Though we’ve seen the qualifying season open for the 17s and 15s at Northern Lights at the end of January, the Sunshine Classic kicks off the full-fledge sprint over the next two months to earn one of the coveted Open bids in the 14-17s divisions. Below, we preview the 16 and 17 Open divisions for this coming Saturday-Monday as well as offer our predictions for the tournament and bid winners.
17 OPEN
Number of Teams: 48
Number of Bids Available: 3
Previously-Qualified Teams: n/a
Vballrecruiter Nationally-Ranked Teams (21):
- 2. Arizona Storm 17 Thunder
7. Excel 17 National Red
8. Skyline 17 Royal
9. Legacy 17-1 Adidas
10. Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal FL
15. TAV 17 Black Jon
17. Circle City 17 Purple
21. Madfrog 17 Green
23. OT 17 Aaron
25. HJV 17 Elite
28. Sky High Adidas 17 Elite
30. HPSTL 17 Royal
33. Triangle 17 Black
35. Vision 17 Gold
37. GP 17 Rox
38. Alamo 17 Premier
40. Metro 17 Travel
41. AZ Sky 17G
43. Top Select 17 Elite
46. OT 17 Felix
47. AVA TX 17 Adidas
5-Star Players To Know
- Kelly Kinney OH Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal (Minnesota)
Charlotte Glass S Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal (Duke)
Amina N’diaye OH OT 17 Felix (Miami)
Jordan Taylor MB HJV 17 Elite (Minnesota)
Campbell Flynn S Legacy 17-1 Adidas (Nebraska)
Asia Harvey OH 575 17-1 PCVC (Missouri)
Zoe Gillen-Malveaux MB Skyline 17 Royal (Duke)
Teraya Sigler OH Arizona Storm 17 Thunder (Nebraska)
Megan Fitch OH Alamo 17 Premier (Texas AM)
Lydia Chinchar OH No Name 17 Sarah (2027)
4-Star Players To Know
- Gabby Nichols MB Triangle 17 Black (Penn State)
Olivia Guzman MB Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal
Mija Bendziute OH Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal (UCLA)
Chichi Nnaji RS Skyline 17 Royal (Notre Dame)
Taylor Cook S Skyline 17 Royal (Kansas)
Naya Salfiti RS Skyline 17 Royal
Sophia Thornburg OH Skyline 17 Royal (Notre Dame)
Isabella Ocampo OH Skyline 17 Royal (LMU)
Elena Maynulet OH GP 17 Rox (Columbia)
KK Green S/RS GP 17 Rox (Holy Cross)
Zoey Matias L/DS Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal (Missouri)
Izzy Mahaffey L/DS Arizona Storm 17 Thunder (Long Beach State)
Kenna Cogill MB Arizona Storm 17 Thunder (Oregon)
Devyn Wiest OH Arizona Storm 17 Thunder (Utah)
Leni Stanton-Parker OH Metro 17 Travel (Michigan)
Sydney Bryant OH HJV 17 Elite (Vanderbilt)
Aaliyah Smith OH HJV 17 Elite (Rice)
Lauryn Mack OH TAV 17 Black
Taryn Morris RS TAV 17 Black (Texas AM)
Alex Richter OH TAV 17 Black (Georgia)
Sarah Pfiffner S TAV 17 Black
Madison Winkler L/DS TAV 17 Black
Sarah Mendoza L/DS TAV 17 Black
Shelby Burris MB TAV 17 Black (Princeton)
Reese Dunkle MB Circle City 17 Purple (Northwestern)
Logan Bell OH Circle City 17 Purple (Oregon)
Kennedi Rogers OH AVA TX 17 Adidas (SMU)
Izzy Mogridge S OT 17 Aaron (Oregon)
Outlook: The field for 17 Open is loaded! None of the qualifiers from Northern Lights are here, however, so that means no trickle down. Teams are going to have to finish in the top three and with the caliber of competition it’s going to lead to real fireworks. All the ranked teams participating were also at Triple Crown two weekends ago, except for Circle City and Metro. The seeding for Sunshine doesn’t necessarily follow how teams finished at Triple Crown and we’re not saying it should. Arizona Storm grabs the No. 1 seed here, coming off its fifth-place showing in Kansas City. Meanwhile, Skyline, which came in 19th in KC, is the No. 2 overall seed. Neither Triple Crown champion MKE Sting – which is already qualified – nor runner-up 1st Alliance is here, but third-place finishers Madfrog and Legacy are and they as the No. 6 and No. 9 overall seeds respectively. Tribe had a great showing at Triple Crown, finishing seventh, but begins as the No. 12 overall seed. That’s the type of tournament Sunshine offers. There is plenty of depth and talent. Toss in Texas clubs like TAV, HJV and Excel, as well as a local club in OT plus previously-mentioned Circle City and we are in for a guaranteed ride.
