You guys are a rough crowd!
I checked the records to see what the facts are.
The normal SPVB ranking order for girls is:
Elite, Red, White, Blue, Navy, Mizuno, Runbird, Wave.
At 2013 nationals, the girls fielded 2 17s teams, Mizuo and Runbird (typically the 6th and 7th teams)
At 2013 nationals, the boys fielded 3 17s teams, headlined by D1/D2 players Ricky Gevis, Marko Kostich, and Jared Wilcox
At 2014 nationals, the girls fielded 3 17s teams, Mizuo, Runbird and Wave
At 2014 nationals, the boys fielded 2 17s teams, headlined by D1/D2 players Tischler, Burton, Yeo, Schwarz, and Dickman
Between 2014 and 2015, Johnwick stepped down from director of the boy's program, and was replaced by Troy Gilb, who came from the girl's program. After Troy Gilb took over the program:
At 2015 nationals, neither the boys or girls programs fielded 17s teams.
At 2016 nationals, the girls fielded 1 17s team, called Wave, the boys fielded no 17s teams
In 2017, the boys are fielding one 17s team (called Alpha, which is typically the 2nd team)
(The 2017 girls season has not yet started)
So, to get back to the snarky comments,
ptyspiker14 , you don't recall correctly, as there have been multiple teams on both sides as recently as 2014, not 2006 or 2007 as you say.
volleyba11 , you are also incorrect, as the girls had 1 17s team last year, and 3 in 2014
gbwparent , the statement that the best players 'always play up' is not true. The first year SPVB didn't try to field a strong 17s team was in 2015, when Bischoff, Kotsakis, Meyer, and Piekarski played 18s, right after Troy Gilb came over from the girl's program.
Regarding recruiting, you are correct that the coaches know who the best players in the gym are. But there are a lot of boys that aren't the best player in the gym, and would like to play D3 or NAIA somewhere. When they get put on a lower 18s team, they are more likely to slip under the radar.