NIT Power Pool – State Breakdown and Initial Reactions
Power Pools teams have been released for the NIT Triple Crown and it is no surprise at some of the clubs who are playing among the top teams in the country. I have a breakdown of who is in the…
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Continue ReadingPower Pools teams have been released for the NIT Triple Crown and it is no surprise at some of the clubs who are playing among the top teams in the country. I have a breakdown of who is in the powerpools and where they are coming from. There are seven clubs who have teams in every age group for power pool (Ages 15-18). I’ll also have a few takes on some of these top teams and who could be the dark horses heading into Presidents Day weekend at the top tournament in the country to kick off the live recruiting period for all divisions.
Clubs With Power Pool Teams In Each Age Group – 15s-18s
A5 – Atlanta, Georgia
Dallas Skyline – Carrollton, Texas
Houston Juniors – Houston, Texas
Houston Skyline – Houston, Texas
Madfrog National – Plano, Texas
Wave Volleyball – Del Mar, California
*OT/OTVA – Orlando/Tampa, Florida
*The only reason I put the * with OT is that I am not extremely familiar with the structure of OT/OTVA. I know these teams are coming from the Orlando, Tampa, and Clearwater areas.
18s
AZ – Arizona Storm 18T
CA – Coast 18-1, Sunshine 18 LA, TStreet 18 Chandler, Wave 18-1
FL – Gainesville Jrs 18-1, OT 18 John
GA – A5 18 Marc,
HI – Ku’Ikahi 18 Wahine RSB
IL – 1st Alliance 18 Gold
IN – Munciana 18 Samurai
KS – MAVS 18-1
KY – KiVA 17 Red
OH – AVC Cleveland 18 Red, Elevation 18-1, Mintonette m.81, Tri State Elite 18 Blue
MI – Legacy 18-1 Adidas
MN – MN Select 18-1
MO – KC Power 18-1
NE – Premier Nebraska 18 Gold
OR – NPJ 18 Forefront
TX – Dallas Skyline 18 Royal, Drive Nation 18 Red, Houston Juniors 18 Elite, Houston Skyline 18 Royal, Madfrog 18 National Green
UT – Club V Ren Reed
Even though the season is still very young, I have been able to see a handful of these teams play and even grab an early bid at the Windy City Qualifier to start the season. The California clubs definitely standout with the likes of Sunshine, Wave, and Coast – Sunshine and Wave have grabbed a bid to 18 Open already.
The same can be said for plenty of these squads: MAVS KC 18-1, Premier Nebraska 18 Gold, Wave 18 Julia, Sunshine 18 LA, Mintonette m.81, Metro 18 Travel, 1st Alliance 18 Gold, Gainesville Jrs. 18-1, MN Select 18-1, Drive Nation 18 Red, A5 18 Marc, Dallas Skyline 18 Royal, AVC Cleveland 18 Red, TStreet 18 Chandler, Club V 18 Ren Reed, and AZ Storm 18 Thunder
In the 17s field last year, it was an epic battle between A5 and Drive Nation where A5 took home the crown on a three set thriller. 1st Alliance is the reigning 17 Open USAV Champion while MN Select was the national runner up. However, Munciana is always in the hunt for the 18s as they traditionally have one of the top 18s with their Samurai squad in the country. They were the 18s champion last year at Triple Crown and won the AAU 18 Open National title as well.
