GJNC Recap – Texas Advantage Volleyball – 17 Black
The USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center from June 26-July 5. In order to play at this prestigious tournament in one of the four main divisions, a club team must win their…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center from June 26-July 5. In order to play at this prestigious tournament in one of the four main divisions, a club team must win their bid by placing at a USAV national qualifier.
184 teams have earned their right to represent their club and compete to be one of the best teams in the nation in four different 17’s divisions. The best of the best are playing in the Open division, which is the top division in the tournament. The state of Texas was heavily represented in the 17’s Open Division with an impressive seven teams making the trip to Nevada out of the 36 teams in the tournament. The winner of this division is crowned as the BEST team in the nation for this season.
Texas Advantage Volleyball 17 Black
The team led by head coach Ping Cao has had a fantastic season as they were able to Triple Qualify for USA Junior Nationals. This season they had 68 wins and only 9 losses against some stellar competition. They have championships at the Lone Star National Qualifier, the Northeast Qualifier, and a third place finish at the Mideast Qualifier to earn their bid to Nationals.
Day one and two consists of pool play. There are six pools of six teams that are seeded by USA Volleyball. Many factors go into the seeding such as win/loss record versus the rest of the teams in the field. TAV 17 Black came in to the tournament ranked as the 4thbest team in the 17 Open Division. They went undefeated in both matches and didn’t drop a single set during the first pool of the tournament that is played over the first two days. No one even came close to scaring them.
Day three at Nationals bottle-necks into eight pools of three. They determine these pools by who finished 1stthrough 4thof each pool. These teams now have to prove themselves by getting first or second place in this pool to still have a shot at the title. It was more of the same for the 4thoverall seed as they won both matches in straight sets with no team getting over 18 points on them. They then had one Challenge Bracket match against fellow Texas team and cross-town rival, Drive Nation 17 Red, to earn a trip to the top 8 Gold Bracket. TAV got punched in the mouth during the first set as they shockingly lost it 18-25. The tough as nails Texas women took that punch and reared back to deliver their own staggering shot right back at DN 17Red and they won the second set with the same score 25-18. During crunch time you see who you truly are. TAV showed exactly who they have been all season…winners. They dominated the deciding set 15-8. On to the Gold Bracket they went.
Up next for TAV was the Day four Gold bracket. They ran into fifth ranked Metro 17 Travel in the first round. Both teams battled back and forth in the first set with TAV winning 27-25. Both teams were not ready to give up yet and another tough back and forth battle ensued but Metro took the next set 25-23. The third and final set showed TAV’s prowess as they dominated 25-8.
The Semi-Finals against Wave 17 Rachel from the So Cal Region was tough. Wave had just won a grueling three-set upset victory over the tournament’s top seeded Houston Skyline 17 Royal team. TAV destroyed them in the first set 25-14 and had their eyes on the prize. Wave battled in the second set and won a close one 25-22. TAV came up just a bit short and lost the third set 15-8. They had a great run and finished tied for third overall. Now let’s meet a few of the players from the team that we have written about before.
Janet deMarrais Janet deMarrais 6'2" | OH Grapevine | 2022 State #82 Nation TX [2022] 6-2 Outside (HS: Grapevine/Club: Texas Advantage /Verbal: Missouri)
Janet is currently listed as the 25th best overall prospect and the 9th best outside in the state according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. We have profiled her before and we stated the following, “She is a big physical outside power hitter who is able to pound the ball hard cross through a seam in the block or go around the block and paint the line with authority. When this young lady gets a kill everyone in the gym hears it. She is a six rotation outside who excels both offensively and also solidifies a great block to shut down opponents. Her long extremities will keep her attacking and blocking at a very high level once she steps foot at Missouri two years from now. Until then we will love covering her and her great TAV teammates as they compete against the best competition across the country. Please congratulate Miss deMarrais on her achievement of being one of the top players in the state of Texas.” She has done nothing but get better with time and experience. She is a fantastic pin hitter and showed at Nationals just how good she is with dominating performances.
