As we wrote in our Day 3 recap, even though the bids were known in 16 Open before gold pool action began Saturday evening at Big South, the division still managed to produce an exciting conclusion in which Triangle 16 Black capped an undefeated weekend by beating Wave 16 Brennan in the championship match. Both Triangle and Wave needed three sets to close out respective pools and meet up in the final. Triangle rallied against A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe while Wave fought back to top OT 16 Jason. All four of those teams already had bids, as did Top Select 16 Elite.

When those five squads made the gold pools it helped award bids to Gainesville 16 Black, Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite and OT 16 Will, as they were also in the gold pools and were guaranteed qualifying spots based on any possible trickle down scenarios. Below, we breakdown Triangle’s weekend, plus the three bid winners as well.

TRIANGLE 16 BLACK (FIRST, 10-0)

Day 1: d IVBA 16 Open 25-18, 25-16; d Waves 16 Power Rox 25-17, 25-13; d OT 16 Will 25-18, 25-18
Day 2: d OT 16 Roberto 25-20, 25-22; d Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite 25-18, 25-21; d Club V 16 Ren Wayne 25-23, 25-13; d Top Select 16 Elite 26-24, 25-22
Day 3: d OT 16 Will 24-26, 25-19, 15-3; d A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe 20-25, 25-23, 15-7; d Wave 16 Brennan 25-14, 25-20

Did Triangle announce itself as a 16 Open title contender after its performance this past weekend at Big South? It’s a legitimate question after seeing Triangle defeating Red Rock Rave champion Wave in the final and finishing its three days in Atlanta with a perfect 10-0 mark. That came after Triangle downed A5 in three sets in the semifinals. Anyone capable of topping two teams of that caliber in back-to-back outings is certainly worthy of being in the conversation of top candidates to win it all later this summer.

“The girls have been working hard for six months,” Triangle coach Michael Frank said. “They have worked harder than any team I’ve had work. That’s why they do it was for that.”

Triangle already had its bid when it qualified at the Sunshine Classic earlier this month. The Carolina Region club finished in a three-way tie at 1-2 with Metro 16 Travel and OT 16 Jason in gold pools there and wound up taking third place based on tiebreakers. That put Triangle in the top six and through trickle down Triangle earned its bid.

“We had a bid so a lot of the pressure was off,” Frank said. “We had to have a goal and they wanted to medal. Now they have a gold one.”

It’s a redesigned roster from a season ago. Setter Emily Bobbitt, middle Ashlyn Philpot, outside Asia Thigpen and libero/DS Sophia Grace Stevens are the only returning members. Among the newcomers include L/DS Coley Shiflet, outside Kiarrah Horne and right side Alayna Smith. Others include S/DS Avery Scoggins, OH/DS Avery Booker and middle Lillian Slaymaker. To see the group qualify during its first try then come out and win a qualifier like Big South has been incredible.

“I think the mental toughness came together,” Frank said. “Up or down it doesn’t matter. We can be up five points or down five points and they just keep going.”

***

GAINESVILLE 16 BLACK (T-FIFTH, 6-3)

Day 1: d SC Midlands 16 National 25-14, 25-14; d ECV 16-1 25-17, 18-25, 15-10; d Miami Hype 16 25-13, 11-25, 15-11
Day 2: d A5 Mizuno 16 Steve 25-23, 20-25 15-11; d Elevation 16 Butcher 25-18, 25-18; l A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe 18-25, 25-13 15-10; l OT 16 Jason 25-15, 25-14
Day 3: l Wave 16 Brennan 25-20, 25-18; d Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite 25-21, 25-22

Gainesville had been on the cusp of working its way into qualifying position with top-10 showings at both the Salt Lake City Showdown and Sunshine Classic. The Florida club ran into some bad luck at those qualifiers but finally broke through at Big South to secure its Open bid.

Gainesville benefitted from trickle down and knew it had qualified before even playing a gold pool match in Atlanta. It won its Day 1 pool and finished second to A5 on Day 2 to advance to the top eight. In gold pool, Gainesville fell to OT and Wave before closing out its weekend by sweeping Rockwood Thunder.

