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USAV 16 Open Preview and Predictions

It’s the best time of the year. That’s what happens when we’re all set and ready to go for USAV nationals. The 16s age group is set to go at it July 3-6 in Las Vegas so we won’t have to wait long to see how the conclusion of the 2024 club season plays out.

Below, we check in on 16 Open. You can see how the teams stack up in our national rankings, see players to know, as well as check out our brief outlook plus our predictions for how it’ll go down.

Number of Teams: 36

Vballrecruiter Nationally-Ranked Teams (34):

  • 1. Mintonette Sports m.61 OH
  • 2. TAV 16 Black TX
  • 3. Arizona Storm 16 Thunder AZ
  • 4. Boiler Jrs 16 Gold IN
  • 5. Austin Skyline 16 Royal TX
  • 6. Legacy 16-1 Adidas MI
  • 7. SCVC 16 Roxy CA
  • 8. Skyline 16 Royal TX
  • 9. A5 16-1 Gabe GA
  • 10. Madfrog 16 Green TX
  • 11. Wave 16 Scott CA
  • 12. Hou Skyline 16 Royal TX
  • 13. 1st Alliance 16 Gold IL
  • 14. NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami KY
  • 15. MN Select 16-1 MN
  • 17. Elevation 16 Goller OH
  • 18. Club V 16 Ren Reed UT
  • 19. Pohaku 16-1 KS
  • 20. Forza1 North 16 One CA
  • 21. AZ Sky 16G AZ
  • 22. HJV 16 Elite TX
  • 23. Premier Nebraska 16 Gold NE
  • 24. WPVC 16 Armour Black FL
  • 25. Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal FL
  • 26. OP2 16-1 Elite OK
  • 27. MKE Sting 16 Gold WI
  • 28. Metro 16 Travel DC
  • 29. GP 16 Rox FL
  • 30. Vision 16 Gold CA
  • 32. Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar CA
  • 33. Coast 16-1 Luis CA
  • 34. Academy 16 National CA
  • 35. Co Jrs 16 Kaleena CO
  • 36. Academy 16 Diamond NC
  • Vital 16-1 MN (unranked)
  • Jupiter Elite 16E FL (unranked)

 

5-Star Players to Know:

 

4-Star Players to Know:

 

Outlook

A fun storyline to follow with this division is whether or not we’ll see a repeat from last year with how AAU and USAV nationals played out. Last summer, Mintonette defeated Skyline in the finals of AAUs before Skyline downed Mintonette in the gold medal match at USAV. With Mintonette beating Skyline in the final of AAUs recently for 16 Open, we are halfway to another repeat. While I think it’s too improbable to happen once more, it would be a great topic should it happen again. Moving on, I think the overall seedings were relatively strong. With it, there was one pool that really stood out to me and that was Pool 3. It contains three teams that I feel like could win the whole thing in Legacy, Boiler Jrs and Hou Skyline. That’s a deep pool. It also features MN Select, Club V and Metro. MN Select reached the semifinals at AAU and held two match points against eventual champion Mintonette. That makes Pool 3 insanely tough. The remaining five pools are pretty similar. Pool 1 features Mintonette, NKYVC and Madfrog. Those three should advance, with either Long Beach, Tribe or Academy National (an at-large) joining. Pool 2 is made up of TAV, Wave, Pohaku, GP, AZ Sky (at-large) and Vital. GP is a X factor to me. The team was shorthanded for most the of the year but was healthy again at AAUs and upset Legacy in the quarterfinals. I think Pool 4 presents a great opportunity for teams to breakthrough. Austin Skyline and A5 are the favorites to advance, but with Coast, OP2, Premier Nebraska and Academy Diamond anything can happen there. It’s a similar feeling with Pool 5. Skyline and 1st Alliance stand as the favorites to move on, but anything can happen between Elevation (at-large), Forza1 North, MKE Sting and Jupiter Elite. Pool 6 consists of AZ Storm, SCVC, WPVC, Vision, HJV and Co Jrs. Co Jrs is a tough No. 6 team because I think the group has really improved during the season and could spring an upset or two. HJV is a really tough No. 5 team because the team has enough talent to beat any team in the field when HJV is playing well. There’s no doubt. Mintonette is going in as a strong favorite. TAV is right there, as the team had a tremendous qualifying season. It would be fun to see Mintonette and TAV meet up again after Mintonette squeaked a win out over TAV in a classic match at Triple Crown back in February. Skyline has struggled at times but played well at Lone Star and kept it up at AAUs. Legacy has fared really well against Mintonette this year, going 3-1 against the top-ranked team in the nation. Legacy was playing great at AAUS before being surprised by GP. Boiler Jrs and Hou Skyline definitely have the talent to finish on top of the field. Then there is Austin Skyline, which I’m excited to see because this was a new team at the beginning of the season that has had time to come together the last six months and could be a real threat to win it all. Add SCVC and AZ Storm to the mix, two more teams that can cause headaches for any opponent. It’s a deep, deep field and I can’t wait to see how it all goes down.

