The 17 Open division at the Red Rock Rave in Las Vegas had all the makings of being able to deliver an entertaining three days of qualifying action. Still, the unpredictable results produced a level that exceeded expectations. Drive Nation 17 Red, AZ Rev 17 Premier, Club V 17 Ren Reed and ID Crush 17 Bower all came into the event already holding bids. All were in play during Day 3 gold pools to create the possibility of trickle down. But no one foresaw how it eventually played out.
Coast 17-1 outlasting Drive Nation for the 17 Open title and earning its bid didn’t so much turn heads as what happened behind the pair of finalists that did. It was two surprise semifinalists that did in Legacy Girls 17 Pyramid and Tstreet 17 Naseri. That’s where it got even more interesting. As it looked like Legacy and Tstreet rounded out the qualifying clubs, it was found out Legacy actually declined its Open bid. That brought Wave 17 Juliana back into the fold. Wave was in the silver bracket with Club V, AZ Rev and ID Crush. Since all three already had bids, the one Legacy declined fell to Wave. Below, we write about how the teams which qualified got there.
COAST 17-1 (FIRST, 10-0)
- Day 1: d Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar 25-19, 25-20; d United 17 Arete 25-12, 25-11; d Forza1 17 UA 25-18, 25-23
- Day 2: d Excel 17 National Red 25-16, 25-9; d Supernova 17 All Stars 22-25, 25-22, 15-9; d Aspire 17 Premier 25-16, 25-16
- Day 3: d OJVA 17 Gold 25-8, 25-12; d Wave 17 Juliana 25-16, 27-25; d Legacy Girls 17 Pyramid 25-21, 25-21; d Drive Nation 17 Red 25-13, 16-25, 15-10
After Coast made the gold pools last month at the Salt Lake City showdown but was on the wrong end of tiebreakers and wasn’t able to qualify, you could say the So Cal club came to Las Vegas on a mission. Coast certainly performed like it. It went through the field unscathed, going 10-0 and dropping only two sets. One came against Drive Nation in the final. It was the second time this season Coast downed Drive Nation after picking up a victory over the Texas club at Triple Crown.
“There has been huge improvement from Salt Lake City,” Coast setter Zoe Rachow said. “In Salt Lake City, we had a dip of emotion and play on the third day. This tournament we kept a level head and steady pace and we were able to keep pushing through together.”
Coast opened up the third day with a dominating sweep against OJVA 17 Gold that put it on the cusp of qualifying. Up next was rival Wave with the winner earning a spot in the final four and almost assuredly a bid. Coast rallied from a five-point deficit midway through the second set to sweep, 25-16, 27-25. Once Drive Nation won its pool to create trickle down to at least fourth place, Coast had its bid for sure before playing and sweeping Legacy in the semis.
The roster is built to be able to compete with anyone. Rachow has options all around her and gets everyone involved. Claire Little is the big arm on the left, while Milan Bayless is a feisty outside with smarts. Brooklyn Briscoe is a physical presence in the middle and combines with Jasmine Saran to give Coast two reliable scorers. Noemie Glover can be electric at times on the right. Then there’s libero Sydney Bold and DS Brooklyn Yelland making up a strong defensive backrow. Even with all the pieces, Coast doesn’t plan on settling anytime soon.
“We can get better in every aspect,” Rachow said. “Passing, digging, hitting, setting, emotionally. Everything.”
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TSTREET 17 NASERI (FOURTH, 7-3)
- Day 1: d Flyers 17 APX 25-15, 27-25; d Aspire 17 Premier 25-22, 25-23; d Club Cactus 17 Mizuno 25-6, 25-9
- Day 2: d Club V 17 Ren Matthew 25-21, 23-25, 15-11; d SynergyForce 17 Jeff 25-19, 27-25; d Drive Nation 17 Red 25-22, 13-25, 16-14
- Day 3: d Omni 17 Rick 25-18, 25-17; d ID Crush 17 Bower 25-17, 25-19; l Drive Nation 17 Red 25-23, 25-21; l Legacy Girls 17 Pyramid 25-21, 28-26
There are different ways of looking at Tstreet’s quest to qualify in Open. As the No. 11 overall seed to start Tstreet should have been among the 12 teams divided up into four, three-team gold pools on Day 3. From there, taking advantage of trickle down seemed realistic so qualifying shouldn’t have seemed like that much of a longshot.
