The SCVA’s Red Rock Rave takes place Saturday-Monday in Las Vegas. vballrecruiter.com is going to be in attendance for the event. Below, we take a look at 15-17 Open and make our predictions for the division and bid winners.
15 Open
Number of Teams: 32
Number of Bids: 3
Previously Qualified Teams (2): Arizona Storm 15 Thunder; Drive Nation 15 Red
Thoughts: Arizona Storm 15 Thunder, which won Salt Lake City, was an easy pick for the top seed. TAV 15 Black was a solid pick for the No. 2 seed. TAV did not play at Triple Crown and is making its qualifier debut. I do think No. 3 Tstreet 15 Curtis is perhaps over seeded. Aspire 15 Premier, seeded No. 9, and ARVC 15 Adidas, seeded 11, both finished ahead of Tstreet at Salt Lake City. So did Excel 15 National Red, which came in fourth in Salt Lake and is seeded one spot behind Tstreet. Drive Nation 15 Red is the No. 6 seed and already has its bid after coming in second at Northern Lights. That’s a little low of a starting seed for that team. I fully expect Storm and Drive Nation to be top-five finishers, so that should impact trickle down. Missing from the field is Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar, which came in second at Salt Lake and finished first at PNQ. Beach likely could’ve expanded trickle down to the top six if it were here. The seeding will play itself out though because no Day 1 pool is overloaded so it’s unlikely any contenders fall out because of it after Day 1. The pools appear balanced overall. Vision 15 Gold, seeded No. 7, is a team to watch. Vision defeated Surfside 15 Legends at PNQ last weekend. Surfside was the top seed there and considered the best team in the 15s in So Cal.
Predictions: How do you go against a Storm-TAV final? The question is who wins? We’ll take TAV over Storm, with TAV obviously getting its bid. The other two bid winners will be Excel and Vision.
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16 Open
Number of Teams: 30
Number of Bids: 3
Previously Qualified Teams (2): Coast 16-1; Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar
Thoughts: With only Coast 16-1 and Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar – which qualified last weekend at PNQ – having bids, it means finishing no worse than fifth place to qualify and that’s obviously only if Coast and Beach finish in the top five. We’ll see what Rockstar has in the tank after competing in Spokane last weekend. Coast earned its bid at Salt Lake, where it beat Arizona Storm 16 Thunder for the final bid. Coast opens as the No. 2 overall seed. Storm is No. 3. Wave 16 Brennan, making its qualifier debut, is the top seed. Wave, by finishing tied for 5th at Triple Crown, had the best showing of in team in the field in Kansas City. SG Elite 16 Rosh just missed qualifying this past weekend at PNQ, coming in fourth. The club starts seeded No. 8 overall. City Volleyball 16 Gold is the No. 4 seed and definitely figures to be in the mix on the final day. We’re not too sure about TX Performance 16s, which is the No. 5 Seed. Beach is seeded No. 6 with Momentous VBC 16 Dan at No. 7 and another club which could be in contention for a bid in gold pools. It’s hard to say where this field stacks up against the Salt Lake field but it’s probably a bit stronger overall. There’s no guarantee Coast or Beach help create any trickle down, so teams should go in thinking they need to finish top three to get a bid.
Predictions: The only call I’m confident in making is Wave getting its bid. In fact, that’s my pick to win it all is Wave over Storm in the final. As for the remaining bid, I think San Gabriel finds a way to get it done.
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17 Open
Number of Teams: 38
Number of Bids: 3
Previously Qualified Teams (4): Club V 17 Ren Reed; Drive Nation 17 Red; AZ Rev 17 Premier; ID Crush 17 Bower
Thoughts: Club V 17 Ren Reed is the top seed but it’s second-seeded Drive Nation 17 Red who should be viewed as the favorite to win the tournament even after playing this past weekend and qualifying at MEQ. Both are qualified and along with AZ Rev 17 Premier are likely to create some sort of trickle down. ID Crush 17 Bower is the fourth qualified team after gaining its bid this past weekend at PNQ, but while I expect Club V, Drive and AZ Rev to be in the top six overall when it’s all settled, Crush is right there on the border. I’m not sure Crush can crack the top six, so I don’t foresee Crush being involved in trickle down though Crush could make the top eight and play in the gold pools. Club V, AZ Rev and Crush were all at Salt Lake City. So was Coast 17-1, Sunshine 17 LA, AsicsWillowbrook 17 Gold, Aspire 17 Premier, Arizona Storm 17 Thunder and Excel 17 National Red, plus a few more, so there’s familiarity there. The biggest name club making its qualifier debut is Wave 17 Julianna and absolutely figures to factor into the qualifying race.
Predictions: If there were no qualified teams, it would be very difficult to pick the three teams which would emerge with bids. But I’m going with a So Cal sweep – Coast, Sunshine and Wave all pick up Open bids this weekend. As for the overall winner, I’m picking Drive Nation over Coast in the final.
