That is “Dots,” VolleyballMag.com’s weekly take a look at 10 issues in membership volleyball, previous or current, that curiosity me and hopefully will curiosity you. Search for Dots each Tuesday by way of Junior Nationals this summer season, with one exception: at present’s Dots come to you on Wednesday!
• The membership volleyball season began in earnest final weekend. Twenty-five years in the past, after I first began masking membership, President’s Day Weekend was thought of the unofficial begin to the 12 months. After USA Volleyball determined to quick monitor the 18s membership season, nonetheless, the unofficial begin to membership accelerated to MLK Weekend. All the things earlier than that could be a prequel. It’s go time now!
• The primary two of 16 nationwide 18s qualifiers came about final weekend in Chicago and Kansas Metropolis. There will probably be 18s qualifiers each weekend going ahead by way of April 1.
• In Kansas Metropolis, the Asics Kansas Metropolis MLK Event noticed three groups punch their tickets within the 18 Open division to 18s Nationals, which will probably be held April 26-28 in Baltimore. 18 Open is probably the most aggressive of the USAV divisions. The others are Nationwide, USA, Liberty, American, Freedom and Patriot.
The three groups claiming 18 Open bids had been KC Energy 18 Black, Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite and Premier Nebraska 18 Gold.
Energy ran by way of the match with a 9-0 document. Dave Johnson’s group dropped simply three units, however , in every match, received the deciding set at deuce.
“We handed and served at a very excessive degree the entire weekend,” Johnson mentioned. “We targeted quite a bit on our vitality and our communication particularly when issues obtained dicey.”
Libero Mya Bolton and setter Janelle Inexperienced had been key to Energy’s weekend. Being in system and distributing to the best folks on the proper occasions allowed pins Rachel Van Gorp, Alea Goolsby and Jillian Huckabee had been in an important rhythm all weekend.
“We stayed in system quite a bit and once you’re in system life is nice,” Johnson remarked.
Van Gorp had 13 aces on Day 3 to assist the trigger, whereas middles Julia Headley, Cy Rae Campbell and Zoe McDonald did an important job of working to shut the block.
“It’s fantastic to have our bid and to win MLK,” Johnson added. “I’m pleased with my warriors for the time and work put into the beginning of this season.”
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Rockwood reached the championship match with assist from MN Choose 18-1 in Gold Pool A. After Gretchen Moser’s group opened the pool with a sweep of Choose, Premier defeated Rockwood in three. Premier was now within the driver’s seat to make the ultimate and earn an early bid, however the Omaha membership misplaced in three to Choose. That gave Rockwood a bid and delayed Premier’s celebration yet another match.
Rockwood claimed a bid regardless of being down two middles! The group misplaced its M1 for the season the weekend earlier than in Gateway League play and misplaced one other center to an ankle sprain the primary match of Day 2. Down to 1 center, Moser needed to reinvent a line up.
“The ladies tailored extraordinarily properly and truly had enjoyable with it at occasions,” Moser mentioned. “Offensively we related properly with each setters and our serve and cross sport stored us within the matches. Total I couldn’t have requested for a greater consequence for the weekend and now the aim is to proceed to enhance!”
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MAVS KC 18-1 defeated Premier in three on Day 1, however the consequence was completely different when the 2 groups met Monday for third place and the ultimate bid. Premier received in straight units to complete 5-3 general and with a ticket to the Dance. Typically groups have a easy run to a bid; at different occasions, it’s survive and advance. Premier misplaced a match day-after-day, however received the crucial ones to qualify.
“Going into the match we had been ecstatic at having 12 wholesome ready-to-play athletes,” mentioned Premier Nebraska coach Sarah Lusk Hughbanks. “The return of Lauren Jones (Midland recruit), Josie Cleveringa (Washburn) and Tanith Roush (NDSU), and with the addition of Sydney Guthard and Quinn Groves (Morningside), the air was thick with anticipation.”
With just one earlier match beneath their belts, Hughbanks mentioned that the objectives for her group had been to “be constant, management the chaos and preserve the ball.”
They did simply that.
Premier spent Day 1 shaking off the rust and obtained stronger because the match progressed.