17s
CA – Coast 17 Rodrigo, Momentous 17 Dan, SCVC 17 Roxy, Vision 17 Gold, Wave 17 Juliana
CO – Colorado Juniors 17 Kevin
FL – OT 17 Aaron, OT 17 Felix, Top Select 17 Elite
GA – A5 17 Jing
IL – 1st Alliance 17 Gold
IN – Academy 17 Tsunami, Boiler Juniors 17 Gold
KS – Dynasty 17 Black
KY – KiVA 17 Red, NKYVC 17 Tsunami
MO – KC Power 17-1
NC – Triangle 17 Black
NE – Premier Nebraska 17 Gold, VC Nebraska 17 Elite
OH – AVC Cleveland 17 Red
TX – Austin Juniors 17-1, Dallas Skyline 17 Royal, Drive Nation 17 Red, Houston Juniors 17 Elite, Houston Skyline 17 Royal, Madfrog 17 National Green, TAV 17 Black
Don’t mess with Texas, or Kansas City, or Atlanta – or really any of these teams. There is a case for plenty of these teams to make a push for the NIT crown. Dynasty 17 Black won the 16s title in 2022, Madfrog won the 16 Open USAV national title last year, and A5 won the 16 Open AAU National Title and was the USAV 16 Open runner up. A5 already took home the Northern Lights Qualifier title, defeating Dynasty in the Championship. However, there is a whole group of Texas teams who will have their eyes on the prize. Drive Nation 17 Red is going to be ridiculous with some of the top players in the country that features Lauryn “Lolo” Lambert (Arkansas), Ayden Ames (Nebraska), and Grace Carroll (Baylor) – to name a few.
16s
AZ – Arizona Storm 16 Thunder
CA – Absolute 16 Black, Coast 16 Luis, Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar, NorCal 16 Black, Surfside 16 PV Legends, WAVE 16 Kevin
FL – OTVA 16 Jason, OTVA 16 Roberto
GA – A5 16 Gabe
IL – 1st Alliance 16 Gold
IN – Munciana 16 Blaze
KS – Dynasty 16 Black
KY – KiVA 16 Red
MI – Legacy 16-1 Adidas, Michigan Elite 16 Mizuno
MO – Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite
NE – Nebraska One 16 Synergy
OH – Tri-State Elite 16 Blue
TX – Alamo 16 Premier, Austin Skyline 16 Royal, Dallas Skyline 16, Drive Nation 16 Red, Houston Juniors 16 Elite, Houston Skyline 16 Royal, Madfrog 16 National Green, TAV 16 Black
WI – MKE Sting 16 Gold
I spent four days watching a lot of these teams at USAV Nationals in Indy where I focused primarily on the 15s age group. Alamo defeated Arizona Storm in the 15 Open championship with plenty of Texas flavor in the top of this group. In the 2022 NIT Championship, it was all 1st Alliance out of Chicagoland who won an exciting battle against OT 15 Randy. 1st Alliance will be one of the favorites heading into this field as they have a strong core of returners with some big time additions. They won the 16 Open Central Zone title in Indy to finish January with plenty of momentum.
15s
AZ – AZ Sky 15 Gold, AZ Storm 15 Thunder,
CA – SCVC 15 Roxy, SG Elite 15 Roshambo, TStreet 15-Curtis, Wave 15 Brennan
FL – Gamepoint 15 Rox, OTVA 15 Semei, Top Select 15 Elite
GA – A5 15 Bob
IN – Boiler Juniors 15 Gold, Team Pineapple 15 Black
KS – Pohaku VBC 15-1
KY – NKYVC 15 Tsunami
MI – FaR Out 15 Black, Legacy 15-1 Adidas
OH – Elevation 15-1, Mintonette m.51
TX – Alamo 15 Premier, Austin Performance 15 Adidas, Austin Skyline 15 Royal, Dallas Skyline 15 Royal, Houston Juniors 15 Elite, Houston Skyline 15 Royal, Madfrog 15 National Green, TAV 15 Black
WI – MKE Sting 15 Gold
Canada – Forza1 North 15 One
I do not cover 14s, all of these teams and athletes are very new to me. However, I did see a lot of these squads at Central Zone last weekend. Mintonette is the defending champion for USAV in this age group and Boiler Juniors won 14 Open at AAUs last year. Mintonette and Boilers faced off in the Central Zone title with Mintonette taking home the crown. However, Mintonette didn’t breeze through the field despite catching fire on Sunday. They did suffer two losses in power pool play to Tri-State 15 Blue and AVC 15 Red. in the 2022 NIT, Madfrog took home the title followed by Wave and Arizona Storm.