Club Teams 2017/18

The top clubs wil always be the top clubs, VG and Attack will always be the top 2...but for the OVERALL high school scene and the depth of the HS talent in the state.. we are better off having multiple clubs. Central Ohio was at its best when both Vanguard and Elite were competitive

Cincinnati is an exception because Attack has 2-3 quality teams in various age groups.. but central Ohio... not so much

I guess that is part of my issue with Attack not having any competition. In a scenario where a kid is on a 3rd team at Attack, but would be talented enough to play on a 2nd or even 1st team at other clubs in the state. Attack just has enough talented kids to be able to have a 3rd team with solid players still. Then, Attack usually only send the top two teams at each age group to bigger tourneys, so this kid never gets the chance to play against better competition and it hurts his development in the long run.

Whereas, if another club could provide an opportunity for this kid to go play in bid tourneys and whatnot, he could still play better competition, even though he isn't in the top 12(ish) players in his city.

The other option, would be for Attack to commit to sending their 3rd tier teams to more, and bigger tourneys. I'd obviously be okay with that as well.
 
In your ideal scenario, that's where a club like Thunder came in. But being a westside-based program, it wasn't an easy trip for 3/4 of the city. Any players outside the GCL that fell in the top 12 would play Attack and any players outside of that would play Attack just because it's a closer and easier option. Not to mention, in Thunder's case the talent level per team was so sporadic from top to bottom it was more beneficial to just play on an Attack 3rd team. At least there you knew the talent was more level across the board.
 
Benjamin Pung to THE Milwaukee School of Engineering! Congratulations Benjamin! While not quite the offensive threat of Nick Talbot, but regardless a talented player that has positively affected the legacy of St. Xavier.

It will be interesting to watch the Pung-Carpenter/Vanguard connection rekindled!
 
Any updates from Chicago?
Both Attack and Vanguard 18s were seeded poorly and had a bloodbath of a Day 1 pool, took them both out of medal contention. They both then won out day 2 (including Attack beating Air City, who wound up in Flight 2) and played each other in the Flight 1 Semis, Attack won in 3.

Attack 17s lost in the bronze championship to Louisville Fury, Vanguard 17s lost in the first round of silver.

Vanguard 16s beat Attack 16s in the first round of silver to get the only bid claimed by an OVR team this weekend.

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BWVC Responses

14 Attack players - Based on t-shirts at practices I would say 4 or so are Elder likely. Rest seem to be a mix of Moeller and X. At least one has a brother playing in High School. He's at X (Huber).

Vanguard 18s lost their 6'7" Opposite on first day with an ankle sprain and played all weekend without him. OHs looked like lack of depth took its toll. Wouldn't read much into loss to Attack 18s.

Rumor is lack of communication from OVR to USAV regarding Winterfest results caused the seeding issues at BWVC. Attack 18-1's went 0-3 first day in a brutal pool. Vanguard probably should've won last match even with significant injury.

Cincy attack 16's was one game from bid. Played at least the crucial match against Vanguard 16's without starting OH. Scrambled well but still one man down.

And I still like Midwest hospitality of shagging balls during warm-ups versus some of those Cali teams. And what the heck is the deal with the Cali parents thinking that seats are reserved for teams? Watched Bay to Bay parents go nuts on cheering Vanguard players when they didn't switch sides at set change. Kid of funny watching the adults behaving badly.
 
14 Attack players - Based on t-shirts at practices I would say 4 or so are Elder likely. Rest seem to be a mix of Moeller and X. At least one has a brother playing in High School. He's at X (Huber).

Coached by Elder's JV coach, Bianco, who has a son on the team. Definitely 2 or 3 other Elder future players there...

Rumor is lack of communication from OVR to USAV regarding Winterfest results caused the seeding issues at BWVC.

Go figure it had something to do with the OVR...
 
Congrats to Vanguard 16s and Attack 14s! Could be a bright future for Ohio volleyball.

Disappointing finished for Attack and Vanguard 18s, sounds like they were in tough Day 1 pools, but that shouldn't be an excuse for teams of their caliber. I'm skeptical that either team gets a bid to nationals this summer.
 
Did anybody else see that Attack 17s came in 3rd in the 18s division up in Columbus last weekend? Looks like they beat Air City 18s in 2 early on, only lost to Pittsburgh teams in 3.

Seems like a great showing for them playing up in a decent tournament. Anyone there to see who looked good for them? Think they've got a chance at a bid to Nationals? Both they and Vanguard 17s will be in St Louis later this month.

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Admittedly, I have not seen Attack 17s play much this year. Last year, the top players in my opinion were Hubbard (Lakota East, OH), Dubovec (Lakota East, OPP), and Mauch (St X, MH). Beating Air City 18-1 is a solid accomplishment for them. I would say Attack 17-1 and Vanguard 17-1 are right on the fringes of earning a bid in St Louis
 
Wouldn't it be a bit of a shock for Vanguard to not get a bid with all the players they have committed to colleges? Mikesch, Pung, Platfoot, Buelow, Gallagher...

