App-5 Championship Preview

Author: Brandon Borges

Introduction

The Mid-Atlantic Quadball scene will host its most important tournament to date, as the Appalachia 5 Championships will take place this weekend at James Madison University. The growing JMU, along with the premier Quadball powerhouse University of Virginia, the young Triangle University and the wild card QC Pittsburgh, will battle to win the coveted trophy in a tournament replete with differing styles of play and plenty of storylines. What many will look for in this tournament is the rising talent, as all these teams have some newer players who would love to show out. Expect high-tempo beater battles, fast-break swings and a showcase worthy of the region, all made possible by the excellent App-5 staff on site.

Featured below is the bracket that the teams will follow for this tournament:

James Madison University

James Madison has taken a real step forward this fall, pairing a clear strategic blueprint with players who now execute to their strengths. Everything orbits Levan Tsiskarishvili’s do-everything game: he can start possessions and finish them, thread windows to wing scorers, pull from range and still bully his way to the rim. Tsiskarishvili has grown leaps and bounds as a complete player, and it is clear that JMU’s improvement over the years is due to his evolution. When defenses shade to Tsiskarishvili, the wings cash in, as Caitlyn Breslow and rookie Chris Khazmo attack closeouts, finish through contact and punish late rotations, while Breslow’s rangy hoop defense steals back extra possessions. Add Jerrell Simoneaux’s fast break pushes and handsy point defense, and the Dukes’ identity is fully formed: create an advantage up top, then let smart, decisive off-ball play turn it into points.

Behind them, Declan McAlevy steers a beater unit built on competent, low-risk choices, as they look to win their early exchanges, protect the half line and keep control. With Summer Solis and Chris Bodenstein, JMU rarely overextends; they make the trades that free their chasers without sacrificing too much and ready themselves for any fast break chances. It’s not flashy, but it’s fundamentally sound and perfectly matched to the roster.

With only four games played for JMU, all at the Business Bowl, the challenge ramps up at App-5 Champs: a UVA coming off of a statement Oktoberfest, plus long-time opponents in Triangle United and QC Pitt will stress-test JMU’s progress. But pressure makes diamonds, and if Tsiskarishvili keeps bending defenses and the beater corps maintains its discipline, the Dukes have the tools to turn this weekend into proof of concept.

University of Virginia

UVA’s Team USA Developmental Academy pedigree grabs the headlines, but last weekend’s Oktoberfest showed the real story: depth, cohesion and a system that keeps minting impact players. No one embodied that more than Rylan Moraes, who turned his Business Bowl flashes into a full-blown breakout against Rutgers and Harvard. He knifed into seams, elevated over contests and threaded on-time assists. Moraes showed the Quadball world he is the next breakout star from UVA, and he was able to do so in the flow of the game; it was UVA’s advanced offense giving Moraes the right windows and the athlete finishing it with poise and pace.

That machine works because the pieces around him are clicking. John Evans has settled into the starting group as a true two-way wing, closing space up top with length and balanced footwork, then flipping takeaways into instant pressure. In the beater game, Anne Marie Pritchett has evolved to be a quick thinking, intelligent beater, cleaning up and winning control with rebounds and exchanges and anchoring the middle of the defense so UVA can hound ball carriers at the half line. Rhett Krovitz’s high-accuracy press and Joey Beh’s physical edge give the corps multiple tempos: they can choke you out with throws, or walk you backward with contact and resets. Add rookies Tristan Schneider and Libby Reinhardt, already plug-and-play finishers who understand spacing behind and around the side hoops, and it’s clear why the system keeps scaling.

UVA rolls into App-5 as the clear favorite, but the mission is bigger than chalking up wins. It’s about compounding growth and identifying the next surge: who joins Moraes as the newest problem you have to solve? Against a rapidly improving JMU, a physical Triangle United and a gritty QC Pitt, expect UVA to treat every rep like April prep, and continue to shine atop the college quadball mountain.

Quadball Club of Pittsburgh

The Quadball Club of Pittsburgh enters the App-5 Championships as a wild card. Out of all the teams at this tournament, QC Putt is the one team  that didn’t play at the Business Bowl a few weeks ago. However, the team carries some real intrigue after a quality win over Case Western, who handled them comfortably last year. What’s changed? A sharper, more confident chaser core headlined by Jackson Neofes. Fresh off a summer with the Cleveland Riff, Neofes has added a live mid-range shot to his downhill game, steering the offense with poised reads and leveraging cover from Logan Hawkes and the beater rotation to drive into scoring lanes while keeping tempo under control.

He’s not alone. Emily Pekish might be the team’s best pure driver, weaving through contact with enough burst to spark fast breaks and a touch that scores over late help; in the win against Case, they were the dynamic finisher down the stretch that sealed the game for Pitt after the catch. Along the top of the zone, Jim Karas’ on-ball defense reroutes carriers into tougher looks that the rangy Varun Krishna can swat at the hoops, flipping stops into transition chances. When Neofes sits, Christian Marinescu supplies a powerful change-up with physical drives that draw help and free back-side cuts, giving Pitt a credible second initiator. While this squadron of chasers is still looking to learn to play more in-tune with each other as the season progresses, you can see a talent pool that can compete decently against other solid college teams.

QC Pitt should open as the favorites versus Triangle United. To make good on that, they’ll need to keep the beater game tidy and continue playing connected. To continue their momentum, they should look to purposefully feature their wing threats in Pekish and Krishna to diversify beyond Neofes-led sets and keep defenses honest across all three hoops.

Triangle United

Triangle United enters App-5 as the youngest squad in the field, featuring a number of players with less than two years of experience. While this will mean the team will face an uphill battle contending against the other three teams, who have a lot more experience in their first and second lines, the team does have some bright spots. Expect Matthew Jones to set the agenda with early exchange wins and quick tempo shifts; when they jump-start possessions, you can expect the veteran utility player Josh Peck to run in transition, keeping the pace fast and the quadball game chaotic. Look for rookies Michael Smith and Riku Hyodo to shoulder more on-the-move scoring with pull-ups, dunks and second-chance finishes. Bonnie Hernandez keeps the half-court organized and Jack Weinard stretches defenses with quick-trigger shooting. If those five turn defensive rebounds into immediate lanes, Triangle can steal momentum in short, high-energy bursts.

The growth potential lies in the beater unit. The unit, featuring Jones as well as promising quick rookies Jayson Snoddy and Gene Ackerman, has already shown they can flip control and flow straight into transition. At the App-5 championship, the stakes will be raised as the corps will look to play against more accomplished units. The team will need to spread their beaters around some, finding lanes for their drivers like Smith and Weinard to drive into or possibly for the wing threats like Hernandez to cut into. If Triangle strings offenses that employ this, as well as turn beater-led defensive stops into fast breaks and more consistently win exchanges and keep control, they can turn games into nail-biters. The path to an upset is clear: start fast, trust the young legs and make the App-5 Championships a sprint.