Which 18s teams are next in line to join the group of Open qualifiers so far? With three national qualifiers on the slate for this weekend, eight more bids are going to be handed out. That will take the number of awarded bids from eight to 16. Here are the clubs which have earned their Open bids to date:

Sunshine 18 LA (Windy City)
Wave 18 Juliana (Windy City)
Mintonette Sports m.81 (Windy City)
MAVS KC 17-1 (KC MLK)
Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (KC MLK)
Drive Nation 18 Red (Lone Star)
A5 18 Marc (Lone Star)
Skyline 18 Royal (Lone Star)

The Florida Fest, Northern Lights and Salt Lake City Showdown qualifiers will add to those numbers after those Friday-Sunday tournaments wrap up. Below, we take a look at each qualifier and what to expect.

FLORIDA FEST

Number of Teams: 26

Available Bids: 3

Qualified Teams (3): Drive Nation 18 Red; MAVS KC 18-1; Mintonette Sports m.81

vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (12):

2. 1st Alliance 18 Gold
5. Drive Nation 18 Red
8. OT 18 John
9. Metro 18 Travel
11. MAVS KC 18-1
13. Madfrog 18 Green
29. Mich Elite 18 Mizuno
33. Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite
35. Mintonette Sports m.81
43. Paramount VBC 18s
46. Triangle 18 Black
47. Gainesville Jrs 18 Black

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5 Star Athletes

Reese Robins MB Drive Nation 18 Red (Louisville)
Leah Ford MB Drive Nation 18 Red (USC)
Eloise Brandewie MB Mintonette Sports m.81 (Ohio State)
Blaire Bayless OH Madfrog 18 Green (Pitt)

4 Star Athletes

Allison Cavanaugh RS OT 18 John (Georgia)
Kamryn Lee-Caracci MB 1st Alliance 18 Gold (Georgetown)
Safi Hampton OH Metro 18 Travel (North Carolina)
Reagan Fox OH MAVS KC 18-1 (Rutgers)
Milan Rex S/OH Metro 18 Travel (UCSB)
Lauryn Bowie RS Mintonette Sports m.81 (Virginia)
Zeta Washington MB OT 18 John (Cincinnati)
Samantha Hoppes OH/RS Drive Nation 18 Red (Boston College)
Betsy Goodenow RS MAVS KC 18-1 (Yale)
Gigi Navarrete L/DS 1st Alliance 18 Gold (Northwestern)
Jordyn Dailey RS/MB Triangle 18 Black (Kentucky)
Brielle Kemavor MB Metro 18 Travel (BYU)
Juliette Myrick S Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite (Army)
Lily Nicholson S Drive Nation 18 Red (TCU)
Kennedy Wagner OH 1st Alliance 18 Gold (Clemson)
Ava Sarafa S Mich Elite 18 Mizuno (Kentucky)
Callie Kieffer S Drive Nation 18 Red (Alabama)
Sydney Breon OH Drive Nation 18 Red (UCLA)
Halle Schroder OH Drive Nation 18 Red (Boston College)

Outlook/Prediction: This is the biggest qualifier of the weekend, both in total number of teams in 18 Open and the depth of the field as 12 of the 26 clubs appear in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 National Rankings. However, this could also be the ‘easiest’ qualifier of the weekend to gain a bid simply because there are three teams already with bids and that could push trickle down to sixth place. 1st Alliance 18 Gold didn’t play in the Windy City Qualifier earlier this month and is making its first appearance at a qualifier. 1st Alliance, the defending 17 Open national champions from Indy, are the top seed and are big favorites to grab one of the three bids. Mintonette Sports m.81, MAVS KC 18-1 and Drive Nation 18 Red follow as the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds but all three already have their spots clinched for Columbus. The teams to pay close attention to in terms of earning bids this weekend is OT 18 John, Metro 18 Travel, Mich Elite 18 Mizuno, Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite and Gainesville Jrs 18 Black. The prediction is the three bids are going to that group of five teams, with Metro and Gainesville taking them home. As for the tournament winner, 1st Alliance defeats MAVS for first place.

