Scouting The WCNQ: Breaking Down 18 Open Pools 5-8
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Pools are out, and bids are ready to be awarded. The West Coast is ready to invade Chicagoland, but there are plenty of Midwest teams who are looking to defend their home turf. I will be in attendance in Schaumburg…
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Continue ReadingPools are out, and bids are ready to be awarded. The West Coast is ready to invade Chicagoland, but there are plenty of Midwest teams who are looking to defend their home turf. I will be in attendance in Schaumburg getting a glimpse of some of the top athletes in the country. Next year, many of these athletes will already have their first year of college volleyball under their belt. They are big names in the making. Let’s scout out Pools 5-8 to round out the field.
Pool 5
Top Select 18 Elite
Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite
VC United 181 Elite
L2 181
We have teams from Florida, Missouri, Illinois, and Michigan competing in pool five. Top Select is a top 25 club out of Orlando and have produced some big time college players. This years team will feature some strong commits as well as high academic in Olivia Fenoff (North Alabama), Elmy Negron (West Florida), Kindall Welker (Brown), and Ava Wallis (Northeastern). Rockwood Thunder out of the St. Louis area will use their strong ball control to keep teams off balance with two big time libero/ds athletes in Ava Roth Ava Roth 5'6" | DS/L Jefferson R-7 | 2023 State MO (Arkansas) and Madison Smith Madison Smith 5'7" | DS/L St. Joseph’s Academy | 2023 State MO (Illinois). Juliette Myrick Juliette Myrick 5'11" | S Eureka | 2023 State #100 Nation MO can do it all as a setter and she will head to Army-West Point. VC United will make the short trip from Rockford, Illinois to Schaumburg where they will have plenty of balance on this year’s 181 Elite squad. Kylie Schulze Kylie Schulze 5'8" | S Woodstock North | 2023 State IL runs the show as a setter where she will head to Loyola-Chicago where one of her key targets on the outside will be Southeast Missouri commit Lucy Arndt Lucy Arndt 5'11" | OH Aquin Catholic | 2023 State IL who is coming off a state title this fall. L2 is a program on the rise out of Michigan where their commander of the defense and the team is one of the top liberos in the nation is Allison Berent Allison Berent 5'7" | DS/L Notre Dame Prep | 2023 State #187 Nation MI who will head to Alabama.
Pool 6
Sunshine 18 LA
Absolute 18 Black
Sky High Adidas 18 Elite
NPJ 18 Forefront
This could be a really interesting pool. Sunshine 18 LA has four athletes in the Prep Dig Top 150 with two big time commits heading to Pitt with Torrey Stafford Torrey Stafford 6'0" | OH Marymount | 2023 State #20 Nation CA and Olivia Babock. They are electric attackers. Absolute 18 Black will come out of Northern California where one of their key attackers will be Emma McDermott at 6’3 who will stay in-state and play for UCSB. Sky High Adidas is the local squad where they have some pieces that when healthy can really surprise some teams. Campbell Paris Campbell Paris OH Barrington | 2023 State #191 Nation IL , the South Carolina commit, was out this fall with an injury, but is a 6’4 pin on this squad. Allyson Panzloff Allyson Panzloff 6'1" | OH Huntley | 2023 IL is an attacker who can do it all in the frontline and she will head to Brown – she provides a ton of spark to the court. The one who runs the show is gritty setter, Maggie Duyos Maggie Duyos S Huntley | 2023 State IL , the Austin Peay commit who knows how to win at a high level. The team I’m really excited to see is NPJ 18 Forefront from the Pacific Northwest. They have some big time prospects on this team who could pack a punch and get into the gold pools on day two. Alex Acevedo Alex Acevedo 6'2" | OH Skyview | 2023 #9 Nation OR , the Oregon commit has reclassified to the Class of 2023 and will be a huge point scorer for this club.
Pool 7
Wave 18-Julianna
Metro 18 Travel
USANY Fortitude
Wave out of Del Mar, California will absolutely be in the hunt for a bid and will be in a lot of huge matches this season. Julia Blyashov Julia Blyashov 6'3" | OH Cathedral Catholic | 2023 State #3 Nation CA , the Stanford commit highlights this roster, but the key to this team will be their length and balance with athletes such as Lily Dwinell (Colorado), Kat Lunz (UCLA), Eva Rohrbach (Maryland), and Auburn Tomkinson (Texas). They will bring a lot of physicality and power. Metro out of the DC Area always has teams in the hunt for open bids and this team is no different. Brielle Kemavor Brielle Kemavor 6'5" | MB Charles J. Colgan | 2023 State #148 Nation VA (BYU), Sydney Bryant Sydney Bryant 5'11" | OH Flint Hill | 2023 State #151 Nation VA (Maryland), and Safi Hampton Safi Hampton 6'1" | OH Hammond (MD) | 2023 State #34 Nation VA (North Carolina) will be the key attackers for Metro where they will attack teams with their high level athleticism.
Pool 8
Adversity G18 Adidas
Legacy 18-1 Adidas
JJVA 18 Teal
This is a gauntlet when it comes to these three teams and the talent they have as well as the high level commits. They will have to play a crossover with pool seven which could make things interesting when it comes to advancing to gold pools for day two. Adversity is out of the Chicago area where they have a full roster of D1 commits. Catherine Burke Catherine Burke 6'3" | MB Loyola Academy | 2023 State #86 Nation IL will be a middle teams will need to slow down, she’s heading to Penn State. When she goes to the backrow, in comes Avary DeBlieck Avary DeBlieck 6'2" | MB Huntely | 2023 IL who provides a lot of physicality. She will play for Loyola-Chicago who is coming off an A10 Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Legacy 18-1 Adidas will have a core that is accustomed to having top prospect Harper Murray on the outside, she is off to Nebraska and some new athletes will be relied upon to keep Legacy competing at a high level. Ella Schomer Ella Schomer 6'0" | RS Marian | 2023 State #142 Nation MI and Kennedy Louisell Kennedy Louisell 6'0" | OH Forest Hills Northern | 2023 State #140 Nation MI are new athletes to join Legacy. Schomer is a left right side who can play a little backrow, she’s heading to Wofford. Louisell is absolutely electric and can score from the outside, she’s going to UNC Greensboro. JJVA is out of Jacksonville, Florida where they will bring a roster full of college talent. The one who will conduct the offense is setter, Veronica Sierzant who will be playing her college volleyball at Syracuse.