Lone Star Classic Qualifier – Recap – Actyve 16 Black
The Lone Star Classic National Qualifier tournament held at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas took place this past Easter weekend. There were over a thousand talented teams from across the country competing in this awesome tournament and…
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Continue ReadingThe Lone Star Classic National Qualifier tournament held at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas took place this past Easter weekend. There were over a thousand talented teams from across the country competing in this awesome tournament and hundreds of college coaches were in attendance. This is widely regarded as the tournament with the toughest competition in the nation. It was a weekend full of cutthroat volleyball and I was super excited to have covered it for California. This series of articles will be focused on Cali teams that played, how they fared and some of the fantastic players who stood out to me.
Going into the tourney Actyve 16 Black was ranked as the 13th best team in the Southern California Region according to AES results. Actyve 16 Black was seeded 22nd overall going into day one and we have heard some good things about them. I was talking to some of my college coaching contacts and they mentioned a few players that they have been looking at on this team, so I was very interested to see them in person.
Actyve 16 Black was in for a tough day one as they faced some legit Texas competition. Two of their three matches were super close and went to three sets with Actyve ultimately winning both matches. They lost a close one to a very scrappy Texas United 16 Red team but they still did well enough to be in division one for day two.
Day two consisted of three teams who also got first or second in the opening pool so the competition level ramped up drastically. All three matches were closely contested and each went to a deciding third set. Actyve pulled out two wins against two tough Texas teams and lost a close one to Missouri Juniors. The second place finish put them in contention for a bid still.
All they had to do is make it out of a Challenge bracket of four teams to advance to the Gold bracket. They were pitted against a red hot Texas Fury team who had only lost one match in the entire tourney up until that point. Actyve 16 Black pulled out a tough win in that match (30-28, 18-25, 16-14) to advance to the finals of the bracket. The win put them against San Antonio Juniors 16 Adidas, who would eventually get 3rd overall in the tourney. They fell to SA Juniors (19-25, 21-25).
Day three was bracket play and they beat Fieldhouse Ikaika – Tavis (25-23, 25-13). They then matched up with Ultimate Performance Volleyball Club 16 Open in which they fell (22-25, 21-25). All in all it was a great showing for this team in arguably the toughest field of any national qualifier this season. Actyve 16 Black ended up getting 13th place overall out of 81 tough teams.
There were a few special players who stood out when I watched them play. Although it is a team sport and many players contributed to their amazing showing, I will only highlight a few players that stood out when I watched. Let’s meet a few of the standouts:
Sophia Wolfson [2024] 6-2 Middle (HS: The Buckley School/Club: Actyve/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Sophia is currently an unranked prospect in the 2024 class according to our Prep Dig California State Rankings, but will be added to our watch list from what we saw at this tourney. She plays for The Buckley School and also club for Actyve Volleyball. Miss Wolfson is a very talented and high-flying middle from the Southern California area. She is part of the famed “ten-foot club”, which means her approach touch is ten feet high in the air. While I was speaking to one of my college coaching friends about an athlete, we both were walking by and noticed this young lady attack the ball. We both look at each other and found a nearby seat to continue watching. She was that spectacular. We loved how dominant she was on both attacking and especially blocking. Her elbows were way above the net as she pressed and sealed it from the attackers. The athletic potential for this youngster is way untapped and I think she has a very high ceiling to keep improving. I am going to enjoy watching her journey and covering her career. Stay tuned for more on Sophia as we think she can be very dynamic.
Charlotte Reff [2024] 5-11 Setter (HS: The Buckley School/Club: Actyve/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Charlotte is currently an unranked prospect in the 2024 class according to our Prep Dig California State Rankings, but showed us that we need to pay attention to her to potentially break into our watch list. She plays for The Buckley School and club for Actyve Volleyball. She has a great frame as a setter that allows her to play in the front row and be an effective blocker for her squad. I loved how eager she was to go toe-to-toe with great Texas attackers at the net and attempt to shut them down. Her height in the setting position had a lot of attention go her way as many schools were jotting notes as she played. I loved her footwork on the court as she tracked down passes to deliver balls to her hitters. She moved very fluidly and always stayed in a great posture to set, which helped her consistency throughout the match I watched. One thing that I absolutely loved was how she was directing traffic with her whole team. You can tell that she has a very high volleyball IQ as she knew exactly where each of her teammates were supposed to be in each serve receive rotation. She was a very good vocal leader as she audibled the offense to them.
Rubi Harrington [2025] 5-10 Middle (HS: Marlborough/Club: Actyve/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Rubi is currently an unranked prospect in the 2025 class according to our Prep Dig California State Rankings, but that is only because we have not ranked them yet. She plays for Marlborough High School and also club for Actyve volleyball. The fact that she is only a freshman really opened up my eyes because she was playing at the same level if not better than a lot of her counterparts in the middle position. I loved how active she was in transition as she was always ready to hit the quick at a fast tempo. There were times where she stopped on a dime, kept her eye on the ball as it passed her shoulder from the dig, and drove her feet into the ground so that she could be on time for the set. She was in the air before the setter made contact with the ball, which is something that most middles don’t learn and perfect until they get older and have more experience. She was not fazed at the level of competition or the hard hitting of the Texas attackers as she routinely closed the block and tried to shut them down. I loved her first step to the pins as she was super fast closing the block. I will for sure keep my eye on this young lady as we work on the class of 2025 rankings. Stay tuned for more on Miss Harrington.
As always stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following us, Prep Dig California Family! Don’t be afraid to interact with us on Twitter as we are very active on there and discuss highlight players often to college coaches. We love the likes, shares, and quotes/comments. Keep them coming!