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SALT LAKE CITY SHOWDOWN

Number of Teams: 25

Available Bids: 3

Qualified Teams (1): Sunshine 18 LA

vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (8):

7. AZ Rev 18 Premier
10. Sunshine 18 LA
14. Club V 18 Ren Reed
21. Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar
30. NPJ 18 Forefront
32. Arizona Storm 18 Thunder
38. Absolute 18 Black
44. ID Crush 18 Bower

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5 Star Athletes

Alex Acevedo OH NPJ 18 Forefront (Oregon)
Olivia Babcock RS Sunshine 18 LA (Pitt)
Torrey Stafford OH Sunshine 18 LA (Pitt)
Jordyn Harvey OH Club V 18 Ren Reed (Stanford)
Taylor Harvey MB Club V 18 Ren Reed
Alex Bower S ID Crush 18 Bower

4 Star Athletes

Tehani Ulufatu L/DS Absolute 18 Black (Baylor)
Ava-Marie Lange OH/RS Sunshine 18 LA (Harvard)
Makena Lim L/DS A4 Volley 18 Joaco (Georgia)
Mele Corral-Blagojevich OH Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar (Oklahoma)
Kendal Murphy OH AZ Rev 18 Premier (Baylor)

Outlook/Prediction: The bad news for teams hoping to qualify is Sunshine 18 LA – the top seed – is the only club with an Open bid and thus trickle down can’t go past fourth place. It’s going to take a legit finish to qualify at this event. The good news though is the field isn’t quite as deep as it was last season and there’s a great opportunity for three teams to take advantage of that. So Cal clubs like Wave 18 Juliana (already qualified) and Coast 18 Ozhan (not qualified) did not make the trip and that should help in the case of Coast, though teams wouldn’t mind Wave being here considering Wave already has a bid. In terms of Open bids going out, I think there is one lock here with Club V 18 Ren Reed. Playing at its local qualifier, I expect Club V to play well and secure one of the three bids. Club V opens as the No. 2 overall seed. Other clubs expected to compete for bids include Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar, AZ Rev 18 Premier, NPJ 18 Forefront and Arizona Storm 18 Thunder. If you want a few underdogs to create havoc and root for them, OJVA 18 Gold, ID Crush 18 Bower, Hive 18 Gold and A4 Volley 18 Joaco are teams to watch in that sense. Any one of them could surprise. We are going with Club V not only to qualify but defeat Sunshine in the final. NPJ and AZ Rev will make the third-place match and both earn their Open bids.

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NORTHERN LIGHTS QUALIFIER

Number of Teams: 12

Available Bids: 2

Qualified Teams (1): Premier Nebraska 18 Gold

vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Clubs (7):

4. Premier Nebraska 18 Gold
12. MN Select 18-1
24. MKE Sting 18 Gold
31. Dynasty 18 Black
36. FC Elite 18 Elite
40. KC Power 18-1
45. Northern Lights 18-1

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5 Star Athletes

Grace Heaney RS/S Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (Purdue)
Stella Swenson S MN Select 18-1 (2024, Minnesota)
Olivia Mauch L/DS Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (Nebraska)

4 Star Athletes

Kate Simington MB MN Select 18-1 (Clemson)
Kate Thibault L/DS MN Select 18-1 (Oregon)
Olivia Swenson OH MN Select 18-1 (Minnesota)
Alanna Bankston OH Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (Louisville)
Destiny Ndam-Simpson OH Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (Creighton)
Lilly Wagner S MKE Sting 18 Gold (Maryland)
Ella Demetrician OH FC Elite 18 Elite (Michigan)

Outlook/Prediction: With just 12 teams, this is obviously the smallest qualifier of the weekend. And as a result, only two Open bids are going to be awarded since there are less than 16 competitors. Still, the depth of field is solid as seven of the 12 teams are ranked in our Top 50. Other clubs get a slight boost too from the fact Premier Nebraska 18 Gold already has a bid. Premier Nebraska is the top seed and should finish in the top three. That would help create trickle down to third. MN Select 18-1 and KC Power 18-1 were both at the KC MLK qualifier with Premier Nebraska. MN Select is a favorite to grab one of the two bids. The race for the other bid is intriguing, as KC Power is in the mix, along with FC Elite 18 Elite, Dynasty 18 Black, VC United 18 Elite and MKE Sting 18 Gold. The prediction here is Premier Nebraska defeats MN Select for gold, with MN Select qualifying in the process. The second bid comes down to KC Power beating FC Elite in the third-place match for the second bid.