It’s a busy, busy weekend with multiple qualifiers happening at literally almost every corner of the country. There’s bid competition in Spokane, St. Louis, Atlanta and Philly. And of course, Kansas City! The Show Me Qualifier is where I’ll be spending this weekend and providing coverage of the three-day event. Below, we take a look at the 15-17 Open divisions and take a guess as to what might happen.

17 OPEN

Number of Teams: 30

Number of Bids Available: 3

Previously-Qualified Teams (5): Dynasty 17 Black; Drive Nation 17 Red; Premier Nebraska 17 Gold; OT 17 Felix; Rev 17-1 Raptors

vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (14):

2. Dynasty 17 Black
3. Drive Nation 17 Red
4. TAV 17 Black
12. Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite
13. Premier Nebraska 17 Gold
16. Pohaku 17-1
19. KC Power 17 Black
20. OT 17 Felix
30. Skyline 17 Royal
31. VCNebraska 17 Elite
42. Iowa Power Plex 17U
47. Rev 17-1 Raptors
48. Shockwave 17 Black
49. Northern Lights 17-1

5-Star Athletes to Know:

Lauren Medeck OH Premier Nebraska 17 Gold (South Dakota)
Faith Frame L/DS Premier Nebraska 17 Gold (Cincinnati)
Skyler Pierce OH Dynasty 17 Black (Nebraska)
Cy Rae Campbell MB Dynasty 17 Black (Wake Forest)
Lauren Harden OH Rev 17-1 Raptors (Florida)
Ayden Ames MB Drive Nation 17 Red (Nebraska)
Favor Anyanwu MB TAV 17 Black (USC)
Jadyn Livings OH TAV 17 Black (USC)
Camille Edwards S TAV 17 Black (Michigan)
Reese Messer S Dynasty 17 Black (2025)
Abigail Mullen RS Dynasty 17 Black (2025)
Gillian Pitts L/DS TAV 17 Black (2025)
Cari Spears OH TAV 17 Black (2025)

4-Star Athletes to Know:

Malayah Long S VCNebraska 17 Elite (Marquette)
Paisley Douglas L/DS VCNebraska 17 Elite (USC)
Fallon Stewart OH OT 17 Felix (Cincinnati)
Mia Tvrdy MB Premier Nebraska 17 Gold (Oregon)
Lolo Lambert OH Drive Nation 17 Red (Arkansas)
Janelle Green S KC Power 17 Black (Cincinnati)
Grace Carroll RS Drive Nation 17 Red (Baylor)
Camdyn Stucky S Shockwave 17 Black (Tennessee)
Gracie Morrow OH Shockwave 17 Black (Wichita State)
Bethanie Wu S Drive Nation 17 Red (Yale)
Carson Eickenloff S Drive Nation 17 Red (Ole Miss)
Ryan McAleer L/DS Dynasty 17 Black (Purdue)
Lauren Salata OH Adversity 17 Adidas
Ava Pratt OH Adversity 17 Adidas (Northwestern)
Mikala Young OH TAV 17 Black (TCU)
Anna Boatner MB TAV 17 Black
Jade Ingram MB Dynasty 17 Black (UNLV)
Mak Miller MB Pohaku 17-1 (2025)
Jordan Smith OH/RS Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite (2025)
Maya Witherspoon OH Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite (2025)

Outlook/Prediction: This division is not for the faint-hearted. It’s not quite as packed as the Big South 17 Open field, but it’s pretty close. The second, third and fourth-ranked teams in the nation from our Top 50 are here, as are eight from the Top 20. With five qualified teams, we know all three bids are going out. There’s sure to be trickle down, but could it go all the way to eighth-place? With this field, it’s definitely possible that all five qualified teams could finish in the top eight. But where do the bids go? TAV 17 Black is the front-runner. TAV lost once at Sunshine and finished in fifth to miss out on a bid. It would be a huge upset to see TAV not finish in a spot to qualify here. TAV is a gold-medal favorite, right with Dynasty 17 Black and Drive Nation 17 Red. Dynasty has two second-place showings at Northern Lights and MEQ and would love to actually add a gold at Show Me. Drive Nation took first at Red Rock and is looking to add another gold to its collection. Premier Nebraska 17 Gold, OT 17 Felix and Rev 17-1 Raptors are the other teams with bids and could factor into trickle down. Rev qualified at NEQ and will have to up its game to get into contention in KC. Premier Nebraska qualified back at Northern Lights and should finish in the top eight. As should OT Felix. It still leaves the bids. Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite, KC Power 17-1 and Pohaku 17-1 are all contenders along with TAV. Pohaku beat KC Power at MEQ in a must-win fifth-place bracket match but fell a victory short of a bid when it lost to Boiler Jrs 17 Gold and took sixth. Rockwood Thunder is looking to create some of its own luck. Rockwood Thunder finished fourth at Northern Lights, tied for fifth at NEQ and in a tough-break lost just once at MEQ – to Pohaku – and finished 13th. Ultimately, I like Drive Nation topping TAV in the final, while Dynasty beats Pohaku for third. Rockwood Thunder outlasts VCNebraska for fifth place, joining TAV and Pohaku in qualifying.

