We are heading into the fourth weekend of 18s qualifying. Up next is the Ohio Valley Qualifier taking place at the Columbus Convention Center. Below, we look for the teams to watch for when it comes to qualifying, 4 and 5-star recruits in the field as well as our predictions for the weekend.
OHIO VALLEY 18s
Number of Teams: 21
Number of Bids: 3
Previously-Qualified Teams (2): Mintonette Sports m.81; OT 18 O Roberto
vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (8):
- 3. NKYVC 18-1 Tsunami KY
11. Coast 18-1 CA
20. AVC Cle 18 Red OH
24. Academy 18 Elite Rage IN
26. OT 18 Roberto FL
32. Metro 18 Travel DC
40. Legacy 18-1 Adidas MI
43. Elevation 18 Toth OH
vballrecruiter.com 5-star Players in the Field:
- Lauren Harden OH Academy 18 Elite Rage (Florida)
vballrecruiter.com 4-star Players in the Field:
- Fallon Stewart OH OT 18 Roberto (Cincinnati)
Juleigh Urbina S OT 18 Roberto (Georgetown)
Erin Debiec S Metro 18 Travel (Colorado State)
Elizabeth Tabeling L/DS NKYVC 18-1 Tsunami (Ball State)
Julia Hunt MB NKYVC 18-1 Tsunami (Washington)
Alexis Haury S NPJ 18 Forefront (Washington)
Outlook: Fresh off of qualifying at the Florida Fest with a third-place showing, Mintonette starts off as the top seed and is one of two teams that could create a possible trickle-down scenario. The other club is OT Roberto, which is already playing in its third qualifier of the season after taking second at Lone Star and fifth last weekend. In terms of earning bids, there are a handful of teams to pay attention to. At the top of the list is both NKYVC and Coast. Coast finished sixth at Lone Star and stands a good chance of coming through this weekend with one of the bids. The same goes for NKYVC, which starts as the No. 5 overall seed behind No. 3 Coast. In between is fourth-seeded Metro, which is also playing in its third qualifier. Metro has been in contention for bids and this could be the weekend when the club breaks through. AVC, Academy and Elevation are more clubs to keep a watch out for as any one of the trio could find itself in position to qualify. NPJ is another contender and rounds out our teams to keep an eye on.
Prediction: Let’s get to the picks for this weekend. NKYVC is our choice to win it all, beating OT in the final. The final two bids go to Coast and NPJ.
