Paramount 17 Makes Elite Bracket in Triple Crown

<!-- wp:image {"id":746903,"width":"490px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/01/20231210_184417-rotated-crop-2084x1369-1738249151.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-746903" style="width:490px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='296486' first='Taylor' last='Harrington']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hard to believe that the first Triple Crown was held in Richmond, Virginia way back in 2012. At that time only four teams competed. Over the years the venue has changed locations but now it appears to have settled in Kansas City where 687 teams competed. Because it is an invite only tournament not just anyone can play. You have to undergo a background check as a club some would call more thorough than a top secret government clearance. Below is a link to an article in the Kansas City Star in which [player_tooltip player_id='296486' first='Taylor' last='Harrington'] talks about the event.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://www.kansascity.com/sports/article314683085.html">Love of volleyball shines in KC on Valentine's Day weekend | Kansas City Star</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] passed their background to receive an invite to this event a couple years ago. Metro would also receive an invite if it did not have its own tournament, the Capitol Hill Classic held on the same weekend. This year the Paramount 17 team actually earned an appearance into the 32 team Elite Bracket. Only 10 other teams not part of the original 32 team power pool earned a spot in that bracket. If my memory serves me well, last year [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 16 was one spot away from making the power pool when seeded 33. This year they also fell one spot away from making the Power Pool again seeded 33.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To provide some background, 32 teams invited to Triple Crown are assigned to the power pool. They play in four 8 team pools. All 32 teams from that power pool earn a spot into the 64 team Elite Division. The remaining 124 teams play in twenty pools with four teams and four pools with three teams. They compete for the other 32 spots leaving room for only eight second place teams. It gets further whittled down to 32 teams competing in the Elite Bracket while 32 teams compete in the Open bracket with a crossover match with a power pool team. [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 15 also qualified for the Elite Division but after losing their challenge match to a power pool team they dropped down to the 32 team Open Division.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 17s Journey</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"id":589253,"width":"444px","height":"auto","aspectRatio":"1.501502019107653","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/08/113-Alyssa-Kumah.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-589253" style="aspect-ratio:1.501502019107653;width:444px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='435745' first='Alyssa' last='Kumah']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For the most part if you are not one of the 32 teams selected for the power pool to advance to the 64 team Elite Division you have to win your pool. Last year Paramount fell short. This year they swept all three of their matches. This earned them a challenge match against power pool opponent Mintonette Sports. A win would advance them to the 32 team Elite Division. A loss would drop them to the Open Division. Paramount beat Mintonette Sports in three, 25-22, 23-25, 15-12.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Don't know how they determine who you play in the challenge match but Mintonette Sports was the 32nd seed. By beating Mintonette Paramount also earned their 32nd seed. Unfortunately, this pitted them against the number one seed in the tournament TAV Black Jon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>TAV Black Jon is perhaps one of the best teams ever to play in this event. For the last three years they have been Triple Crown champions in their age group. While Paramount has two players ranked in the top 175 national rankings TAV carries six players on their roster ranked in the top 175. They are committed to schools like Texas A&amp;M, SMU, Creighton, TCU, LSU, Princeton and Loyola Marymount.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Paramount battled TAV the best they could but lost 25-22, 25-22. In TAV's next four matches no other team could reach 20 points against them. TAV beat the number 3 seed LOVB - Angel in the finals 25-18, 25-14.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The tournament was still not over for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last='']. The loss dropped them to the Elite 17th Place bracket. That is where they swept power pool opponent HJV Elite 25-18, 25-16 and disposed of two other teams, MN Select 25-16, 25-23 and PineappleHP 25-21, 25-27, 15-13. In the battle for 17th place they lost to an original power pool team KC Power 25-21, 25-14.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the top 20 of the DMV class of 2027 rankings [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] has six players. They are middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='296486' first='Taylor' last='Harrington']</strong> (1), middle/outside <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='435745' first='Alyssa' last='Kumah']</strong> (6), left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='528707' first='Annika' last='Dandridge']</strong> (7), left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='435748' first='Aaliyah' last='Green'] </strong>(10), pin <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='333650' first='Louise' last='Neuhart']</strong> (11) and setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438046' first='Anna' last='Dierks']</strong> (14). In addition, libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='536716' first='Diane' last='Nzoupet']</strong> is ranked at number 8 in our class of 2028. From the class of 2027 only <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='333650' first='Louise' last='Neuhart']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='438046' first='Anna' last='Dierks'] </strong>have yet to commit. The others are going to Penn State, Old Dominion, Vanderbilt and UConn.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 15 Falls Short of Making the Final Elite Division</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:image {"id":935655,"width":"403px","height":"auto","aspectRatio":"0.6670055922724962","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/01/79-Elliot-Dorgan.jpg?w=684" alt="" class="wp-image-935655" style="aspect-ratio:0.6670055922724962;width:403px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='747560' first='Elliot' last='Dorgan']</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 15 also had a strong tournament. They finished undefeated in their pool as well but had a much tougher time getting out of their pool. Two of the three matches went three sets with Parmount winning the third sets 15-9, 15-12. This put them up against Power Pool 26th seed Iowa United Elite in the crossover match.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Like their pool play the match went three, but this time [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] fell short 15-25, 25-18, 7-15. This dropped them down to the Open Division where the top team would finish 33rd. Paramount vanquished their first two opponents 25-13, 25-16 against CVC Black and 25-23, 25-23 against Synergy Force. They lost the third match against Madfrog Black 25-14, 25-27, 13-15 to finish in 37th place.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From the class of 2029 six players fall into the top 20 of the DMV rankings. They are left side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='747560' first='Elliot' last='Dorgan']</strong> (7), libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='747458' first='Angelie' last='Rose Carrasco']</strong> (9), middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='763151' first='Sydney' last='Lewis'] </strong>(13), pin <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='779106' first='Isabella' last='Jeantel'] </strong>(15), setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='747031' first='Braylin' last='Coacher'] </strong>(16) and middle right side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='787919' first='Charlotte' last='Booth']</strong> (19).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Other [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] Finishes</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The other [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] teams were all competitive in this event. Like many of the other clubs the competition is intense and only a few can make it to the top.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 18 - 3-5 for 90th place finish. They competed in the Prime Division.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 16 (Maureen) - 4-3 for 99th place. They also competed in the Prime Division.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 16 (Alec) - 4-3 for 143 place. This was the lone second team that competed for [program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last='']. They played in the Aspire Division.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='476729' first='Paramount' last=''] 14 - 3-4 for 60th place. They played in the Select Division. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->