“By the top of Day 3 they had been enjoying like they haven’t missed a beat and let all their coaching take maintain, bettering each sport,” Hughbanks mentioned. “I’m excited to see what the remainder of the season holds.”
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MN Choose misplaced solely as soon as, on Day 3 to Rockwood Thunder, to tie for fifth together with Six Pack 18, which options the Petersen twins.
Different groups within the subject that underperformed in Kansas Metropolis however will doubtless qualify elsewhere included Pohaku 18-1 (seventh), VCNebraska 18 Elite (eighth), A5 18-1 Marc (eleventh), and Kairos 18 Alpha (thirteenth).
VCNebraska 18 Elite has a roster of acquainted, skilled standouts, like libero Paisley Douglas and setter Malayah Lengthy,, sprinkled with gamers who’re newer to the membership. The group opened because the No. 12 seed and completed within the prime 10. Maddie Rink starred on Day 2 for the membership, which discovered itself on the improper aspect of a three-way tie for second.
“Whereas we didn’t qualify, this group exceeded all expectations for our first weekend getting again on the courtroom and I’m pleased with how they got here collectively,” mentioned coach Makayla Tepe. “They by no means let down whatever the rating or the opponent they had been dealing with.”
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Memphis VB Academy 18 Crimson received the 18 USA division with out shedding a match. KC Energy 18 Crimson took 18 Liberty. VC Nebraska 18 Black prevailed in 18 American. VC Nebraska went 10-0 with solely two units dropped.
• Chicago’s 1st Alliance 18 Gold dominated the 18 Open division on the Windy Metropolis Qualifier in its residence city, as anticipated. The largest shock was that Meghan Keck’s powerhouse group dropped a match, to Circle Metropolis 18 Purple.
1st Alliance handed CITY 18 Gold, from Southern California, its solely loss within the last. NorCal’s Imaginative and prescient 18 Gold obtained again Staff Pineapple 18 Black for the ultimate bid.
The championship match went three units, with 1st Alliance pulling away to win, 15-6, in Recreation 3 due to sturdy serving from Grace Nelson, Sam Falk, Ellie White and Ellery Rees.
“The serving allowed us to run our middles (Ellery Rees and Elise Sterling) in transition,” Keck famous.
1st Alliance’s dropped match, which occurred very first thing within the morning on Day 2, made its last two pool play matches that morning, versus Sky Excessive Adidas 18 Elite and Legacy 18-1 Adidas, must-win. Keck’s group obtained the job carried out behind the hitting of Nelson, White, Calli Kenny and Katie Scherer on the pins and constant setting from White, Kenny and Kinsey Smith and located methods to get higher because the weekend wore on.
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CITY secured its bid by defeating each Imaginative and prescient and Sky Excessive on Day 3. The group had massive performances from UCLA-bound setter Kate Duffey and UPenn-bound OH Jenna Garner. Highly effective Kennedy Osunsanmi led the group in kills from the best aspect.
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Imaginative and prescient, coached by Jon Wallace, certified third by taking out Pineapple, coached by Lloy Ball.
“We’re not as bodily as most groups, so we’ve to be tremendous environment friendly passing and setting,” mentioned Wallace. “We had been opportunistic, transformed properly in transition, served properly and exploited weaknesses.”
Setter Maya Baker was a Imaginative and prescient standout.
Morgan Gaerte and Mya Ball performed properly for Pineapple, as did lefty RS Gretchen Sigman, who was unstoppable on assault.
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Metro 18 Journey (T-5), Milwaukee Sting 18 Gold (seventh) and NPJ 18 Forefront (eighth) are groups that didn’t qualify at Windy Metropolis, however ought to as qualifier season progresses.
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TPV 18-Maverick received the 18 USA. Adrenaline 18 Deb/Brooke took first in 18 American.
• Membership Fusion 18-1 Nationwide went undefeated to win 18 Liberty in Chicago. The important thing was a balanced assault ed by setter KK Dumpit, who ran a 5-1 and ended with 143 assists. Alayna Pierce had 50 kills to guide the assault, adopted by Alex Bardouniotis (40), Claire Bickett and Charlotte Potvin, who every added 31.
