Scouting Windy City Qualifier 18 Open – Pools A-D
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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 Pool A – Pool D with the rest of the pools coming tomorrow!
Pool A
Club V 18 Ren Reed
Rev 18-1 Raptors
AVC CLE 18 Red
USANY Patience 18
Club V will be the favorite in this field and one of the top teams in the country. They are coming back off a final four finish at USAV 17 Open this past July. They are loaded with talent with athletes committed to top programs in the West such as Jordyn Harvey Jordyn Harvey 6'2" | OH Bountiful | 2023 #12 Nation UT who is heading to Stanford, Kaieva Lee (Utah), and Mia Lee Mia Lee 5'11" | MB Mountain View | 2023 #114 Nation UT (BYU). They will take on REV and AVC who are strong programs out of the Mideast. REV out of Indy had a big time performance at Nationals in 2022 and will return a dynamic setter in Margo Hernandez Margo Hernandez 5'10" | S Fishers | 2023 State IN (South Alabama). AVC could be a sleeper in this pool where they have four outsides who can really put up the points in Alayna Tessena Alayna Tessena 5'11" | OH Highland | 2023 State OH (Northern Colorado), Nia Hall Nia Hall 5'10" | MB Steele | 2023 State OH (Cleveland State), Kira Holland Kira Holland 6'0" | OH Medina | 2023 State OH (Indiana State), and Lauren Janosy Lauren Janosy 6'1" | OH NDCL | 2023 State OH (UNC Greensboro).
Pool B
Coast 18-1
Union 18-1 UA
Paramount VBC 18s
Forge VBC
Another final four team from 2022 in 17 Open Nationals that will be in the hunt for a bid and Windy City title is Coast out of SoCal. They have some big time athletes staying on the West Coast for some power programs with Brooklyn Briscoe Brooklyn Briscoe 6'4" | MB Santa Fe Christian | 2023 State #52 Nation CA (UCLA), Noemie Glover Noemie Glover 6'1" | RS Cathedral Catholic | 2023 State #128 Nation CA (Oregon), and Claire Little Claire Little 6'2" | OH Vista Murrieta | 2023 State #46 Nation CA (BYU). Union will be coming to town with some of the top talent out of the Louisville area. Grace Purichia Grace Purichia 5'7" | S Providence | 2023 State #149 Nation IN makes it happen for Union as a setter where she can defend and dish at a quick tempo to get her attackers a favorable matchup, she will head to Jacksonville State. Paramount comes from Northern Virginia where they could be in the hunt to advance to day two gold pools with commits heading to strong programs all along the east coast. They have two commits heading to UMBC in Helen Frankovich Helen Frankovich 6'3" | RS Justice | 2023 State VA and Hannah Howard Hannah Howard 5'8" | DS/L Musselman (WVA) | 2023 State VA . Forge VBC comes from the NW suburbs of Detroit where they have plenty of talent doing the D2 and D3 route including Ashley Murray who is heading to in-state D3 power, Hope College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Pool C
Circle City 18 Purple
MKE Sting 18 Gold
CVH Select 18u
Top Flight 18 Elite
Circle City was consistently one of the top 17s teams in the country last year. Purdue commit Chloe Chicoine was a big part of their success and is a spring enrollee and will not be part of the 18 Purple squad, but this team is so deep they will still be a top contender in every tournament they compete in. They have the length, balance, and depth that will be a great combo for a three day event. Ava Smith Ava Smith 6'1" | OH Park Tudor | 2023 State #121 Nation IN (Florida Gulf Coast), Avery Hobson Avery Hobson 6'1" | OH Hamilton Southeastern | 2023 State IN (Duquesne), and Quinci Brown (Xavier) have played in a lot of high level matches over the course of their career. They will create a well balanced attack led by 2024 setter Macy Hinshaw (Santa Clara). This Milwaukee Sting team won the 17 National Division title at USAV this past July. They have a full lineup of electric talent. They have plenty of depth at the setter position with Zoe Behrendt Zoe Behrendt 5'11" | S Whitefish Bay | 2023 State #113 Nation WI (North Carolina), Elena Dragani Elena Dragani S Catholic Memorial | 2023 State WI (Wake Forest), and newcomer 2024 setter Lilly Wagner Lilly Wagner 6'0" | S Oconomowoc | 2024 State #42 Nation WI (Maryland). On the pin they have solid six rotation outsides in Sylvie Zgonc Sylvie Zgonc 5'11" | OH Sussex Hamilton | 2023 State #115 Nation WI (South Dakota State), Lily Wagner Lily Wagner 5'11" | OH Germantown | 2023 State #118 Nation WI (Liberty), and Karissa Fortune Karissa Fortune 6'2" | OH Appleton North | 2023 State WI (Drake) where they can be used in plenty of ways and complement each other extremely well. CVH will be making the trip from Puerto Rico. Top Flight Elite is out of Chicagoland where they have a team who is looking to make some strides for their program. They have plenty of dynamic athletes with a springy middle in Gabrielle Peters who is committed to UIC.
Pool D
Mintonette m.81
Michigan Elite 18 Mizuno
FC Elite 18 Elite
Vital 18 Gold
These teams were all open teams in the 17s or 18s division in 2022. I think Mintonette has a really strong chance of playing in some big matches on day three, potentially earning a bid. They have a really physical lineup that features maybe the most physical frontline in the country with the likes of Eloise Brandewie Eloise Brandewie 6'2" | MB Bishop Hartley | 2023 State #11 Nation OH (Ohio State), Ella Durham Ella Durham 6'3" | OH Dublin Coffman | 2023 State #177 Nation OH (San Diego), Kaleigh Palmer (Alabama), Emma Beretich Emma Beretich 6'2" | MB Pickerington Central | 2023 State OH (West Virginia), and Lauryn Bowie Lauryn Bowie 6'2" | RS Westerville South | 2023 State OH (Virginia). Michigan Elite 18 Mizuno has a chance in any match with Kentucky commit, Ava Sarafa Ava Sarafa 6'0" | S Marian | 2023 State #14 Nation MI who has rewritten record books with her high school career at national powerhouse Marian out of the Detroit area. FC Elite 18 Elite out of Wisconsin was a final four finisher at 18 Open last year and will have some new faces on their squad. One attacker who will be relied upon to score a lot of points is 2024 outside Ella Demetrician Ella Demetrician 6'2" | OH Appleton North | 2024 State #40 Nation WI who is a Michigan commit. Vital 18 Gold is out of the Minneapolis Metro and have been a program on the rise. Their 18 Gold team was a 18 Open Gold Bracket squad in Phoenix last spring. They will look to establish a strong setter/middle combination with setter Ashlyn Steding Ashlyn Steding 6'0" | S Chanhassen | 2023 State MN (Winona State) and Alexandra McGeehan Alexandra McGeehan 6'3" | MB Totino-Grace | 2023 State MN (Palm Beach Atlantic).