Are they planning to attend any more bid tournaments outside of St Louis? I think the East Coast has a tournament that is very close to the start of high school season. Either way, I wouldn't consider it a shock if they did not get a bid as both they and Attack have not gotten one at the first two bid tournaments attended (Chicago and Florida)
 
Are they planning to attend any more bid tournaments outside of St Louis? I think the East Coast has a tournament that is very close to the start of high school season. Either way, I wouldn't consider it a shock if they did not get a bid as both they and Attack have not gotten one at the first two bid tournaments attended (Chicago and Florida)
Harrisburg tournament is the same weekend as St Louis this year. Both clubs are only going to St Louis.

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Coached by Elder's JV coach, Bianco, who has a son on the team. Definitely 2 or 3 other Elder future players there...



Go figure it had something to do with the OVR...

Looks like 4 going to Elder, 1 St. X, 1 West Clermont, 1 Moeller and 2 7th graders for Attack 14’s.
 
Attack 16-1 took Home gold at ovr championships yesterday beating attack 16-2 in the finals... interesting seeding in this tournament as attack 16-1 faced Vanguard in the semis rather than the finals.
 
Vanguard 17-1 faced off against Vanguard 18-1 in the final of the OVR yesterday. 17-1 pulled off the win in three really tight sets.


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Attack 18s finish t-5th and secure a bid to nationals.
Vanguard 18s finish 12th. Missing out on a bid by 1 place. Tough break for them. However, they may have a good shout for an at large bid considering how close they have come at 2 different tournaments.

Vanguard 17s finish 8th. Beating Attack in the process.
Cinci Attack 17s finish t-9th.

Vanguard 16s finish t-5th.
Attack 16s finish t-11th.

Attack 15-1s finish t-5th.
Attack 15-2s finish t-11th.
Vanguard 15s finish t-13th.

Some very strong performances from both clubs!
 
I don't want to harp on it too much, but man... Vanguard 18s missing out on a bid (for now) seems like such a let down for the talent on that team, or is it just me?

Congrats though, to all the Ohio teams securing a bid! We all need to keep pushing for OHSAA to get on board and sanction boys volleyball (at least as an "emerging" sport)!

Can anyone else confirm that CVA Boys 16's got a bid and finished 5th? I saw something on twitter, but wasn't sure if I read it right. If so, thats huge - and Attack might have some real competition on their hands in the SW.
 
Just did my own research, and CVA finished 5th in "16s USA".

Is that like what they used to call club? But they're giving out bids for "club"/"USA" now?
 
I don't want to harp on it too much, but man... Vanguard 18s missing out on a bid (for now) seems like such a let down for the talent on that team, or is it just me?

Congrats though, to all the Ohio teams securing a bid! We all need to keep pushing for OHSAA to get on board and sanction boys volleyball (at least as an "emerging" sport)!

Can anyone else confirm that CVA Boys 16's got a bid and finished 5th? I saw something on twitter, but wasn't sure if I read it right. If so, thats huge - and Attack might have some real competition on their hands in the SW.
They definitely came in 5th, not sure if that was good enough for a trickle-down bid or not. But it's important to note that both CVA teams were in the USA division, not Open. Still a solid weekend all around for the Ohio teams.

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Just did my own research, and CVA finished 5th in "16s USA".

Is that like what they used to call club? But they're giving out bids for "club"/"USA" now?
They're trying to make a 2nd division between Open and Club. It will function the same way as Open- bids are awarded at tournaments to teams that are in the USA division. You can only accept a bid in one section or the other. At Large bids are awarded for both, teams need to specify on their request which at large they're going for. Club still exists for all the clubs that aren't in either division.

It's new this year, so clubs are still trying to figure out how to handle it. Louisville Fury, for example, had 18s and 16s get a USA bid but 15s and 17s get Open bids. The USA is a lot of lesser clubs (Air City 17s got one in Chicago, CVA 16s allegedly got one in St Louis) and bigger clubs 2s teams.

Some teams with USA bids would be close to winning Open bids, some teams with USA bids would only be middle of the pack Club teams.

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I don't want to harp on it too much, but man... Vanguard 18s missing out on a bid (for now) seems like such a let down for the talent on that team, or is it just me?

Congrats though, to all the Ohio teams securing a bid! We all need to keep pushing for OHSAA to get on board and sanction boys volleyball (at least as an "emerging" sport)!

Can anyone else confirm that CVA Boys 16's got a bid and finished 5th? I saw something on twitter, but wasn't sure if I read it right. If so, thats huge - and Attack might have some real competition on their hands in the SW.

Yes and no. They had IMO the best player to come out of Ohio in the last 10+ years (Mikesch), but they were also very young. Obviously Platfoot is very talented, but is still just a sophomore and has a ton of potential. I believe one of the middles is also a sophomore? I just heard that through the grapevine, not sure if it's true or not
 
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