However, Tstreet wasn’t really on the bid radar. Mostly because Tstreet went after its USA bid in Salt Lake City, where it finished on top of the 17 USA division. Red Rock was Tstreet’s last qualifier of the season so going for Open was an easy call in hopes of improving its bid.
Tstreet lost on Day 1 to Aspire 17 Premier but that didn’t derail the So Cal club. From there, Tstreet caught fire and rolled off six consecutive victories. It included beating Drive Nation on Day 2. That victory helped place Tstreet in a more manageable pool on Day 3 with ID Crush and OMNI 17 Rick instead of in one with AZ Rev and Sunshine 17 LA.
Tstreet came out strong, sweeping both OMNI and ID Crush to make the top four and eventually secure its bid when Drive Nation joined the top four. Tstreet fought Drive Nation in a rematch in the semis before falling in two and wound up in fourth place after going down to Legacy in the third-place match. It didn’t matter at that point.
“I thought our girls really, really played hard and battled every match,” Tstreet coach Naseri Tumanuvao said. “We took a huge leap in the right direction in terms of establishing a level of performance. I’m really proud of them.”
It was an unbelievable run to be sure. Outside Eva Travis had a monster weekend and was as impressive as any outside in the division. Maia Niemen was steady at the other outside spot. Sidney Shaffer and Grace Jackson held it down in the middle, while Lois Hansen had her moments on the right side. Nicole Feliciano set and hit across the front, with Erynn Munoz filling out the setting duties. And then there was Ella Scott at libero who provided consistent play throughout the weekend.
“We are super stoked,” Tumanuvao said. “I think they really shocked themselves a bit and shocked a lot of people. I’m really proud of the girls and their effort.”
***
WAVE 17 JULIANA (T-SEVENTH, 7-2)
- Day 1: d Five Starz 17 Debby 25-15, 25-16; d Sykora Academy 17 25-10, 25-18; d Excel 17 National Red 25-18, 25-23
- Day 2: d Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar 25-12, 25-12; d Legacy Girls 17 Pyramid 25-17, 25-10; d Tx Performance 17 25-18, 25-20
- Day 3: d OJVA 17 Gold 25-15, 25-15; l Coast 17-1 25-16, 27-25; l Club V 17 Ren Reed 25-23, 20-25, 15-11
It sure looked like Wave was eager to compete after finally getting to play in its first qualifier of the season at Red Rock. The team was crushing opponents through the first two days and kept it going in its first gold pool outing against OJVA. Then Wave ran into Coast and that’s where it started to get really interesting.
While the winner of Coast and Wave would move onto the final four, the loser hardly seemed out of the qualifying race. Club V and ID Crush still had chances to win their pools and create trickle down to sixth. And with AZ Rev making the top eight as well, it seemed like trickle down was destined to reach seventh place.
After going down to Coast, it even seemed like Wave could have lost its next match in the start of the silver bracket and just had to win after that to land in seventh. But things changed quickly. Tstreet handled ID Crush to make the top four. Then in a stunning upset Legacy outlasted Club V in three sets and Legacy made the top four.
Just like that, it appeared like Wave’s hopes at a bid were dashed. Drive Nation was in the top four with Coast, Legacy and Tstreet and it looked as if the latter three were the bid winners. The silver bracket suddenly meant nothing in terms of qualifying.
Yet, an announcement went out over the convention center speakers requesting that Wave coach Juliana Conn come to the tournament desk. Once there, she was being asked to sign for the final Open bid.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I thought it was a joke.”
What Wave found out was Legacy had declined its Open bid. Wave was assured of being the next-highest finisher without its bid so it was in fact Wave which ended up qualifying after all. It certainly wasn’t how Wave planned on qualifying but nevertheless Wave left Vegas with its bid.