Prediction: It’s a very difficult call to make, but we are going with Skyline to beat Storm in the final. We like Tribe beating TAV and securing the final bid.
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16 OPEN
Number of Teams: 48
Number of Bids Available: 3
Previously-Qualified Teams: n/a
Vballrecruiter Nationally-Ranked Teams (18):
- 1. Legacy 16-1 Adidas
2. Skyline 16 Royal
3. Mintonette Sports m.61
10. Arizona Storm 16 Thunder
13. WPVC 16 Armour Black
14. A5 16-1 Gabe
22. AZ Sky 16G
24. GP 16 Rox
25. Vision 16 Gold
26. Academy 16 Diamond
30. HJV 16 Elite
32. Metro 16 Travel
34. TAV Houston 16 Adidas
35. TVC 16 Black
41. Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal
44. Alamo 16 Premier
46. Top Select 16 Elite
47. Team Indiana 16 Elite
5-Star Players To Know
- Gigi Artiles OH Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal
Brooke Harwood MB Arizona Storm 16 Thunder
Genevieve Harris S Academy 16 Diamond
Kayla Nwabueze MB Legacy 16-1 Adidas
Gabby Divita OH Legacy 16-1 Adidas
Ella Andrews MB Legacy 16-1 Adidas
Keoni Williams MB Skyline 16 Royal
Emma Cugino L/DS Mintonette Sports m.61
Bennett Raterman MB HPSTL 16 Royal
4-Star Players To Know
- Taylor Clarke RS Skyline 16 Royal (2025)
Levariya Pinder OH Skyline 16 Royal
Ryan Sadler OH A5 16-1 Gabe
Sofia Guerrero-Wilson MB/RS A5 16-1 Gabe
Kalyssa Taggart S/RS A5 16-1 Gabe
Nadiya Johnson RS Metro 16 Travel
Morgan Williams OH Metro 16 Travel
Ryea Jackson MB IMG 16
Erin Clark S/L/DS Arizona Storm 16 Thunder
Leilani Lawrence OH OT 16 JP
Sarah Hickman RS HJV 16 Elite
Katherine Byergo MB HPSTL 16 Royal
Lydia Stahley OH Team Indiana 16 Elite
Elle Mottola S WPVC 16 Armour Black
Paisley Pavliska OH STVA 16 Mizuno
Layla Hoying OH Mintonette Sports m.61
Sara Snowbarger OH Mintonette Sports m.61
Mallory Matheny S Mintonette Sports m.61
Meredith Martin L/DS Legacy 16-1 Adidas
Rylan Miller L/DS OT 16 Will
Mia Gold OH Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal
Outlook: The 16 Open field isn’t quite as loaded as 17, but it does feature the top three teams from our national rankings in Legacy, Skyline and Mintonette. Legacy recently beat Mintonette in the finals of Triple Crown, while Skyline finished tied for seventh. They are obviously among the favorites to qualify this weekend, where three bids are available. This being the first 16s qualifier, there is also no trickle down. Arizona Storm, WPVC and A5 all finished in the Top 10 at Triple Crown and are playing this weekend. All of our ranked teams were at Triple Crown except for Metro and Team Indiana. TAV Houston, which had a surprise showing coming in 13th in Kansas City, is one of them and starts off as the No. 9 overall seed. Ultimately, the bid race is going to come down to whether or not anyone can upset and stop Legacy and Mintonette from squaring off again, with Skyline obviously in the mix as well.
Prediction: Given the level of play it produces, it would be awesome to see Legacy and Mintonette meet up for a fourth time. However, we are going with Skyline beating Legacy in the final. Mintonette grabs its bid by beating A5 for third.
