There is no letting up at a tournament of the caliber that is the USAV Girls Junior National Championships. The competition in Chicago took a major step up as Day 3 rolled around and teams could sense their place in the quarterfinals. Trimming the All Red Hat Team selections to 10 was nearly impossible. It’s no exaggeration to say we could list 25 players easily. However, we stuck with our normal 10, which you can read about below.

The goal is to highlight a daily team consisting of two players from each position – outside, middle, right side, setter and libero who – were our absolute favorite players of the day. Favorite doesn’t mean only a 5-star recruit or a familiar name. These are players who stood out to us for a variety of reasons, from amazing play to great energy or attitude or making key hustle plays. These are daily all-stars who really stood out the most to us for one reason or another.

DAY 3 ALL RED HAT TEAM

Logan Bell OH Circle City 16 Purple: Bell – a 4-star recruit who recently verbaled to Oregon – is an exciting player who brings lots of energy and spirit to the court. She’s a springy attacker with a quick jump and swing. Those together make her a legit offensive weapon and one of the key pieces in the Circle City attack.

Mesaiya Bettis OH Northern Lights 16-1: Bettis spent last season on the right side and has excelled on the left this year. She’s a big part of why Northern Lights is in the quarterfinals. She’s long with great reach and extension. She can get up there and it makes her very difficult to slow when she gets it going.

Riley Lynch MB VA Jrs 16 Elite: Lynch has been coming on here making us take notice. She moves well laterally, which helps with her blocking. She can put up a strong block. She does nice work off the net to make herself available. She exudes a positive demeanor as well, cheering on her teammates.

Charlotte Kelly MB NorCal 16-1 Black: NorCal had a great, great run until barely missing out on advancing from its three-team pool. Kelly played a vital role in NorCal’s upset of Drive Nation. She’s a big middle who can make plays on both sides of the ball to help her team win. She has a strong arm that can power through blocks.

Camryn Jeffery RS A5 16 Gabe: Jeffery – a 4-star recruit – keeps improving every tournament we catch her at. A5 was on the cusp of the quarterfinals in part because of the production of Jeffery on the right side. She stays in across the back row too, adding another option there. She’s also physical and can hit with power.

Bella Schwantz S/RS Cape Coast 16 Titan: You can see Schwantz bringing her beach skills to the indoor side of things. She’s a bit undersized but is a savvy hitter who has a solid arm and can frustrate defenses with her well-placed off-speed shots too. She jumps well, which also helps her play.

Ella Craggs S Mich Elite 16 Mizuno: Mich Elite gave Drive Nation everything it had in the challenge round. We love Craggs at the setter position because she represents what the All Red Hat Team is about. She’s a bit undersized but she is fearless and doesn’t let up. She does well moving the ball around. She has a consistent release and locates well too.

Reese Axness S Northern Lights 16-1: Axness is not necessarily in the same mold as Axness but fairly similar in that she too is a bit undersized but runs the offense well. She does well getting her feet to the ball and delivering hittable balls to all her attackers.

Brookelyn Hatton L MAVS KC 16-1: Hatton is smooth! She’s on the stoic side and plays with a fierce intensity. She also happens to be really, really good. She reads and anticipates as well as any libero in the division. She’s not needing to make a ‘highlight’ save to keep a ball up because she’s in position to make the simple pass.

Callie Krueger L Austin Skyline 16 Royal: Krueger – a recent Texas commit – can flat-out defend and pass. She’s a top-notch libero with the way she covers and reacts. She shows great first-ball contact and does well keeping her team in system.