Predictions:

ROUND 1

POOL 1 (predicted finish)

  • Mintonette 5-0
  • NKYVC 3-2
  • Madfrog 3-2
  • Long Beach 2-3
  • Tribe 2-3
  • Academy National 0-5

***

POOL 2

  • TAV 5-0
  • GP 4-1
  • Wave 3-2
  • Pohaku 2-3
  • AZ Sky 1-5
  • Vital 0-6

***

POOL 3

  • Boiler Jrs 5-0
  • Legacy 4-1
  • MN Select 3-2
  • Hou Skyline 2-3
  • Club V 1-4
  • Metro 0-6

***

POOL 4

  • Austin Skyline 5-0
  • A5 4-1
  • Academy Diamond 3-2
  • OP2 1-4
  • Coast 1-4
  • Premier Nebraska 1-4

***

POOL 5

  • 1st Alliance 4-1
  • Skyline 4-1
  • Elevation 3-2
  • Forza North 2-3
  • MKE Sting 2-3
  • Jupiter Elite 0-5

***

POOL 6

  • SCVC 5-0
  • AZ Storm 4-1
  • HJV 3-2
  • Vision 2-3
  • WPVC 1-4
  • Co Jrs 0-5

*****

ROUND 2

POOL 1 (predicted finish)

  • Mintonette 2-0
  • MN Select 1-1
  • HJV 0-2

***

POOL 2

  • TAV 2-0
  • Elevation 1-1
  • Academy Diamond 0-2

***

POOL 3

  • Madfrog 2-0
  • Boiler Jrs 1-1
  • Vision 0-2

***

POOL 4

  • Austin Skyline 2-0
  • Wave 1-1
  • Forza North 0-2

***

POOL 5

  • NKYVC 2-0
  • 1st Alliance 1-1
  • OP2 0-2

***

POOL 6

  • Hou Skyline 2-0
  • SCVC 1-1
  • GP 0-2

***

POOL 7

  • Legacy 2-0
  • AZ Storm 1-1
  • Pohaku 0-2

***

POOL 8

  • Skyline 2-0
  • A5 1-1
  • Long Beach 0-2

*****

CHALLENGE

  • Mintonette d Elevation
  • TAV d MN Select
  • Wave d Madfrog
  • Austin Skyline d Boiler Jrs
  • SCVC d NKYVC
  • Hou Skyline d 1st Alliance
  • Legacy d A5
  • AZ Storm d Skyline

*****

GOLD BRACKET

Quarterfinals

  • Mintonette d AZ Storm
  • SCVC d Austin Skyline
  • Wave d Hou Skyline
  • TAV d Legacy

 

Semifinals

  • Mintonette d SCVC
  • TAV d Wave

 

Finals

  • TAV d Mintonette

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