The desperation and intensity ramped up on Day 2 of the 14 and 15s divisions at the USAV GJNC in Indy. With the first round of pool play coming to an end, there were teams scrambling to stay in contention for the podium. With 24 of the 36 teams advancing to the second round of pool play, it of course meant 12 teams were cast aside and their hopes of a medal ended. We’ll cover the day’s events if you keep scrolling down. However, as usual, we begin with our Day 2 Show Stoppers highlighting the players who shined the brightest.
Margaret Czajka, MB, MKE Sting 14 Gold – Czajka brings a real offensive presence when she checks in. She has a great arm and is adept at finding and exploiting the gaps when she attacks.
Abby Zimmerman, RS, SCVC 14 Roxy – Zimmerman was showing what she can bring to front row. She’s long with a nice arm and was ripping balls down the line.
Sydney Lund, S, Austin Skyline 14 Royal – Showing off her hands, Lund sets a clean ball consistently and was locating well.
Londyn Stone, OH, AVC Cle Rox 14 Red – A bit undersized, it doesn’t matter when Stone goes up for a kill. She takes aggressive swings and showed her ability to tool blocks, as well as pass and defend in the back row.
Sydney Borowy, OH, AVC Cle Rox 14 Red – With nice extension and a high point of contact, Borowy can let it fly when she gets a hold of one.
Willow Weninger, RS, Pohaku 14-1 – Weninger is a big plus for the offense. She’s a name to know as she flashed plenty of upside. She has a booming arm and was crushing winners.
Halle Thompson, OH, Hou Skyline 14 Royal – What a talent Thompson is. She glides in the air with a smooth swing. She’s a threat front and back row.
Layla Hoying, OH, Mintonette m.41 – Mintonette’s outside duo is one of the best in the age group. Hoying is an all-around contributor with a really good arm and the smarts to blow up bigger blocks.
Sara Snowbarger, OH, Mintonette m.41 – Another all-around contributor for Mintonette, Snowbarger is also tough to slow on the attack with her scoring prowess.
Mallory Matheny, S, Mintonette m.41 – Matheny has a great release and does a swell job running the offense. She’s strong going behind her with accuracy and touch.
Lauren Scheiden, L, Drive Nation 14 Red – Scheiden gave Drive Nation a defensive edge. She was defending and covering the court well, making plays to keep rallies alive.
Elena Ruble, S, HPSTL 14 Royal – Ruble is quick and does well getting to the ball. She can jump set and does well dishing to her various hitters.
Layla Austin, OH, Madfrog 14 Green – It’s going to be fun watching Austin move up age groups. She has tremendous potential. She has a great arm that can already generate heat and pressure opponents.
Summer Hodge, L, Madfrog 14 Green – Hodge is a smooth passer. She was on point in serve receive when challenged.
Abigail Vander Wal, OH, 1st Alliance 15 Gold – Vander Wal – a five-star recruit – is the go-to outside who carries a big offensive load. She can go over, around or through blocks and is someone opponents have to plan their defense around.
Taylor Cook, S, Skyline 15 Royal – Cook moves well and can get her feet to the ball and set normal where other setters would struggle. A three-star recruit, she goes behind her well too and has a good connection with her middles.
Camille Middleton, MB, Skyline 15 Royal – Middleton gets off the ground in a hurry. She’s difficult to time blocking and thus is able to score before the block is formed.
Logan Parks, S/RS, MAVS KC 15-1 – A five-star recruit, Parks is a marvel to watch. She’s a solid setter with really good hands and location. As a hitter, she skies and pounds and gives defenses all they can handle.
Bailey Warren, OH, Hou Skyline 15 Royal – Another five-star recruit, Warren is a human pogo stick. She elevates well and has a good arm. That combo makes her a scoring machine.
Julia Grace, L, NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami – Grace – a three-star recruit – is a high-energy libero with strong command of the back row. She also was solid out of serve receive and making hustle plays.
Teraya Sigler, OH, Arizona Storm 15 Thunder – Sigler was displaying what she can do all over the court. A five-star recruit, she’s a physical hitter who can overpower opponents. She’s also a strong passer and defender.
Izzy Mahaffey, L, Arizona Storm 15 Thunder – Mahaffey – a three-star recruit – is an anchor in the back row. She’s rarely off her mark when challenged in serve receive, and she’s strong picking up tips and touches.
Kirra Musgrove, S/RS, HJV 15 Elite – A four-star recruit, Musgrove is a key two-way player. She does well directing the offense back row with a nice, consistent release. She’s also a solid attacker who helps spread out the offense.
Campbell Flynn, S, Legacy 15-1 Adidas – Flynn – a four-star recruit – had one of the top plays of the day. She set a ball from the deep zone 1 corner all the way to outside clean and on point. There are older setters who couldn’t make that set and she made it look easy.
Logan Bell, OH, Circle City 15 Purple – A three-star recruit, Bell explodes up on the attack. Her quick jump and swing make her a tough one to stop consistently.
