It’s an earlier trip to Las Vegas than usual for those making their way to the Red Rock Rave taking place Saturday-Monday at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The qualifier usually falls in April but is among the first to be held this season. This coming weekend is the first of back-to-back weekends and it features the younger ages vying for their bids. Below, we run through the 14 and 15 Open divisions to see how they might play out.

15 Open

Number of Teams: 38

Number of Bids Available: 3

Previously-Qualified Club: n/a

vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (22):

1. Skyline 15 Royal
4. Madfrog 15 Green
5. TAV 15 Black
7. Arizona Storm 15 Thunder
10. SCVC 15 Roxy
12. Alamo 15 Premier
13. AZ Sky 15G
14. Hou Skyline 15 Royal
15. Wave 15 Brennan
18. Dynasty 15 Black
19. Forza1 North 15 One
21. HJV 15 Elite
23. Drive Nation 15 Red
29. SG Elite 15 Rosh
32. Actyve 15 Black
33. GP 15 Rox
34. Tstreet 15 Curtis
38. AZ Rev 15 Premier
39. Coast 15-1
41. Aspire 15 Premier
42. Club V 15 Ren Reed
46. MAVS 816 15-1

5-star Athletes To Watch

Layla Austin OH Skyline 15 Royal
Keoni Williams MB Skyline 15 Royal
Kinsley Young MB TAV 15 Black
Brooke Harwood RS Arizona Storm 15 Thunder
Finley Krystkowiak OH Wave 15 Brennan
Danielle Whitmire S/RS TAV 15 Black
Audrey Flanagan OH SCVC 15 Roxy

4-star Athletes To Watch

Erin Clark L/DS/S Aspire 15 Premier
Anna Flores S TAV 15 Black
Ava McBride S/RS Actyve 15 Black
Paisley Pavliska OH Alamo 15 Premier
Emmerson Champagne MB/RS Tstreet 15 Curtis
Milly McGee S SCVC 15 Roxy
Gabi Rodriguez L/DS Madfrog 15 Green
Caroline Huseman OH TAV 15 Black
Kylie Kleckner OH TAV 15 Black

Outlook/Prediction: With 20 teams in the field featured in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 it makes for a loaded field. With the only path to qualifying coming with a top-three finish, there are going to be plenty of unhappy teams heading home. On the flip side, for the fortunate few who are able to secure bids there is no doubt it will be well deserved. Skyline 15 Royal enters fresh off of winning Triple Crown and looking to keep the momentum going. Triple Crown runner-up SCVC 15 Roxy is also searching for a bid and will carry the confidence of its performance in KC with them to Vegas. Madfrog 15 Green, TAV 15 Black, Arizona Storm 15 Thunder, Alamo 15 Premier and AZ Sky 15G all fared well at Triple Crown too and any of them could walk away with a bid. A team like SG Elite 15 Rosh is ranked No. 29 but can’t be overlooked. SG was close to knocking off Boiler Jrs 15 Gold at Triple Crown. It’s that type of field where the one thing for sure is plenty of unexpected results are going to take place. The final comes down to Alamo knocking off Wave. Skyline takes the final bid.

***

14 Open

Number of Teams: 26

Number of Bids Available: 3

Previously-Qualified Club: n/a

vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (14):

2. Arizona Storm 14 Thunder
3. Tstreet 14 Carson
4. Madfrog 14 Green
5. Skyline 14 Royal
10. MAVS KC 14-1
11. Mizuno Long Beach 14 Rockstar
14. Forza1 14 One
15. Wave 14 Tammy
16. AZ Rev 14 Premier
19. Forza1 North 14 One
22. AZ Sky 14G
25. Club V 14 Ren Silver
33. HJV 14 Elite
47. Coast 14-1

Outlook/Prediction: Much like 15 Open, it’s going to take a special effort to come through with one of the three bids in play. There is no trickle down, so teams must place in the top three. That leaves very little if any wiggle room. Lots of eyes will be on the favorites like Arizona Storm 14 Thunder, Tstreet 14 Carson, Madfrog 14 Green and Skyline 15 Royal. All showed strong at Triple Crown and it’s hard envisioning not one in the group earning a bid. It’s possible three of the four get bids. Still, it’s volleyball. Wave 14 Tammy was close to upsetting Arizona Storm in KC and could surprise. Mizuno Long Beach 14 Rockstar is likely hungry to finish higher than it did at Triple Crown and get its bid out of the way. MAVS 14-1 can’t be forgotten about and certainly has what it takes to get the bid. It’s a tough field to predict, but the call goes to Tstreet beating Storm in the final. MAVS takes the third bid.