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16 OPEN

Number of Teams: 30

Number of Bids Available: 3

Previously-Qualified Teams (2): Nebraska One 16 Synergy; Premier Nebraska 16 Gold

vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (10):

6. Nebraska One 16 Synergy
9. TAV 16 Black
26. Northern Lights 16-1
27. Premier Nebraska 16 Gold
30. Dynasty 16 Black
31. Skyline 16 Royal
35. AJV 16 Adidas
38. Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite
41. NE Elite 16 Maverick
44. MAVS KC 16-1

5-Star Athletes to Know:

Logan Parks S/RS MAVS 16-1
Natalie Wardlow MB Nebraska One 16 Synergy
Ella Florez S/RS Dynasty 16 Black (2026)

4-Star Athletes to Know:

Chichi Nnaji RS Skyline 16 Royal
Taylor Cook S Skyline 16 Royal
Bella Ocampo OH Skyline 16 Royal
Mesaiya Bettis OH Northern Lights 16-1
Carly Gilk RS MN Select 16-1
Kennedi Rogers OH AVA TX 16 Adidas
Ashlyn Paymal RS NE Elite 16 Maverick
Sarah Pfiffner S TAV 16 Black
Madison Winkler L/DS TAV 16 Black
Audrey Jackson OH TAV 16 Black
Lauryn Mack OH TAV 16 Black
Sydnee Peterson RS TAV 16 Black
Reese Jackson OH TAV 16 Black
Leni Stanton-Parker OH Metro 16 Travel
Elena Hoecke MB MN Select 16-1 (2026)

Outlook/Prediction: I’m excited to see which teams punch their tickets in this division. With Nebraska One 16 Synergy qualifying at Northern Lights, that’s one big bid contender out of the way. The question is where will Nebraska One finish in terms of trickle down. With Premier Nebraska 16 Gold, it’s possible trickle down reaches fifth place. Premier Nebraska broke through at Northern Lights and we’ll be watching to see if the squad can keep it going at Show Me. The team to watch for is TAV 16 Black, which finished in fourth place at Red Rock and will be looking to close the deal this time. While I think TAV is going to qualify, it’s a wide-open field in terms of the other two bids. Or three if TAV doesn’t finishing in a qualifying spot. Northern Lights 16-1 is a contender. Northern Lights qualified last year in KC and will have confidence from that heading into this season’s showdown. Dynasty 16 Black, AJV 16 Adidas and Skyline 16 Royal are three more strong candidates to bid. Meanwhile, Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite, NE Elite 16 Maverick and MAVS KC 16-1 will all be looking to crash the party with upsets of their own. If you are looking for an unranked team that could rise up and create headlines, it could be Metro 16 Travel. The pick is Nebraska One beating AJV in the final. TAV beats Skyline in the third-place match. AJV, TAV and Skyline all bid in the Texas takeover.

***

15 OPEN

Number of Teams: 18

Number of Bids Available: 2

Previously-Qualified Teams (2): Skyline 15 Royal; TAV 15 Black

vballrecruiter.com Nationally-Ranked Teams (7):

1. Skyline 15 Royal
5. TAV 15 Black
18. Dynasty 15 Black
20. Pohaku 15-1
46. MAVS 816 15-1
47. MN Select 15-1
49. Northern Lights 15-1

5-Star Athletes to Know:

Rayna Christianson S/RS Northern Lights 15-1
Layla Austin OH Skyline 15 Royal
Keoni Williams MB Skyine 15 Royal
Danielle Whitmire S/RS TAV 15 Black
Kinsley Young MB TAV 15 Black

4-Star Athletes to Know:

Taylor Clarke RS Skyline 15 Royal (2025)
Madeline Kraft L/DS Northern Lights 15-1
Willow Weninger RS Pohaku 15-1
Eva Swenson S/RS MN Select 15-1
Kylie Kleckner OH TAV 15 Black
Caroline Huseman OH TAV 15 Black
Anna Flores S TAV 15 Black

Outlook/Prediction: This division is going to be fun! For starters, it’s a different format with there being only 18 teams. That does mean there is only two bids up for grabs. Play begins with three, six-team pools played over Days 1 and 2. There are challenge matches on Day 2. Those feature first-place teams from their respective pools playing fourth-place teams from other pools, while second and third-place finishers crossover. The winners of those advance to Monday’s gold pools, featuring two, three-team pools. Skyline 15 Royal and TAV 15 Black are the top-ranked teams in the field and both have bids. That means trickle down could reach fourth place and I suspect it will as both TAV and Skyline should finish in the top three. That makes Dynasty 15 Black and Pohaku 15-1 the top bid candidates, as they are the next highest-ranked teams competing. It would be very surprising if they weren’t in the hunt on the final day. But which teams are going to position themselves to pull off an upset or two and qualify? MN Select 15-1 and MAVS 816 are in the same pool together to begin with and both could walk away with bids. Kairos 15 Alpha is another team to watch for. Kairos is unranked but could surprise. Northern Lights 15-1 and OP2 15-1 are in Pool 1 to begin with and are two more under-the-radar teams that could get it done. In the end, Skyline keeps its streak going, beating TAV in the final. Pohaku beats Northern Lights in the third-place match as both qualify.