While we still don’t know which teams are going home with bids, we definitely know the small group they are going to come from after play concluded on Day 2 of the Salt Lake City Showdown.
Gold pool play actually kicked off Sunday night in 17 Open, featuring two, four-team pools. Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar, NorCal 17-1 Black, Vision 17 Gold and City 17 Gold are in Pool 1 together. Pool 2 contains Seal Beach17 Black, SG Elite 17 Rosh, DaKine Warriors 17 Surf and Tx Performance 17s. Only Vision has a bid among them, so trickle down can’t go past fourth place and we know all three bids are going out.
Both Long Beach and NorCal prevailed in Pool 1 Sunday evening while Seal Beach and SG Elite started off with big victories in Pool 2. Long Beach topped Vision, which is great for Long Beach but could cause problems for others who are wanting trickle down by Vision finishing in the top four. NorCal started off by beating City. Long Beach and City open against each other Monday morning that is going to set the tone for the rest of the day in that pool.
Seal Beach rallied past DaKine Warriors to open Pool 2. Seal Beach let a 24-21 advantage slip away in the opening frame but managed to fight back and win in three. SG Elite swept Tx Performance.
The only other team in the 17 Open field with an Open bid at the start of Day 2 was Club V 17 Ren Matthew. However, Club V did not break pool during morning action. A week after winning the Big South Qualifier, Club V lost to both City and Seal Beach and was eliminated in its local qualifier.
In 16 Open, the field was trimmed down to six teams. ID Crush 16 Bower, NorCal 16-1 Black and Vegas Aces 16 UA are in Pool 1. In Pool 2, it is OT 16 Roberto, Norco 16 Black and Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar. Only ID Crush has a bid, so like 17 Open, trickle down can only reach fourth place. We also know three of the five remaining teams are going home with bids. Like I keep saying, this is a great weekend for teams to qualify.
The craziest action on Day 2 went down in Pool 1, where ID Crush went 3-0 followed by Long Beach, NPJ Salem 16 National and Forza1 16 One all tying at 1-2. All three finished tied in set percentage as well so the only fix was one-game playoffs. NPJ clipped Forza, 19-17, before Long Beach edged NPJ, 15-13. So Long Beach took second and remains alive.
It was a strong outing for Vegas Aces, which finished 2-1 in Pool 2 and advanced behind 3-0 OT Roberto. Vegas Aces scored a key victory over AVA TX 16 Adidas to break pool.
In Pool 3, Norco 16 Black came out on top at 3-0. Norco beat No. 3 seed NorCal in the 1 v 2 contest. That came after downing both Temecula Viper 16 Costa and Seal Beach 16 Black.
DAY 2 SHOW STOPPERS
Tenesyn Frye S ID Crush 16 Bower: Frye – a 4-star recruit – helped guide ID Crush to another 3-0 mark to reach the gold pools. Frye has a soft touch and clean release. She locates well and does a nice job moving the ball around.
Brooklyn Hardy MB ID Crush 16 Bower: Hardy – a 4-star recruit from the Class of 2026 – is a wirey middle with tons of upside. She gets up well and has a great arm and was providing plenty of offense.
Kate Hayhurst RS ID Crush 16 Bower: A 3-star recruit, Hayhurst is a long lefty who can play all six rotations. She’s effective at the net attacking with a high contact point and ability to hit with pace.
Paige Thies OH NPJ Salem 16 National: Thies – a 3-star recruit – is a physical, hard-hitting outside who was powering balls down with authority.
Evie Morrissette S NPJ Salem 16 National: Morrissette did well running the offense. She’s a solid setter with nice location and a consistent release.
Emily Forness RS OT 16 Roberto: Forness was giving her team a reliable option on the right side with the way she was swinging and scoring. She was taking strong swings, not holding back and letting it rip.
