha Hoppes and Nicole Mauser, liberos Landry McEachern and Kea Whillock, and setter Callie Kieffer are all three-star recruits.
“The team showed improvement in serving and is steadily improving in all facets of the game,” Caballero said. “Unfortunately, the team ended with more unforced errors during the semis and fell short of moving onto the championship match. Overall, the team is demonstrating improvement and played consistently well over the weekend at MEQ.”
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LEGACY 17-1 ADIDAS (T-THIRD, 8-1)
- Day 1: d CUVC 17 Premier 25-21, 25-14; d Adversity 17 Adidas 25-14, 25-6; d MAVS 816 17-1 25-5, 25-17
- Day 2: d Rev 17-1 Raptors 25-13, 25-17; d GP 17 Rox 25-14, 25-18; d Elevation 17 Goller 25-14, 25-18
- Day 3: d AVC Cle Rox 17 Red 25-18, 25-18; d KC Power 17-1 25-22, 25-20; l Circle City 17 Purple 25-19, 25-21
Legacy 17-1 Adidas was dominating its opponents through the first two days of 17 Open play at MEQ but then it appeared there might be a sudden turn for the worse. Only one team managed to break 20 points or more in a set once in Legacy’s first seven matches before KC Power 17-1 was leading 17-10 in the first set of the final gold pool match. The winner would qualify. The loser would not. While it was not the end should Legacy lose the opening set, it was the first time all weekend Legacy looked vulnerable.
Yet, looks can be deceiving with Legacy turning it around in a hurry and eventually sweeping KC Power, 25-22, 25-20, to qualify and set up a showdown with Circle City 17 Purple in the semis. That’s where the run ended as Circle City delivered Legacy’s only defeat in Indy.
“Obviously, it feels awesome to qualify,” Legacy coach Jen Cottrill said. “I think the 17 Open age group is one of the strongest I’ve seen in a long time. I don’t remember a stronger age group. There are 10 teams that could beat each other any given day. To get the monkey off our back early at such a strong qualifier felt really good.”
Legacy had been off the five weeks since finishing tied for 13th at Triple Crown. Back in February the Michigan club was dealing with an unexpected lineup change after one player left the team. As a result, Legacy has been working middle Olivia Gardner – a vballrecruiter.com three-star recruit – into the fold at right side.
“I thought we made a lot of progress at MEQ,” Cottrill said.
Most everyone knows about five-star recruit and Nebraska commit Harper Murray on the outside. But Legacy has plenty more on the roster. There’s three-star recruit Nina Horning, a Cincinnati commit, on the outside as well. Four-star recruit Laurece Abraham, a Yale commit, is part of the middle duo that also includes Abby Reck. Another four-star recruit in Erin Kline directs it all, with four-star recruit Sarah Vellucci suiting up at libero.
“Harper is very reliable,” Cottrill said. “I thought she played really well this weekend. She hit over .400 and led us in kills. Erin Kline was watching film once a week and getting lessons and putting in the time these five weeks and played really well. Our middle Laurece Abraham hit .650 on the weekend and was second in kills. She had 10 kills and zero errors on 14 attempts against Circle City.”
