The AAU Boys National Volleyball Championships in Orlando, Florida, July 1-4 included more than 900 teams competing in multiple divisions ages 12 to 18.
These are the players who stood out as I watched the tournament. This is just my opinion and not scientific, but I wanted to recognize how many outstanding players there in the country:
Outsides/Opposites
Aidan Akkawi, 630 16s: A smooth outside hitter, a good passer, a valuable point scorer and can dial up a serve that gets his opponent out of system.
Lukas Anderson, MB Surf 18s (Loyola): He has a whip of an arm and throughout the tournament the right side did a tremendous job serving teams out of system.
Quinn Bishop, Ocean Bay18s (Harvard): An outside who flys and has good range as an attacker. He has great passing technique.
Kyle Chapman, Houston Volleyball Academy 16s: Has a live arm on the right side and is a high leaper and strong blocker.
John Clinton, Elevation 17s: Has a live arm as an attacker and on the service line.
Nate Clinton, Bay to Bay 18s (Stanford): He jumps well, has a nice selection of shots and has good passing fundamentals.
Vinny Coello, MVC 18 Greek (Pepperdine): As a 2024 high school graduate he is still one of the top outsides in the 18s division. Coello terminates and is a steady passer.
Quincy Cole-Stevens, Kaizen 15s: An athletic, high-flying opposite with a fast arm who is relatively new to the game and has a lot of upside.
Christian Connell, WAVE 17s (USC): An outside who passes well, can hit the BIC effectively, jump serves teams out of system and has a great vertical.
Luca Curci, Balboa Bay 18 (UCLA): An experienced outside hitter who has played in a ton of big club and high school matches. Curci passes at a high clip, has great range as an attacker and is a proven winner.
Will Denning, Coast 14s: He’s coming on the scene nicely at the outside hitter position and will only improve. During the tournament Denning showed that he has a powerful arm.
Jack Ebertin, Bay to Bay 18s outside: The go-to outside hitter for Bay to Bay who hits the ball at its highest point and does a great job hitting the edges of the block for kills.
Ambrose Engling, MVC 17 (Princeton): Improved tremendously throughout this club season and is one of the top players in Wisconsin. Engling does a nice job attacking the block.
Declan Flanagan, WAVE 15s: An outside who jumps well, hits for a high percentage and is going to be highly recruited.
Sterling Foley, Balboa Bay 17s…
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