The USAV Girls 18s Junior National Championship is slated for Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Columbus. The 48-team Open field is highlighted by top-ranked and top-seeded Drive Nation 18 Red, which has just one loss entering this weekend’s competition. The lone setback came against AJV 18 Adidas back in January at the Lone Star Classic 18s qualifier. Drive Nation still managed to finish first there, like it has everywhere else. Drive Nation also owns first-place finishes at Triple Crown, Florida Fest and Boston Festival. It clearly makes Drive Nation the favorite, much like Sunshine 18 LA was a season ago in Phoenix.

Another top contender is Coast 18-1, which lost to Drive Nation in the final of Triple Crown and spent this past Saturday tuning up with a scrimmage against Club V 18 Ren Reed. Club V made the visit from Utah to So Cal and spent Friday scrimmaging with Tstreet 18 Chandler and Sunshine 18 LA before heading to San Diego to face Coast in a friendly match Saturday. Coast won the tune up in four sets and look to be among the few teams capable of beating Drive Nation.

Below, we take a look players to know, the pools and our predictions for how it might all play out. The 48 teams in Open are divided into eight pools of six. The top three advance to challenge rounds. The first-place teams get a bye while the second and third-place teams play crossover matches to make the top 16. The crossover winners then play the pool winners for a spot in the quarterfinals. It all happens very quickly, as virtually every team wakes up on Day 2 with a chance to still break pool but only eight will remain in contention by day’s end.

5-Star Athletes to Know:

Noemie Glover RS Coast 18-1 (Oregon)
Alex Acevedo OH NPJ 18 Forefront (Oregon)
Grace Heaney RS Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (Purdue)
Brooke Bultema MB Elevation 18 Spinney (Kentucky)
Leah Ford MB Drive Nation 18 Red (USC)
Reese Robins MB Drive Nation 18 Red (USC)
Eloise Brandewie MB Mintonette Sports m.81 (Ohio State)
Jurnee Robinson OH A5 18 Marc (LSU)
Blaire Bayless OH Madfrog 18 Green (Pitt)
Olivia Babcock RS Sunshine 18 LA (Pitt)
Torrey Stafford OH Sunshine 18 LA (Pitt)
Jordyn Harvey OH Club V 18 Ren Reed (Stanford)
Julia Blyashov OH Wave 18 Juliana (Stanford)
Stella Swenson S MN Select 18-1 (Minnesota, 2024)
Olivia Mauch L/DS Premier Nebrasak 18 Gold (Nebraska, 2024)
Taylor Harvey MB Club V 18 Ren Reed (2025)

4-Star Athletes to Know:

Tehani Ulufatu L/DS Absolute 18 Black (Baylor)
Brooklyn Briscoe MB Coast 18-1 (UCLA)
Allison Cavanaugh RS OT 18 John (Georgia)
Zeta Washington MB OT 18 John (Cincinnati)
Koko Kirsch L/DS Wave 18 Juliana (Stanford)
Bianka Lulic MB Coast 18-1 (Miami)
Zoe Rachow S Coast 18-1 (Tulane)
Claire Little OH Coast 18-1 (BYU)
Kendal Murphy OH AZ Rev 18 Premier (Baylor)
Havannah Hoeft S Rage Westside 18 Michelle (LMU)
Emma Donley OH Rage Westside 18 Michelle (Cal)
Ava Marie Lange OH/RS Sunshine 18 LA (Notre Dame)
Kate Simington MB MN Select 18-1 (Clemson)
Kate Thibault L/DS MN Select 18-1 (Oregon)
Kamryn Lee-Caracci MB 1st Alliance 18 Gold (Georgetown)
Kennedy Wagner OH 1st Alliance 18 Gold (Clemson)
Gigi Navarrete L/DS 1st Alliance 18 Gold (Northwestern)
Lois Hansen RS Tstreet 18 Chandler (UCSB)
Safi Hampton OH Metro 18 Travel (North Carolina)
Samantha Hoppes OH/RS Drive Nation 18 Red (Boston College)
Sydney Breon OH Drive Nation 18 Red (UCLA)
Callie Kieffer S Drive Nation 18 Red (Alabama)
Lily Nicholson S Drive Nation 18 Red (TCU)
Halle Schroder OH Drive Nation 18 Red (Boston College)
Ceci Gooch RS Skyline 18 Royal (Georgia)
Becca Kelley OH Skyline 18 Royal (Oregon)
Harley Kreck S Skyline 18 Royal (Baylor)
Milan Rex S Metro 18 Travel (UCSB)
Brielle Kemavor MB Metro 18 Travel (BYU)
Reagan Fox OH MAVS KC 18-1 (Rutgers)
Betsy Goodenow OH MAVS KC 18-1 (Yale)
Makena Lim L/DS A4 Volley 18 Joaco (Georgia)
Laurece Abraham MB Legacy 18-1 Adidas (Yale)
Lauryn Bowie RS Mintonette Sports m.81 (Virginia)
Kira Holland OH AVC Cle 18 Red (Indiana State)
Cayla Payne MB Wave 18 Juliana (Colorado)
Eva Rohrbach MB Wave 18 Juliana (Maryland)
Auburn Tomkinson RS Wave 18 Juliana (Texas)
Mele Corral-Blagojevich OH Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar (Oklahoma)
Taylor Anderson S Alamo 18 Premier (Purdue)
Alyssa Manitzas L/DS Alamo 18 Premier (Notre Dame)
Jordyn Dailey MB Triangle 18 Black (Kentucky)
Hannah Pfiffner MB TAV 18 Black (Oklahoma)
Audrey Clark S TAV 18 Black (Creighton)
Alanna Bankston OH Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (Louisville)
Destiny Ndam-Simpson OH Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (Creighton)
Brooklyn Tealer OH Gainesville Jrs 18 Black (USC, 2024)
Evan Hendrix OH AZ Rev 18 Premier (TCU, 2024)
Kaia Caffee MB MN Select 18-1 (Ohio State, 2024)
Alexis Haury S NPJ 18 Forefront (Washington, 2024)
Lilly Wagner S MKE Sting 18 Gold (Maryland, 2024)
Peyton Carlson L/DS FC Elite 18 Elite (2026)