Addison Worley OH OK Charge 16 UA: Worley – who we also wrote about on Day 1 – was back at it. She’s a bit undersized but she’s a gamer who takes big, aggressive swings and doesn’t back down.
Avalon Heintz L/DS Temecula Viper 16 Costa: Heintz is a hard-working libero is goes all out. She covers well and makes up lots of ground.
Melanie Hewlett S Temecula Viper 16 Costa: Hewlett is a bit undersized at the position but she dishes well. She has a clean release and spots well.
Maren O’Farrell L/DS NorCal 16-1 Black: O’Farrell was solid in the back row with her passing and defending. She has a calm demeanor and doesn’t seem to rattle easily.
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Charlotte Kelly MB NorCal 16-1 Black: Kelly – a 3-star recruit – was making her presence felt in the middle. She’s a powerful attacker who can bring the boom. She runs the slide effectively and can send down huge kills off of it.
Kennedi Rogers OH AVA TX 16 Adidas: Rogers – a 4-star recruit – was showing off her mighty arm. She takes massive swings front or back row and hammers as hard as anyone in the division.
Annabelle DeJager OH Norco 16 Black: DeJager and her Norco teammates had a great day going 3-0. DeJager is a six-rotation outside and played a key role. She has a lively arm and bringing it on the attack.
Karsyn Fetzer OH Norco 16 Black: Fetzer delivered in a similar manner as DeJager. She was the other half of the outside duo that was doing a great job powering the offense with big swings of her own.
Miley Thunstrom OH Forza1 16 One: Thunstrom was coming up clutch in a key victory over Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar. She was finding gaps or tooling blocks while coming through with key points.
Justice Fuhrmann S Forza1 16 One: Fuhrmann is another setter who is a bit undersized but does a good job running the offense and dishing the rock. She has a nice, consistent release and locates well.
Ayanna Watson OH Vegas Aces 16 UA: We wrote about Watson on Day 1 as well. The 5-star Class of 2026 was showing off her huge potential. She jumps high and has a lively arm and was a key component in the attack as Vegas Aces reached the gold pools.
Willow Watson MB Vegas Aces 16 UA: Watson was another big reason Vegas Aces was able to advance. Watson made herself known at the net. She’s a capable scorer with a strong arm and can send balls down to the floor.
Gentry Oblad OH Vegas Aces 16 UA: Oblad is another member of the Class of 2026 who was starring. She was providing her share of offense, tooling blocks and finding space in the defense to help Vegas Aces reach gold pools.
Charlie Fuerbringer S Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar: A 5-star Wisconsin recruit, Fuerbringer and teammates went 3-0 to reach the gold pools and retain the No. 1 overall seed. Fuerbringer is a high IQ setter who moves very well and can turn bad balls into great sets.
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Halie McGinest OH Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar: McGinest was helping on the offensive end and livening up the attack with her impressive kills. She gets up nice and has a loose arm to deliver with.
Maya Baker S Vision 17 Gold: Baker – a 4-star recruit from the Class of 2025 – helped a short-handed Vision team reach the gold pools.
Whitney Wallace L/DS Vision 17 Gold: Wallace – a 3-star recruit – was taking care of the back row with accurate passing and relentless defending.
Kennedy Osunsanmi RS City 17 Gold: A 4-star recruit, Osunsanmi is a long right side who uses her height to impact play at the net. She can go right over defenders with her extension and put balls down over and over. She’s also puts up a big block to get in the way of hitters.
Sophia Wolfson MB SG Elite 17 Rosh: A 3-star Brown commit, Wolfson gets up in a hurry and sends balls down quickly with her whippy swing.
Taylor Yu S SG Elite 17 Rosh: Yu – a 5-star recruit – helped SG reach the gold pools. She’s one of the top setters in the country for a reason. She’s extremely smooth and accurate and is hard to read.
Annelie Wilson OH ID Crush 17 Bogar: Wilson was standing out with her big arm and ripping kills in helping power the offense.
