There’s little doubt the powerhouses came to play during the 16 Open division at the USVA Girls Junior National Championships earlier this month in Chicago. Five of the Top 10 teams from our prior rankings reached the final eight, including the then-No. 1 team in the nation in 1st Alliance 16 Gold and then-No. 2 Drive Nation 16 Red in the mix. Also in contention was eventual gold-medalist Arizona Storm 16 Thunder, which took home the gold medal after downing 1st Alliance in the championship match.

A year ago, Storm was a heavy favorite and top seed in 15 Open but was ultimately upset in the final by at-large recipient Alamo 15 Premier and left Indianapolis with a silver medal. While Storm put together a regular season most any other club would dream of, it did not enter this year’s national championship as the same favorite as a season ago. Storm showed more vulnerability during the spring campaign this go around but when it came down to it there was no opponent getting in the way of finishing on top, which Storm did with a perfect 11-0 record.

It made Storm, which was No. 6 in our previous release, the clear-cut pick to finish the season as the No. 1 ranked team in our final Top 50 National Rankings. The other four teams also residing in the previous Top 10 remained there in 1st Alliance, Drive Nation, Hou Skyline 16 Royal and Nebraska One 16 Synergy. One of the big movers was Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal, which climbed from No. 16 to No. 5 in our final rankings. Also cracking the Top 10 was Mich Elite 16 Mizuno. The club received one of the two at-large bid and made great use of it, finishing tied for ninth and landing at No. 10 in our last update.

There are lots of factors to take into consideration when formulating a list like this. It leaves plenty of room for debate as these rankings are ultimately subjective. There are power league results, qualifier results, national tournaments like Triple Crown and of course the USAV Girls Junior Nationals and AAU national championships. All these come into play. We put more weight on what happened at Junior Nationals than a qualifier because the whole season is built toward peaking at JN’s. We also had one steadfast rule we didn’t break no matter the circumstances. That rule was if Team A defeated Team B in a gold challenge match or gold bracket match at JN’s, Team A is always going to be ranked ahead of Team B. That’s because everyone comes to JN’s to win a gold medal and if Team A eliminates Team B from contention, it won at the absolute right time. It can make for some skewed overall rankings as a team might be too high or low overall but what’s the point if the biggest head-to-head matches of the season aren’t the most important ones?

vballrecruiter.com’S FINAL TOP 50 NATIONAL RANKINGS

1. Arizona Storm 16 Thunder (AZ) (6 – previous ranking)

2. 1st Alliance 16 Gold (IL) (1)

3. Drive Nation 16 Red (TX) (2)

4. Nebraska One 16 Synergy (NE) (7)

5. Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal (FL) (16)

6. Hou Skyline 16 Royal (TX) (4)

7. OT 16 JP (FL) (10)

8. HJV 16 Elite (TX) (5)

9. Adidas KiVA 16 Red (KY) (14)

10. Mich Elite 16 Mizuno (MI) (19)

***

11. Circle City 16 Purple (IN) (9)

12. Northern Lights 16-1 (MN) (22)

13. SPVB 16 Elite (IL) (13)

14. A5 16 Gabe (GA) (8)

15. MKE Sting 16 Gold (WI) (12)

16. AVC Cle 16 Red (OH) (28)

17. TAV 16 Black (TX) (11)

18. Surfside 16 PV Legends (CA) (3)

19. GP 16 Rox (FL) (25)

20. Austin Skyline 16 Royal (TX) (17)

***

21. Madfrog 16 Green (TX) (27)

22. ID Crush 16 Bower (ID) (23)

23. Legacy 16-1 Adidas (MI) (18)

24. NorCal 16-1 Black (CA) (31)

25. MAVS KC 16-1 (KS) (26)

26. Coast 16-1 (CA) (20)

27. OT 16 Roberto (FL) (39)

28. HPSTL 16 Royal (MO) (15)

29. Wave 16 Kevin (CA) (21)

30. Alamo 16 Premier (TX) (33)

***

31. Co Jrs 16 Shannon (CO) (41)

32. AJV 16 Adidas (TX) (36)

33. Excel 16 National Red (TX) (n/r)

34. Skyline 16 Royal (TX) (32)

35. KC Power 16 Black (KS) (n/r)

36. No Name 16 Sarah (FL) (34)

37. Dynasty 16 Black (KS) (29)

38. Tri-State Elite 16 Blue (OH) (24)

39. Munciana 16 Blaze (IN) (30)

40. Vegas Aces 16 UA (NV) (n/r)

***

41. Triangle 16 Black (NC) (45)

42. Premier Nebraska 16 Gold (NE) (37)

43. Oaks 16 Gold (CA) (n/r)

44. Vision 16 Gold (CA) (44)

45. Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar (CA) (38)

46. Absolute 16 Black (CA) (n/r)

47. Metro 16 Travel (DC) (n/r)

48. Team Pineapple 16 Black (IN) (40)

49. Vaqueras 16-1 (PR) (n/r)

50. Kairos 16 Alpha (SD) (47)

***

ON THE CUSP

AVA TX 16 Adidas (TX)
USA South 16 Premier Purple (FL)
Boiler Jrs 16 Gold (IN)
EliteVBTC 16 Black (OH)
CUVC 16 Beast (NC)
1st Alliance 16 Silver (IL)
A4 Volley 16 Cassie (CA)
NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami (KY)
MN Select 16-1 (MN)
Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite (MO)
Mintonette Sports m.61 (OH)
Rancho Valley 16 Premier (CA)
AZ Rev 16 Premier (AZ)
FC Elite 16 Navy (WI)
Adrenaline 16 Doug (IA)
ARVC 16 Adidas (NM)
SASVBC 16-1 (HI)