Skyline 17 Royal Open Champions!

Fittingly, in this year’s 17 Open National Championship hosted in Dallas, the top two teams in the state squared off for the right to earn gold.

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Skyline jumped out to a quick start and never looked back, despite a small run from TAV, and closed out the first set 25-21. 2026 Husker commit Jayden Robinson and future Louisville Cardinal Blair Thiebaud lived up to the billing of the top recruits they are, connecting on many occasions in both the front and back row, giving their squad the edge through one set.

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The script seemed to flip to begin set two, as this time around it was Penn State verbal Danielle Whitmire and fellow Big Ten prospect Husky Kylie Kleckner heading 17 Black to a commanding 14-9 lead. TAV switched liberos, and it seemed to make all the difference as their serve receive and defensive intensity instantly leveled up several notches. 

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It was that moment where Skyline dug their heels in and gritted out point after point, highlighted by several jaw-dropping defensive gets by Wisconsin’s Halle Thompson out of position six in the backcourt, eventually knotting the game up at 16 and later taking a 24-23 lead and owning multiple championship points.

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Back and forth the two went until Thompson stepped back to serve for Skyline, up 30-29, where Baylor commit Lacy Tinnell absolutely shut down TAV’s attack from the middle and cemented 17 Royal as Open Champions!

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An extremely entertaining game featuring several big-name prospects completely lived up to the hype and was truly fitting for a championship match!

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Congratulations to both teams, and we cannot wait to see how these elite athletes will evolve into the college game, as many will most likely enroll early this upcoming January!

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