TAV 18 Black Comes Back For Undefeated Day 1 At Triple Crown
In this article:
That 3-0 feeling.
Carson
Eickenloff
5'7" | S
Boyd | 2024
State
#146
Nation
TX
Plenty of the teams competing at Triple Crown have the expectation to go 3-0 on day one at most events, but when it's a power pool of the top teams in the country it's a little bit different
TAV 18 Black and Triangle 18 Black came into their final pool play match 2-0. The best of the best among the top eight.
On paper, TAV out of the Dallas Metro is the top 18s team in the country. A list of athletes committed to top D1 schools across the country that also includes top prospects in the 2025 junior class in Texas commit Cari Spears and BYU commit
Suli Davis
Suli
Davis
6'1" | OH
Colleyville Heritage | 2025
State
#5
Nation
TX
. The eyes of everyone would be on this team.
TAV setter and Michigan commit
Camille Edwards
Camille
Edwards
5'11" | S
Prestonwood Christian | 2024
State
#95
Nation
TX
had this to say about managing those expectations
“It's hard knowing that teams all know us and we know we have to uphold a certain standard. We try to stay grounded and focus on what we need to do to be successful.”
Set one started fast for Triangle as they grabbed the early momentum. Illinois commit Laynie Smith was electric, scoring early from the outside and being an outlet in the backrow. Asia Thigpen (Kentucky) was everywhere. She was able to keep rally's alive with her backrow play and provided plenty of points as well from the pin. Setter and Arizona commit Avery Scoggins ran an incredibly efficient offense where she was able to keep TAV off balance the entire set. Triangle would take set one 25-22.
TAV would respond. After trading points to start set two it was a very small margin of error the entire way. With the set tied at 20 it was essentially a game to five the rest of the way. The stars shined bright for the Texas kids with Cari Spears dropping an off speed shot in the middle of the court from a backrow attack, two kills by
Suli Davis
Suli
Davis
6'1" | OH
Colleyville Heritage | 2025
State
#5
Nation
TX
, and a big block out from the middle in USC commit Favor Anyawu to seal the deal to extend the match with a set two win 27-25.
“We brought more energy to the second and third set, we got more fired up. First set we were a little meh and knew we had to bring it for the next two sets,” said setter
Carson Eickenloff
Carson
Eickenloff
5'7" | S
Boyd | 2024
State
#146
Nation
TX
, an Ole Miss commit.
Set three was even to begin until Davis took over at the net scoring points with her swing as well as her block. Her stuff block to make it 12-8 took any momentum out of the Triangle side where TAV would go on to win set three and the match 15-9.
TAV will head into their challenge match as the top overall seed in the tournament. For Edwards and Eickenloff it's just one match at a time.
“We take one match at a time and stay in the moment,” said Eickenloff. First serve for “Separation Sunday” at Triple Crown will be at 7:30 AM for the 18s.