Isabelle Brown, S, Circle City 15 Purple – Brown – another three-star recruit – does well getting her hitters good looks. She’s a scrappy setter too who can make nice defensive plays.
Avery Freeman, L, Circle City 15 Purple – Freeman is steady and consistent in everything she does. A three-star recruit, she passes and defends with a passion and doesn’t get rattled.
Bellamie Beus, OH, ID Crush 15 Bower – Beus was showing off her arm time and time again. She hits a heavy ball and when she fully catches one she thumps it.
Elizabeth Bower, L, ID Crush 15 Bower – An eighth-grader playing up, it’s a rarity to see Bower get served. She’s a lights-out passer and does well making up ground and getting to errant balls.
Maggie Dostic, OH, OT 15 Randy – Dostic has a high contact point and a smooth swing. She does well tooling blocks and keeping pressure on defenders to make plays.
Connore Siler-Nixon, MB, OT 15 Randy – Siler-Nixon is a quick middle. She runs the slide effectively and is tough to time up blocking.
Lainey Waser, MB, HPSTL 15 Royal – Waser is a strong, physical attacker. She was putting down 3s with authority and giving HPSTL a solid scoring option in the middle.
Abbey Hayes, OH, Six Pack 15 – Hayes takes aggressive swings. She isn’t afraid to go right at the block with her fluid swing.
Layli Ostovar, OH, Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar – Ostovar – an eighth-grader playing up – could score at the 16s level. She has a whip of an arm and has a variety of shots to throw at the defense.
Megan Fitch, OH, Alamo 15 Premier – A five-star recruit, Fitch is a menace on the attack. With her length, she goes right over the block and possesses a lively arm to blast it with.
Jacy Carrejo, S, Austin Skyline 15 Royal – Carrejo does well getting her hitters involved when in system. She’s solid and consistent hitting her spots.
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We hit 15 Open with how Day 3 stacks up, featuring eight, three-team pools:
- P1: AZ Storm; Austin Skyline; 1st Alliance
- P2: HJV 15 Elite; Surfside; Northern Lights
- P3: Legacy; Wave; GP
- P4: TAV; Dynasty; Drive Nation
- P5: Circle City; Nebraska One; Absolute
- P6: Hou Skyline; Coast; NorCal
- P7: OT Randy; Long Beach; Michigan Elite
- P8: AZ Sky; Alamo; AJV
We mentioned the fact Alamo 15 Premier started off 3-0 on Day 1, which was an impressive feat considering Alamo was the lone at-large into the field. Alamo was also the lowest-seeded team – at No. 28 – to go 3-0. Alamo continued on during Day 2 play, finishing Pool 4 in second place at 4-1. TAV 15 Black – the No. 4 overall seed – handed Alamo its lone loss and with it took the head-to-head tiebreaker and first place after also finishing 4-1. Alamo kept the mantle as the lowest-seeded team to finish the first round of pool play with the best mark. Surfside 15 PV Legends and Absolute 15 Black tied at 3-2 in Pool 4 as both advanced along with TAV and Alamo.
On the flip side, MAVS KC 15-1 was the highest-seeded team not to advance. The No. 11 overall seed and No. 2 team in Pool 1 ended 2-3. AJV 15 Adidas was also 2-3, but by virtue of their head-to-head result grabbed fourth place in the pool over MAVS, which finished fifth.
It was a tough blow to MAVS, who pushed top-seeded Arizona Storm 15 Thunder to three games in the final outing before falling. The victory would’ve allowed MAVS to advance. Instead, Storm finished the pool at 5-0.
Nebraska One 15 Synergy went 2-0 in Pool 1 on Day 2 to take second place at 3-2, defeating both Top Select 15 Elite and AJV. A loss to either one and Nebraska One not only finishes 2-3, but it would not have advanced considering it would’ve lost the head-to-head tiebreaker to MAVS. That’s the insanity of this tournament. The difference between second and fifth place can be one match! Wave 15 Scott went 3-2 and finished third.
Dynasty 15 Black, the No. 2 overall seed, had a rough start by going 1-2 on Day 1 in Pool 2. Dynasty managed to break pool after downing Mich Elite 15 Mizuno and falling to HJV 15 Elite. At 2-3, Dynasty took third, owning the head-to-head over Mich Elite, which finished 2-3 and took fourth. HJV won the pool at 4-1, after beating Coast, which also finished 4-1. Coast ended the day by beating Skyline 15 Royal, which tied with Dynasty and Mich Elite at 2-3 but lost out on the tiebreakers and took fifth.
In Pool 3, Legacy 15-1 Adidas overcame a Day 2 setback to NorCal 15 Black and beat Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar to close out the pool. It left Legacy and Beach tied at 4-1, with Legacy getting first place. Beating Legacy proved key for Nor Cal, which finished 2-3 and took fourth. It allowed Nor Cal to avoid a three-way tie at 1-4 and risk not advancing.
