Windy City Qualifier 17 Open Scouting Report
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Easter Weekend means the Windy City Qualifier in Chicago! We are in the heart of the qualifier season where teams are punching their tickets at regional and national qualifiers across the country. The next week will say a lot about…
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Continue ReadingEaster Weekend means the Windy City Qualifier in Chicago! We are in the heart of the qualifier season where teams are punching their tickets at regional and national qualifiers across the country. The next week will say a lot about what we will see in July, but I’m going to zoom in on the 17 Open Division at Windy City. We have the best of the Midwest along with sprinkling in top teams from Texas and Florida. Here are the top seeds, teams to watch, and who could be a threat come day three.
17 Open Top Seeds
Seed | Team | Notable Finishes |
1 | 1st Alliance 17 Gold | 2nd NIT Triple Crown, 2nd 16 Open USAV |
2 | Circle City 17 Purple | MEQ 17 Open 3rd Place – QUALIFIED 17 OPEN |
3 | Legacy 17 Adidas | Triple Crown NIT Final Four, Sunshine 17 Open 5th |
4 | TAV 17 Black Jon | Triple Crown NIT 11th, Sunshine 17 Open 4th |
5 | Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal | Bluegrass 17 Open Champions, Sunshine 17 Open 5th |
6 | Sky High Elite 17 Adidas | Triple Crown 13th, Sunshine 17 Open 5th |
7 | HJV 17 Elite | Northern Lights 4th Place, Triple Crown 34th, Sunshine 17 Open 9th |
8 | AVC 17 Red | MEQ 17 Open 5th Place |
Out of the top seeds in each pool, everything is wide open. 1st Alliance has been one of the top teams in the country for this age group for as long as they’ve been playing. The number two prospect in the Prep Dig National Rankings for the Class of 2025 is Abby Vander Wal, the Texas commit has plenty of big match experience at these qualifiers and even the international stage. They will be looking to take home the title in their “Home City”.
TAV 17 Black Jon and HJV 17 Elite have all been within one match of qualifiying. TAV 17 Black Jon lost the 3rd place match at Sunshine against fellow Texas club in Dallas Skyline 17 Royal. TAV 17 Black Haroun qualified at the Northeast Qualifier. TAV 16 Black and TAV 15 Black qualified for open this past weekend. TAV 17 Black Jon is due to punch their ticket. HJV (Houston Juniors) lost the third place match back in January at the Northern Lights Qualifier in Minneapolis. This team has plenty of length and big time athletes to punch their ticket. Vanderbilt commit Sydney Barrett and Minnesota commit Jordan Taylor will be key to their success this weekend for a breakthrough.
Legacy 17 Adidas has always been in contention in all of the big tournaments. They were a final four finisher at Triple Crown in February, gold pools at Sunshine and MEQ, they have been one match away from being in contention for a bid. Tribe 17 Elite Cardinal just missed out on the final four of Sunshine. They have so many weapons that include Kelly Kinney (Minnesota) and Charlotte Glass (Duke) as well as other D1 commits on their team. They might be one of the most explosive teams on offense in this field. Sky High Adidas 17 Elite has put together a very competitive season, a team that maybe wasn’t in the conversation for the open bid at the beginning of the year. They have plenty of balance, ball control, and an explosive right side in Ava Wysocki who is committed to Illinois. AVC 17 Red out of Cleveland is another team who is always a threat. San Diego commit Belle Groomes will be one of top setters in a really talented group this weekend.
What Pool Is the Toughest?
Pool 7 with HJV 17 Elite, Nebraska One 17 Synergy, Mintonette m.71, and Six Pack 17. Houston Juniors 17 Elite will be one of the more physical teams in the field with so much length and power on the front line. However, Nebraska One 17 Synergy is just getting their qualifier season going. This will be their second national qualifier and third large tournament of the season. They were a gold pool day three team at NLQ and they have plenty of athletes to compete among the best in the country. Natalie Wardlow is a middle blocker heading to Wisconsin, libero Keri Leimbach to Nebraska, and outside hitter Anna Jelinek is going to Long Beach State. They also have one of the top 2027 setters in the Midwest in Mallorie Boesiger. Six Pack out of the Cedar Falls/Waterloo, Iowa area is a really dangerous matchup. They are coming off a 17 USA runner up finish at MEQ. Many of their players are multi-sport athletes and they are just starting to build some momentum. Outside hitter Abbey Hayes is a Creighton commit and can completely take over a match when needed.
Outside Of The Top Seeds, Who Makes a Threat?
I already mentioned Nebraska One 17 Synergy. This team is going to be fresh, they are hungry, and they have experience with playing high level open competition. They were a gold bracket team in USAV 16 Open last season and they always play at a high level. Adrenaline 17 Ben out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa has been so close in their previous qualifiers. They were a day three gold pool team at NLQ and last weekend they were in a brutal day two pool at MEQ where they finished third behind Dynasty 17 Black and Circle City 17 Purple. Chloe Meester is their key attacker where she brings so much power and physicality, she is committed to Louisville. You can never mess with Texas teams at a national qualifier. I see Alamo 17 Premier as a 10 seed and Austin Skyline 17 Royal are two teams who have plenty of experience in punching their ticket to the open field. I would expect them to be in the hunt come day three in a gold pool and in those three team pools – anything can happen.