Ava Roberts Ava Roberts 6'0" | RS Mansfield | 2022 State TX [2022] 6-0 Right Side/Middle (HS: Mansfield/Club: Texas Advantage / Verbal: Dartmouth College)
Ava Roberts Ava Roberts 6'0" | RS Mansfield | 2022 State TX is currently ranked as the 33rd top overall prospect and the 6th best right side in the wonderful State of Texas according to our State Rankings. We have profiled this wonderful attacker in a few articles and have stated the following, “She plays for the world famous TAV club and shines for them on the right side/middle. She is versatile enough to hit quick sets and high tempo on the pins. She is gifted with a super strong frame that is built for the college game. She will transition very well to the workouts at the next level. She can jump extremely well and rises up with the best of them. What truly stands out is her power on her attack. Her upper body is so strong that the ball comes off of her hand contact so quickly. When she presses on the block, there is no hitter who can break that seal. This is a great weapon for a team to have. She has played against some of the best teams in the nation and she still shines. She sometimes steps inside and runs a slide in transition and also runs quicks from the right.She is only a Junior but she is a Stud for Mansfield High School. This young lady has power for days and plays with so much passion. I love to watch her celebrate a kill or a block with her teammates. It is so infectious. She is a blocking machine on the right side and middle. Once college coaches see how she can play at all three positions at the net, they will fall in love with that athleticism. This past high school season Ava was able to accumulate 247 kills mostly on the right pin, she hit a .290 hitting percentage, had 50 blocks, 84 digs, and 22 aces. She was a dominating force that helped her Mansfield team to a 21-3 overall record and an unblemished 14-0 district record. Her play also earned her 11-6A Co-Hitter of the Year So far in the club season she has helped her TAV 17 Black squad to winning the President’s Day Invitational Championship, and going undefeated in the Tour Stop for pre-qualified teams. Coaches this kid needs to be offered now! Don’t miss out on the talent. We will keep watching as she continues to wow the crowd around her court this club season. It didn’t take long as we are proud to announce that she has recently made her college choice and will be taking her talents to star on the court for Ivy League member Dartmouth College. She will be a STUD for them and will wow them like she continues to wow us.” We loved watching her in person and she was worth the price of admission. The power and the athleticism from Ava is all from the hard work that she has put in both inside and outside the court. We will be watching her senior season closely to see even more fireworks.
Rosemary Archer Rosemary Archer 6'0" | S Lovejoy | 2022 State #35 Nation TX [2022] 6-0 Setter/Right Side (HS: Lovejoy/Club: Texas Advantage /Verbal: Pepperdine)
Rosemary is ranked as the 46th best overall player and the 9th best setter in the 2022 class according to our State Rankings. Rosemary is a very gifted setter from two highly touted volleyball programs in north Texas. We have profiled her before and stated the following, “She plays at powerhouse high school Lovejoy and the prestigious TAV club out of Dallas. She has trained under some amazing technical trainers in her career and it shows. She has been blessed with a body frame that is tailor made for a setter. At six foot tall and having very lengthy arms, she is a coach’s dream to have as a floor general. If you mix her height with her ability to jump set her hitters, you are left with a recipe for offensive dominance. She has great location on her pin sets both in system and out of system. She is able to hit her target very consistently. While setting out of system, she loves to go against flow to keep the other team off-balance and put her hitters in a one on one situation. She is the type of setter that makes an average hitter look great because of her quick footwork getting to the ball and being in a great position to set the ball. She will be scooped up very quickly. Rosemary and Averi are an amazing tandem to have in order to control the ball for the offense. When you add her ability to swing in to the mix it makes for one very interesting option to have of offense for an already gifted team.” To have a school season like she did and then to follow it up with a stellar showing in club shows just how good she really is. We will be moving her up the rankings with this kind of consistency of throwing the rock around. She will be looking to end her senior season on another title chase with Lovejoy having another dominant roster coming back to chase history. We will be watching very closely.
Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite teams and athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info on them at nov8vb@yahoo.com. Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following Texas Family!