The final weekend of September promises to be a huge one, at least in terms of high school tournaments. Both the Asics Challenge and the Nike TOC Southwest events are on tap this Friday and Saturday. vballrecruiter.com will have coverage from both. You can read about what to expect in Chicago here. As for the action in the Phoenix area, a total of 76 teams are set to compete across three divisions (National, Premier and Elite). Below, we check out the top-ranked teams in the field, the 3, 4 and 5-star athletes to know, as well as offer our outlook and predictions as how it’ll all play out.
Number of Teams: 76
vballrecruiter.com’s Nationally-Ranked Teams (5):
- 6. Cornerstone Christian TX
- 9. Sierra Canyon CA
- 19. Xavier Prep AZ
- 21. St. Francis/Mountain View CA
- 44. Sacred Heart Academy KY
5-Star Athletes to Know:
- Teraya Sigler JR OH Horizon AZ (Nebraska)
- Megan Fitch JR OH Cornerstone Christian TX (Texas AM)
- Brooke Harwood SO RS/MB Eastmark AZ
- Kendall Omoruyi FR MB Sunnyslope AZ
4-Star Athletes to Know:
- Grace Carroll SR RS Cornerstone Christian TX (Baylor)
- Taylor Williams SR OH St. Francis/Mountain View CA (Duke)
- Lauren Lynch JR L Sierra Canyon CA (San Diego)
- Evan Hendrix SR OH Notre Dame Prep AZ (TCU)
- Blayki Bobik SR OH Queen Creek AZ (BYU)
- KK Green JR S/RS Lake Highland FL
- Elena Maynulet JR OH Lake Highland FL
- Izzy Mahaffey JR L Queen Creek AZ (LBSU)
- Erin Clark JR L Corona del Sol AZ
- Elle Vandeweghe SO MB Marymount CA
- Lauren Forelli FR OH Liberty AZ
- Piper Chylinski FR S/RS Mayfield Senior CA
- Hanna McGinest FR OH Sierra Canyon CA
- Tessa Larkin FR OH Xavier Prep AZ
3-Star Athletes to Know:
- Madeline Way SR MB Sierra Canyon CA (Hawaii)
- Danica Rach SR OH Sierra Canyon CA (Boston College)
- Halie McGinest SR OH Sierra Canyon CA
- Whitney Wallace SR L St. Francis/Mountain View CA (Oklahoma)
- Dionna Mitchell SR OH Timber Creek FL (Georgetown)
- Mackenzie Parsons SR MB Poway CA (Cornell)
- Kiki Remensperger SR S Poway CA (South Carolina beach)
- Kate Martin SR OH Marymount CA (UCSB)
- Gabriella Destler SR OH Marymount CA (LMU)
- Abigail Paulson SR OH Coronado NV
- Skyler Gartin SR MB Horizon AZ (Sacramento State)
- Lilliana Montes SR MB Vista Murrieta CA
- Victoria Marthaler SR OH La Cueva NM
- Sophie Diouf JR MB La Cueva NM
- Elise Hart JR MB Sacred Heart Academy KY (Denver)
- Anna Powell JR OH Sacred Heart Academy KY (Georgia Southern)
- Bridget Egan JR OH Sacred Heart Academy KY
- Georgi Stein JR OH Sunnyslope AZ (Northern Arizona)
- Tristen Raymond JR S/RS Liberty AZ (Pepperdine)
- Madison Pulsipher JR OH Vista Murrieta CA
- Willow Watson JR MB Arbor View NV
- Raegan Richardson JR OH Hamilton AZ
- Kiana Landers JR MB Queen Creek AZ
- Aniya Hall JR OH Cornerstone Christian TX
- Kaia Thiele JR S Cornerstone Christian TX (UNLV)
- Jannelize Perez JR L Lake Highland FL
- Kierstin Bevelle JR OH Lake Highland FL
- Jordyn Dugi JR L Millennium AZ
- Gabriella Kucinski JR OH/RS Millennium AZ (Tulane)
- Avery Lim JR S Corona del Sol AZ
- Alyssa Aguayo JR OH Corona del Sol AZ
- Hayden Conner SO MB Corona del Sol AZ
- Madisyn Crnjac SO OH Queen Creek AZ
- Vivian Hickman SO S/RS Xavier Prep AZ
- Gentry Oblad SO OH Coronado NV
- Samantha Destler SO OH Marymount CA
- Frankie Jones SO MB Marymount CA
- Lily Rolfes SO S Sunrise Mountain AZ
- Fara Branson FR S Casteel AZ
Outlook: The four highest-ranked teams in Cornerstone Christian, Sierra Canyon, Xavier Prep and St. Francis/Mountain View all participated in last week’s Durango Fall Classic. Sierra Canyon finished the highest among them, tying for third place. Part of the Trailblazers’ run included defeating Cornerstone in the quarterfinals. It was the second time the two schools faced off this season. The first came in pool play at the Ann Kang Invitational in Hawaii in August, with Cornerstone winning that contest. Should the schools hold seed this weekend, they’ll meet for a third time in the championship match. Cornerstone is the defending champion, and also captured the Nike TOC Southeast tourney earlier this month. Xavier Prep and St. Francis also met up at Durango, with Xavier winning that encounter. All four are serious contenders to bring home the title this weekend. Sacred Heart Academy is another nationally-ranked team which is talented enough to make its way to the top of the podium. SHA has victories over both Assumption KY and Mother McAuley IL, which shows they are more than capable of beating the top teams in the country when on. Lake Highland Prep FL is another out-of-state school to watch out for. The Highlanders have a skilled enough roster to make a deep, deep run and contend this weekend. La Cueva NM hasn’t played very many matches so far, but will bring a 7-0 mark into this weekend’s event. Then there are the other Arizona schools joining Xavier Prep in hopes of keeping the title home. While the Gators have been the best so far in the state, teams like Corona del Sol, Liberty, Queen Creek and Millennium are capable of making waves and pulling upsets.
Prediction: When it comes to the National Division, there’s no doubt Cornerstone and Sierra Canyon are the top favorites but there’s no guarantee of anything at tournaments like this. Still, we are going with a trilogy to take place, with Cornerstone taking the season matchup, earning another Nike TOC title this season and defending its crown from last year.
