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USAV 18 Open: Preview And Predictions (FREE)

The USAV Girls 18s Junior National Championship is slated for Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Columbus. The 48-team Open field is highlighted by top-ranked and top-seeded Drive Nation 18 Red, which has just one loss entering this weekend’s competition. The lone setback came against AJV 18 Adidas back in January at the Lone Star Classic 18s qualifier. Drive Nation still managed to finish first there, like it has everywhere else. Drive Nation also owns first-place finishes at Triple Crown, Florida Fest and Boston Festival. It clearly makes Drive Nation the favorite, much like Sunshine 18 LA was a season ago in Phoenix.

Another top contender is Coast 18-1, which lost to Drive Nation in the final of Triple Crown and spent this past Saturday tuning up with a scrimmage against Club V 18 Ren Reed. Club V made the visit from Utah to So Cal and spent Friday scrimmaging with Tstreet 18 Chandler and Sunshine 18 LA before heading to San Diego to face Coast in a friendly match Saturday. Coast won the tune up in four sets and look to be among the few teams capable of beating Drive Nation.

Below, we take a look players to know, the pools and our predictions for how it might all play out. The 48 teams in Open are divided into eight pools of six. The top three advance to challenge rounds. The first-place teams get a bye while the second and third-place teams play crossover matches to make the top 16. The crossover winners then play the pool winners for a spot in the quarterfinals. It all happens very quickly, as virtually every team wakes up on Day 2 with a chance to still break pool but only eight will remain in contention by day’s end.

5-Star Athletes to Know:

 

4-Star Athletes to Know:

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PREDICTIONS

We make our pool-by-pool predictions as to which teams are going to advance. We listed the teams in seeded order with vballrecruiter.com’s national ranking indicated in front.

POOL 1

  • 1. Drive Nation 18 Red (TX)
  • 29. FC Elite 18 Elite (WI)
  • 18. AVC Cle 18 Red (OH)
  • 37. CUVC 18 Titan (NC)
  • 39. Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar (CA)
  • SynergyForce 18 Shasta (CA)

 

Prediction: Drive Nation 5-0; FC Elite 4-1; AVC Cle 3-2; Long Beach 2-3; CUVC 1-4; SynergyForce 0-5

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POOL 2

  • 2. Coast 18-1 (CA)
  • 21. Arizona Storm 18 Thunder (AZ)
  • 12. Elevation 18 Spinney (OH)
  • 26. MKE Sting 18 Gold (WI)
  • 33. Madfrog 18 Green (TX)
  • OPU 17/18 Adidas (FL)

 

Prediction: Coast 4-1; Elevation 4-1; Arizona Storm 4-1; Madfrog 2-3; MKE Sting 1-4; OPU 0-5

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POOL 3

  • 25. Gainesville Jrs 18 Black (FL)
  • 15. AZ Rev 18 Premier (AZ)
  • 10. Wave 18 Juliana (CA)
  • 43. AJV 18 Adidas (TX)
  • 34. MN Select 18-1 (MN)
  • EC Power 18 Royal (PA)

 

Prediction: Wave 5-0; Gainesville 4-1; AZ Rev 3-2; AJV 2-3; MN Select 1-4; EC Power 0-5

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POOL 4

  • 4. MAVS KC 18-1 (KS)
  • 16. Metro 18 Travel (DC)
  • 14. Skyline 18 Royal (TX)
  • 32. Triangle 18 Black (NC)
  • 38. A4 Volley 18 Joaco (CA)
  • Adversity 18 Adidas (IL)

 

Prediction: MAVS 4-1; Skyline 4-1; Metro 4-1; Triangle 2-3; Adversity 1-4; A4 0-5

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POOL 5

  • 7. Sunshine 18 LA (CA)
  • 8. A5 18 Marc (GA)
  • 19. OT 18 John (FL)
  • 35. TAV 18 Black (TX)
  • 41. VC United 18 Elite (IL)
  • 50. OJVA 18 Gold (OR)

 

Prediction: Sunshine 4-1; A5 4-1; OT 3-2; TAV 2-3; VC United 1-4; OJVA 1-4

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POOL 6

  • 13. Circle City 18 Purple (IN)
  • 20. NPJ 18 Forefront (OR)
  • 22. Legacy 18-1 Adidas (MI)
  • Alamo 18 Premier (TX)
  • 45. Excel 18 National Red (TX)
  • Absolute 18 Black (CA)

 

Prediction: Circle City 5-0; NPJ 4-1; Legacy 3-2; Alamo 2-3; Excel 1-4; Absolute 0-5

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POOL 7

  • 11. Club V 18 Ren Reed (UT)
  • 5. 1st Alliance 18 Gold (IL)
  • 23. HJV 18 Elite (TX)
  • Rage Westside 18 Michelle (CA)
  • 49. AZ EVJ 18 Elite (AZ)
  • Tribe 18 Elite Cardinal (FL)

 

Prediction: 1st Alliance 4-1; Club V 4-1; HJV 3-2; Rage Westside 2-3; Tribe 1-4; AZ EVJ 1-4

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POOL 8

  • 6. Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (NE)
  • 9. Mintonette Sports m.81 (OH)
  • 31. Paramount VBC 18s (VA)
  • 24. Hou Skyline 18 Royal (TX)
  • 48. Tstreet 18 Chandler (CA)
  • 42. Northern Lights 18-1 (MN)

 

Prediction: Mintonette 4-1; Premier Nebraska 4-1; Hou Skyline 4-1; Paramount 1-4; Tstreet 1-4; Northern Lights 1-4

Challenge Rounds:

1 – AZ Rev d Elevation; Drive Nation d AZ Rev

2 – FC Elite d Metro; Coast d Metro

3 – Skyline d AVC Cle; Skyline d Wave

4 – Arizona Storm d Gainesville Jrs; MAVS d Arizona Storm

5 – HJV d NPJ; Sunshine d HJV

6 – A5 d Hou Skyline; A5 d Circle City

7 – Premier Nebraska d OT; 1st Alliance d Premier Nebraska

8 – Club V d Legacy; Club V d Mintonette

Quarterfinals:

Drive Nation d Club V

Coast d 1st Alliance

A5 d Skyline

MAVS d Sunshine

Semifinals:

Drive Nation d Sunshine

Coast d A5

Final:

Coast d Drive Nation

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