ORLANDO, Florida — Day three on the AAU Boys Junior Nationwide Volleyball Championships was crucial as all of the groups completed pool play. The highest three groups have been seeded in a three-team pool, with the highest crew being positioned into Wednesday’s championship bracket of eight groups.
The 18s, 16s, 13s, and 12s event ends Wednesday, whereas the 17s, 15s, and 14s are arriving for his or her competitors that begins Thursday. Plese proceed to ship me story concepts, footage and clips that I can put up on my @kprecruiter account and @vbmagazine.
Recapping Tuesday in Orlando
— 18s open groups championship bracket; MB Surf, Outrigger, Pinnacle, WAVE, Cinci Assault, Crew Rockstar, Arizona Concern, and Balboa Bay.
— 16s open championship bracket; Sports activities Efficiency, MB Surf, Balboa Bay, Triangle, Crew Rockstar, Winter Park, C2 Assault, and Coast.
— 13s open championship bracket; Torrimar, Cinci Assault, Bay to Bay, SC Legends, 949, Mountain View, Coast, and Serve and Spike.
— 12s open championship bracket; Serve and Spike, Excessive Efficiency St. Louis, Borinquen, Mountain View, Bay to Bay, MB Surf, Evolution, SCVC.
— Bay to Bay membership administrators Matt and Arielle Houlihan don’t hesitate to take a stand.
A couple of weeks in the past, one in all their coaches, Natalie Gallegos, introduced her new child son Gregg Jr. along with her to a event. Gallegos, alongside along with her husband, Gregg, was teaching their 16 Premier crew and officers informed her child Gregg couldn’t be on the sidelines, a lot as being held by his mother throughout play, explaining they have been involved that the infant may get hit by a volleyball and they didn’t need the event to be liable.
The Houlihans famous on ocial media {that a} child may simply as simply get hit on the opposite aspect of the courtroom sitting with spectators. So that they took issues in their very own fingers:
Greg Gallegos is the youngest competitor on this event.
They registered Greg on the Premier 16s crew and now he will be on the sideline right here. And no marvel: When she was rising up, Arielle was typically on the sidelines from the time she was a child when she was along with her late father Berry Goldberg, the legendary American College coach.
As Aielle recounted, her dad would typically get some grief that she was on the sidelines as an toddler. He would firmly let any directors or officers know, “We’ll take duty.” So this Child Gregg incident struck a chord with Airele.
“Rising up because the daughter of a volleyball coach formed every part that Bay to Bay Volleyball Membership has change into. The dedication it took my dad and mom to contain us within the volleyball world, took a ton of sacrifice and work on their half. It can be crucial that we make it accessible for individuals to do the identical.”
By the best way, it’s effectively price following the Houlihans on Instagram at @matthewjhoulihan and @ariellehoulihan.
— JP Candrian from Winter Park earned our 18s participant of the day. The 6-6 exterior hitter recorded 9 kills, one ace, one block and three kills within the win towards Pinnacle. He attends Horizon Excessive College in Winter Backyard, Florida, and is headed to Purdue Fort Wayne.
“The open division is a grind. You may take out the primary seed in pool, end 5-2 and nonetheless not advance within the championship bracket. The extent of play challenges you mentally, bodily and emotionally,” stated Candrian.
— Grant Lamoureaux, a 2025 exterior hitter who’s dedicated to Pepperdine performs for Triad United 18s. Lately, Lamoureaux was the captain of the U19 USA squad that received a gold medal in Puerto Rico. In September he will likely be representing crew USA within the seaside world championships in China.He’s a 6-10 exterior hitter who attends West Forsyth Excessive College in Clemmons, North Carolina.
— Talking of 949, exterior hitter Sam Bazargard earned our 13s participant of the day.
“I really like taking part in right here in Orlando,” Bazagard stated. “The surroundings is nice and it is rather aggressive.”
— Outrigger’s Kainoa Wade is heading to his hometown crew, Hawai’i. The 6-foot-8 reverse is forgoing his senior yr of highschool. Final season, Tread Rosenthal did the identical factor and was not solely the beginning setter for Hawaii, however was an AVCA honorable-mention All-American.
“I’ve been watching from the stands for about 15 years,” stated Wade, whose father, Charlie, will likely be his Hawai’i coach. “Now I’m able to get began on my subsequent journey.”
His crew is 8-1 and performs its first championship-bracket match towards MB Surf. Wade’s crew, Kamehamehe, received a highschool state title this yr.
— Cincinnati Assault earned our 18s crew of the day by procuring a spot within the championship bracket, ending Tuesday at 8-1. The Assaults has spectacular wins over Coast, Serve and Spike and Pulse. The Assault was led by setter Aidan Berkemeier and libero Jordan Brockman, who’s dedicated to College of Maryland Jap Shore
— AAU Nationals Championship week creates team-bonding alternatives. Mountain View 18s jumped on a hovercraft and explored the swamps of Orlando. Absolute 18s took some hacks at Prime Golf. The Bay to Bay teaching employees visited “the happiest place on Earth” earlier than the event, Walt Disney World.
VolleyballMag contributor Kevin Pratte is the boys varsity coach at The Bishop’s College in La Jolla, California and Grant elementary bodily schooling instructor. Pratte, who lives in San Diego, performed on the College of Pacific. He was a graduate assistant at Nebraska, an assistant at Pacific, and has coached on the junior school stage. He is also a university recruiting coordinator, Rotary member, president of the www.kevinprattefoundation.com, host of the KP HERE Podcast and editor of the boys volleyball web site middlehitter.com.