***

PREDICTIONS

We make our pool-by-pool predictions as to which teams are going to advance. We listed the teams in seeded order with vballrecruiter.com’s national ranking indicated in front.

POOL 1

1. Drive Nation 18 Red (TX)
29. FC Elite 18 Elite (WI)
18. AVC Cle 18 Red (OH)
37. CUVC 18 Titan (NC)
39. Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar (CA)
SynergyForce 18 Shasta (CA)

Prediction: Drive Nation 5-0; FC Elite 4-1; AVC Cle 3-2; Long Beach 2-3; CUVC 1-4; SynergyForce 0-5

***

POOL 2

2. Coast 18-1 (CA)
21. Arizona Storm 18 Thunder (AZ)
12. Elevation 18 Spinney (OH)
26. MKE Sting 18 Gold (WI)
33. Madfrog 18 Green (TX)
OPU 17/18 Adidas (FL)

Prediction: Coast 4-1; Elevation 4-1; Arizona Storm 4-1; Madfrog 2-3; MKE Sting 1-4; OPU 0-5

***

POOL 3

25. Gainesville Jrs 18 Black (FL)
15. AZ Rev 18 Premier (AZ)
10. Wave 18 Juliana (CA)
43. AJV 18 Adidas (TX)
34. MN Select 18-1 (MN)
EC Power 18 Royal (PA)

Prediction: Wave 5-0; Gainesville 4-1; AZ Rev 3-2; AJV 2-3; MN Select 1-4; EC Power 0-5

***

POOL 4

4. MAVS KC 18-1 (KS)
16. Metro 18 Travel (DC)
14. Skyline 18 Royal (TX)
32. Triangle 18 Black (NC)
38. A4 Volley 18 Joaco (CA)
Adversity 18 Adidas (IL)

Prediction: MAVS 4-1; Skyline 4-1; Metro 4-1; Triangle 2-3; Adversity 1-4; A4 0-5

***

POOL 5

7. Sunshine 18 LA (CA)
8. A5 18 Marc (GA)
19. OT 18 John (FL)
35. TAV 18 Black (TX)
41. VC United 18 Elite (IL)
50. OJVA 18 Gold (OR)

Prediction: Sunshine 4-1; A5 4-1; OT 3-2; TAV 2-3; VC United 1-4; OJVA 1-4

***

POOL 6

13. Circle City 18 Purple (IN)
20. NPJ 18 Forefront (OR)
22. Legacy 18-1 Adidas (MI)
Alamo 18 Premier (TX)
45. Excel 18 National Red (TX)
Absolute 18 Black (CA)

Prediction: Circle City 5-0; NPJ 4-1; Legacy 3-2; Alamo 2-3; Excel 1-4; Absolute 0-5

***

POOL 7

11. Club V 18 Ren Reed (UT)
5. 1st Alliance 18 Gold (IL)
23. HJV 18 Elite (TX)
Rage Westside 18 Michelle (CA)
49. AZ EVJ 18 Elite (AZ)
Tribe 18 Elite Cardinal (FL)

Prediction: 1st Alliance 4-1; Club V 4-1; HJV 3-2; Rage Westside 2-3; Tribe 1-4; AZ EVJ 1-4

***

POOL 8

6. Premier Nebraska 18 Gold (NE)
9. Mintonette Sports m.81 (OH)
31. Paramount VBC 18s (VA)
24. Hou Skyline 18 Royal (TX)
48. Tstreet 18 Chandler (CA)
42. Northern Lights 18-1 (MN)

Prediction: Mintonette 4-1; Premier Nebraska 4-1; Hou Skyline 4-1; Paramount 1-4; Tstreet 1-4; Northern Lights 1-4

Challenge Rounds:

1 – AZ Rev d Elevation; Drive Nation d AZ Rev

2 – FC Elite d Metro; Coast d Metro

3 – Skyline d AVC Cle; Skyline d Wave

4 – Arizona Storm d Gainesville Jrs; MAVS d Arizona Storm

5 – HJV d NPJ; Sunshine d HJV

6 – A5 d Hou Skyline; A5 d Circle City

7 – Premier Nebraska d OT; 1st Alliance d Premier Nebraska

8 – Club V d Legacy; Club V d Mintonette

Quarterfinals:

Drive Nation d Club V

Coast d 1st Alliance

A5 d Skyline

MAVS d Sunshine

Semifinals:

Drive Nation d Sunshine

Coast d A5

Final:

Coast d Drive Nation