20:I[27201,["/_next/static/immutable/chunks/0x-9rc1bm-510.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/1j123_1exqf1m.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/2zv_wem2iga2b.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/3ygmlmf7b806i.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/0v-hzpwepil6_.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/0e3-p_c11_7n8.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/23cr301koxyna.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/2ro70p1dikhs9.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/3_afcms6ldm8g.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/1ok0d8m8mgnls.js","/_next/static/immutable/chunks/2vje-ffk___bc.js"],"IconMark"] :HL["https://storage.googleapis.com/vballrecruiter-dc8cf.firebasestorage.app/articles/wordpress/11375/3a34020be641b9195597233c.jpg","image"] 1e:T478,{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Big South: 15 Open Drama Highlights Day 3","description":"Without doubt the most exciting bid chase took place in 15 Open as the Big South Qualifier wrapped Sunday in Atlanta. Top Select 15 Elite, Mich Elite 15 Mizuno and AZ Sky 15 Gold were the fortunate trio taking home bids. OT 15 Randy – which opened as the No. 1 seed – held firm and finished ahead of everyone after defeating HPSTL 15 Royal in the 15 Open final. It was a strong back-to-back performance for HPSTL, which earned its bid last weekend at Show Me before finishing runner up at Big South. As we mentioned in our Day 2 recap all three bids were already known in 16 Open entering the last da","image":["https://storage.googleapis.com/vballrecruiter-dc8cf.firebasestorage.app/articles/wordpress/11375/3a34020be641b9195597233c.jpg"],"datePublished":"2022-04-18T07:06:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-17T16:44:06.056Z","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"VBallRecruiter"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https://vballrecruiter.com/big-south-15-open-drama-highlights-day-3/"}1f:T1538,

Without doubt the most exciting bid chase took place in 15 Open as the Big South Qualifier wrapped Sunday in Atlanta. Top Select 15 Elite, Mich Elite 15 Mizuno and AZ Sky 15 Gold were the fortunate trio taking home bids. OT 15 Randy – which opened as the No. 1 seed – held firm and finished ahead of everyone after defeating HPSTL 15 Royal in the 15 Open final. It was a strong back-to-back performance for HPSTL, which earned its bid last weekend at Show Me before finishing runner up at Big South.

As we mentioned in our Day 2 recap all three bids were already known in 16 Open entering the last day as OT 16 Will, Gainesville 16 Black and Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite punched tickets to Nationals by making the gold pools. Triangle 16 Black wound up on top of the field Sunday, sweeping past Wave 16 Brennan in the championship match.

In 17 Open, Wave 17 Juliana swept A5 Mizuno 17 Jing for the trophy. The qualifying spots were known before the conclusion of those gold pools with bids going to CHAVC 17-1, CUVC 17 Premier and Mich Elite 17 Mizuno.

As for 15 Open, with four, three-team gold pools playing out on Day 3 previously-qualified OT and HPSTL helped create trickle down to fifth place. Both took first in their respective pools to make the four-team gold bracket. Mich Elite topped A5 Mizuno 15 Bob in three sets to claim its pool, making the top four and locking up its bid.

The last pool was full of drama as GP 15 Rox – which already had its bid – Top Select and Next Level 15-1 tied at 1-1. They also shared the same set percentage, so we saw rare one-game playoffs take place between the three teams.

Should GP have prevailed and made the gold bracket, trickle down would have extended to sixth place. That meant the four teams in the silver bracket could clinch a bid by winning their semifinal contests. That would have been too simple though and so GP obliged in the dramatics and went down to Top Select in the first sprint to 15.

Next Level was waiting, with the winner getting its bid. And with GP out of the silver bracket as well now, the loser would join three others in the must-win-it-all silver bracket for the final bid. Top Select topped Next Level to earn its bid and set the stage for a four-team playoff between A5, AZ Sky, Next Level and Waves 15 Elite Rox.

A5 downed Waves while AZ Sky outlasted Next Level in three to make the silver final. There, AZ Sky swept A5 to complete a long day of volleyball that was well worth the wait as the bid race was finally concluded.

There was almost a set of one-game playoffs in 17 Open but almost was as close as we got. Top Select 17 Elite lost a key three-setter to CHAVC earlier in Pool 1 and that victory set CHAVC up nicely for a bid. But before CHAVC could fully celebrate it needed OT 17 John to defeat Top Select.

Top Select still had a couple of options to bid at that point. It could have swept OT John to pick up a bid that way – assuming A5 beat CHAVC. Or if Top Select could beat OT in three, and A5 could sweep CHAVC, there would be a three-way tie at 1-2. In that scenario, Top Select, OT and CHAVC also would have tied in set percentages and that would have led to a couple of one-game playoffs.

There’s a lot of ifs here, to be sure, but if that would have happened and OT would have finished fourth in the pool, it would have brought the fifth-place match into play for the final bid. All that created some tense moments as OT and Top Select started the third set of their contest. OT came out on top, which eliminated Top Select from qualifying and awarded CHAVC its bid. And with it, no one-game playoffs.

Pool 2 wasn’t nearly as exciting, though Mich Elite – which finished in third place – was also hoping OT could pull through to keep things simple. When OT won, Mich Elite had its bid. CUVC also had its bid by taking second behind Wave. No Name 17-1 was the fourth-place finisher in that pool.

Though the bids were already decided in 16 Open before play began, there was fun in watching the championship fight play out. Wave needed three sets to get past OT 16 Jason in their final pool match to reach the final. A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe was not as fortunate, as it dropped a three-setter to Triangle that helped shaped the title match.

We’ll have more from the weekend in the next few days, including our standout players list as well as more from the champions and bid winners.

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