It was welcomed relief as Gainesville was able to catch a break for once. At Salt Lake City to open qualifying season, Gainesville lost on Day 2 to both Co Jrs 16 Sherri and Club V 16 Ren Wayne. Those two squads just happened to go on and meet in the final the following day.

At Sunshine, Gainesville made it all the way to gold pools, but landed in the same pool with previously-qualified 1st Alliance 16 Gold, as well as Top Select and Flyers 16 Dylan. Gainesville pushed all three opponents to three sets but finished 0-3 and out of the running for a bid. Meanwhile, both Top Select and Flyers went on to clinch bids.

Gainesville has one of the best outside hitters and a go-to on the left in three-star recruit Brooklyn Tealer. Libero Ro’Miya Thomas was another standout.

***

OT 16 WILL (T-SEVENTH, 4-5)

Day 1: d Waves 16 Power Rox 25-22, 25-23; d IBVA 16 Open 25-20, 25-14; l Triangle 16 Black 25-18, 25-18
Day 2: d HPSTL 16 Royal 26-24, 18-25, 15-11; l OT 16 Jason 25-12, 25-11; d Tribe 16 Elite 25-18, 25-20; l A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe 25-19, 25-17
Day 3: l Triangle 16 Black 24-26, 25-19, 15-3; l Top Select 16 Elite 25-16, 17-25, 15-13

OT opened its qualifying season in strong fashion by making the gold pools at the Salt Lake City Showdown. An 0-3 showing though kept OT from be able to qualify. Then at its next qualifier – the Sunshine Classic – a 1-2 effort on Day 2 kept OT from making the gold pools altogether.

It came to Big South with one last shot at punching its ticket to Nationals. Even though OT lost on Day 1 to eventual champion Triangle it was still through to Round 2. There, OT had to put in some work to get out and into gold pools. It opened with a victory against HPSTL 16 Royal before going down to OT Jason. That set up a meeting with Tribe 16 Elite. OT wasn’t necessarily in a must-win position, but a loss would’ve created a three-way tie at 1-2. Whereas a victory put OT into the gold pools for sure. OT swept and with it claimed its bid based on the trickle-down situation in 16 Open.

***

ROCKWOOD THUNDER 16 ELITE (T-SEVENTH, 4-5)

Day 1: d CVC 16-1 25-10, 25-10; d Academy 16 Diamond 25-13, 25-20; l OT 16 Jason 25-13, 25-17
Day 2: d Club V 16 Ren Wayne 25-17, 25-17; l Triangle 16 Black 25-18, 25-21; d OT 16 Roberto 25-16, 25-15; l Wave 16 Brennan 25-18, 25-20
Day 3: l OT 16 Jason 25-17, 25-22; l Gainesville 16 Black 25-21, 25-22

The first goal at Big South for Rockwood Thunder was surviving Day 1. That hadn’t been the case at the team’s first two qualifiers in Salt Lake City and at MEQ, where both times RT was knocked from contention after the first round of pool play. When RT opened up Big South winning its first two matches, at the very least it guaranteed itself meaningful matches on Day 2.

It was Saturday that really proved to be the fateful day that led to RT gaining its Open bid in Atlanta. It was in the hardest of the four pools. One that featured Club V, Triangle and OT 16 Roberto. All three of teams held bids already and that’s what RT had to contend with in order to advance.

The first big victory came against Club V to start pool play. After a loss to Triangle, RT and OT meet in a showdown for second place. Both were 1-1 and if RT lost it knew it had no path to a bid and would have to rely on its last qualifier this coming weekend at NEQ.

Yet, RT delivered another sweep against a qualified team to advance to the gold pools. Since five of the eight teams already held bids, RT was assured of qualifying regardless of what happened.

Rockwood can use a lot of players throughout the course of a match. Alyssa Nelson and Morgan Dumm run a 6-2. Three-star recruit Allison Risley is a six-rotation outside. Freshman and four-star recruit Maya Witherspoon plays on the left as well. Shae Person, Jordan Smith – a four-star recruit playing up an age group – and Emma Parker all spend time on the right side, while Mia Scanlon and Ellie Emms occupy the middle spots. Olivia Hasbrook dons the libero jersey while Amelia Moser contributes as a DS.