Circle City 15 Purple joined AZ Storm as the only teams to make it through the first two days undefeated as the hometown club went 5-0 in Pool 5. AZ Sky 15 Gold and 1st Alliance 15 Gold – which was the No. 5 overall seed – finished tied at 3-2 and took second and third respectively. It was AZ Sky’s victory over 1st Alliance on Day 1 that gave AZ Sky second place over 1st Alliance. Madfrog 15 Green and GP 15 Rox squared off in the final outing with the winner getting fourth place. GP swept as both finished 2-3, but of course GP earned the head-to-head tiebreaker to move on.
Pool 6 was wild.
While Hou Skyline 15 Royal and OT 15 Randy tied at 4-1, there was a three-way tie behind them at 2-3. Hou Skyline took first after beating OT Randy in the last match, but the three-way tie between Northern Lights 15-1, Drive Nation 15 Red and HPSTL 15 Royal was more intriguing.
Northern Lights took third place on the strength of beating the other two head-to-head. So even though HPSTL had a better set percentage than Drive Nation, that did not come into play. It came down to the head-to-head result between HPSTL and Drive Nation, which defeated HPSTL in the final contest of the pool and as a result took fourth to stay in the hunt. HPSTL was eliminated.
As it worked out, AZ Storm, TAV and Hou Skyline were the three No. 1 teams in their respective pools to finish first. GP and Northern Lights were the two No. 6 teams to advance. Alamo was the highest-finishing No. 5 team, followed by Wave. Both Coast and AZ Sky took second as No. 4 teams. Dynasty and 1st Alliance both took third as No. 1 teams, while Long Beach took second as a No. 1 team. Legacy, HJV and Circle City won their pools as No. 2 teams.
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Let’s start off with the 14 Open Day 3 pools:
- P1: Tstreet; TAV; Pohaku
- P2: Boiler Jrs; GP; Flyers
- P3: MKE Sting; Madfrog; Drive Nation
- P4: Wave; WPVC; HPSTL
- P5: SG Elite; NKYVC; Skyline
- P6: Mintonette; Forza North; SCVC
- P7: Hou Skyline; Austin Skyline; AZ Sky
- P8: Elevation; Alamo; TAV Houston
SG Elite 14 Rosh – the No. 19 seed and No. 4 team in Pool 5 – finished 5-0, making the So Cal club the lowest-seeded team to fare the best through the first two days of pool play. Not far behind was Tstreet 14 Carson, also a No. 4 team from Pool 1. Tstreet – the No. 24 seed overall – went 4-1 and took first place.
Boiler Jrs 14 Gold, MKE Sting 14 Gold and Mintonette m.41 join SG as teams still undefeated heading into the second round of pool play. Top-seeded Madfrog 14 Green is still in the hunt, but lost again on Day 2 as NKYVC 14-1 Tsunami pulled out a thrilling victory, 21-25, 26-24, 19-17. NKYVC tied with Tstreet at 4-1, but took second based on their head-to-head result. Tstreet dropped its final match of the pool to TAV Houston 14 Adidas but already had first place clinched prior. Madfrog tied with TAV Houston at 3-2 and took third based on the head-to-head result.
Boiler Jrs swept a tight contest over Forza1 North 14 UA to close out Pool 2 and take first at 5-0. Forza North ended 4-1 and in second. The No. 6 team in the pool in WPVC 14 Armour Black went 3-2, winning both matches on Day 2 to grab third, while AZ Sky 14 Gold went 2-3 for fourth. It was an impressive showing from WPVC, as no other No. 6 team finished higher than fifth in their pool.
In Pool 3, there were a pair of ties behind MKE Sting. Austin Skyline 15 Royal and TAV 14 Black both went 3-2, with Austin Skyline earning second based on head-to-head. Austin Skyline was the only No. 5 team to take second in its pool. SCVC 14 Roxy and A5 Mizuno 14 Helen ended at 2-3, but SCVC took fourth on their head-to-head result. SCVC started the tourney 0-3 but won both matches on Day 2, starting with AVC Cle Rox 14 Red and then taking care of A5 in two critical results.
At 4-1, Wave 14 Brennan was tops in Pool 4 and thus retained the No. 4 overall seed. GP 14 Rox, Alamo 14 Premier and Skyline 14 Royal all tied at 3-2 behind Wave. All advanced, with Alamo taking second, GP third and Skyline fourth.
We mentioned SG owning Pool 5. Elevation 14 Molly was second at 4-1. Pohaku 14-1, Drive Nation 14 Red and Premier Nebraska 14 Gold all went 2-3. Pohaku, the No. 1 team in the pool, received third based on tiebreakers as fourth went to Drive Nation, leaving Premier Nebraska eliminated. Drive Nation joins Austin Skyline and Skyline as No. 5 teams to advance from their pools.
Pool 6 was relatively straight forward. Hou Skyline 14 Royal, Flyers 14 Anthony and HPSTL 14 Royal tied at 3-2 behind Mintonette as all three moved on as well. Hou Skyline was second, Flyers third and HPSTL fourth.
As it turned out, Boiler Jrs, MKE Sting and Wave were the three No. 1 teams to win their pools. Mintonette was the only second place team to win its pool, while SG and Tstreet won their pools as the No. 4 team.
