Texas Advantage Volleyball, the Flower Mound-based club known as TAV, won the 17U Open National Championship at USA Volleyball Junior Nationals on Monday, Aug. 24, rallying past SC Rockstars in three sets after dropping the opener 25-14.
The title capped a dominant tournament run for a roster stacked with North Texas talent, including Walnut Grove outside hitter Brynn Stephens, Byron Nelson setter Sophee Peterson and Eaton High School's Lexi Martin, according to Inside High School Sports DFW.
TAV trailed after SC Rockstars, led by Kendall Omoruyi, the No. 1-ranked player in the country, took the first set convincingly. Keller High School libero Ansley Shafer kept TAV within reach with a series of diving saves, and the squad regrouped for the second set. LSU-bound Nyla Livings of Prestonwood Christian Academy joined Peterson at the net to help TAV claw back, winning 25-22 and forcing a deciding third.
The final set delivered the defining sequence: Stephens received the serve and delivered a perfect pass to Peterson, who set Martin for the kill that sealed a 15-11 third set and the national championship.
Martin, a TCU commit who averaged 5.0 kills per set during the high school season at Eaton, earned All-Tournament honors. Peterson, a Texas A&M pledge who won the 2025 Gatorade and MaxPreps national player of the year award and is the nation's top-ranked setter in the Class of 2027 per the Dallas Morning News, orchestrated the offense throughout the bracket.
Stephens, an SMU commit rated the 16th-best player in the nation in the Class of 2027, was a member of the U.S. under-19 national team that won the NORCECA Women's U19 Continental Championship. She attends Walnut Grove High School in Prosper.
Road to the final
TAV's path through the 17U Open bracket began Thursday, Aug. 20, with a qualifying win over Drive Nation out of Lewisville (25-18, 26-24), then a sweep of Mad Frog Volleyball Club from Plano (25-12, 25-16) in Pool Play Finals. In Friday, Aug. 21, single-elimination rounds, TAV dispatched Orlando Tampa Volleyball Club before Southlake Carroll's Vanessa Glenn helped control serve receive in a semifinal win over Arizona Sky (25-16, 25-22).
Six North Texas clubs qualified for the 17U Open division, the most competitive bracket at Junior Nationals.
Double championship
TAV's 16U team also won their division's national title at the tournament, giving the Flower Mound program two national championships.
The 17U squad's club season is now complete. The players return to their respective high school programs for the fall, with Peterson at Byron Nelson, Martin at Eaton, Stephens at Walnut Grove and Glenn at Southlake Carroll. Flower Mound High School, ranked No. 3 in the Dallas area entering the 2026 season, also has at least one TAV club player on its varsity roster.