Dumpit, who stands 5-5, dumped the ball 18 occasions with seven kills and no errors. Dumpit has all the time been a setter by the way in which. Guess you type of need to be with that final identify!
• The Nike Basic in Columbus, Ohio, was not a nationwide qualifier, however attracted an elite subject.
Circle Metropolis 17 Purple received the 17/18 Open division.
Legacy 17-1 Adidas took second in 17/18 Open, shedding solely to Circle Metropolis within the last, 15-13 within the final set.
Setter Campbell Flynn, OH Marie Laurio, libero Devin Dzienny and center Olivia Grenadier had been Legacy standouts.
Mintonette m.61 took 16 Open.
Legacy 15-1 Adidas captured 15 Open. Tyler Strom’s group went 9-0, defeating Mintonette m.51 within the semis and Elevation 15 Tony within the finals.
Cynthia Ockerman and Sophia Smith led the offense, hitting .347 and .305 respectively. Marlie Smith added 186 assists and 22 kills whereas Addison Stepp completed with 67 digs whereas passing a 2.05.
• The primary cease of the Tour of Texas was this weekend in Dallas. Final 12 months, A5 grew to become the primary membership outdoors of Texas to decide to enjoying the Tour. This 12 months, Wave, Membership V, Dynasty, HP STL and a Canadian aspect made the journey to the Lone Star State. It seems that Tour of Texas could proceed to draw an increasing number of out-of-state golf equipment within the years to come back.
By the way in which, the ultimate day of ToT Dallas was canceled as a result of climate. The great people at Austin Juniors, which runs the Tour, have but to announce how they are going to deal with the cancellation. The ultimate Tour cease this 12 months is in Houston in February.
• On Feb. 1, 2003, the identical day that the area shuttle Columbia exploded upon re-entry, I used to be at El Camino School masking an SCVA Obligatory and attempting to get people to join PrepVolleyball.com, which launched just some days earlier than.
I bear in mind asking Alli Dillon, the setter for Cal Jrs., for an interview. She mentioned that she was unable to, as a result of her group’s head coach had barred gamers from speaking to the media.
I used to be aghast, as a result of I used to be the one media there.
The pinnacle coach of that Cal Jrs. group was Chris Gonzales, the present College of Idaho head coach beneath fireplace for his conduct in the direction of his gamers. Learn this story in regards to the Idaho state of affairs within the Orange County Register.
Dillon is now the spouse of Dan O’Dell, the Mater Dei women volleyball head coach. Mater Dei received each the California Open Division state title and the legendary nationwide title this previous fall.
• Curious to know when nationwide qualifiers for youthful gamers get began? Northern Lights will run its qualifier for 15s and 17s the final weekend in January, however that’s an outlier. The opposite qualifiers ramp up the primary weekend of March and proceed by way of the final weekend in April.
• The ultimate Dot is my “information and notes” part on different tournaments and golf equipment from this previous weekend.
KiVA was a giant winner at MLK Houston, a Prime Court docket occasion. The Louisville membership received 18 Open, 16 Open and 15 Open. Tribe and FaR Out additionally did properly throughout a number of divisions.
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ID Crush and Kairos earned prime canine standing at Triple Crown Colorado.
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Metro shined on the JVA Rock ‘N Rumble, as did Canadian membership Leaside.
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Sarasota, WP Waves and Ocala Energy United took residence championship trophies on the Nike Finest in Present occasion in Orlando.
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Spike and Serve, from Hawaii, had greater than 20 groups competing at occasions in Hawaii, California and Texas.
SASVBC G 18 Lesli battled within the AAU Transpacific finals, and completed second, shedding to a different Island group, 17-15 in Recreation 3 of the championship match. 18 Lesli is a group to look at nationally, with Gatorade POY Adrianna Arquette (College of Hawai’i) setting, in addition to hitters Tia Kapihe (Santa Clara), Sydney Cazimero, Haumea Marumoto, Kiana Cueto, and Larryn Alexis Joseph-Rodriguez. The protection is robust with Kody Wengler (UNLV), Reese Teves (LIU) and Alaina Valdez, and likewise boasts setter Ava Ahokovi, who contributes when Arquette is hitting.
SASVBC G 15 Henry received Gold within the U16 Division on the AAU Transpacific, going 10-0. It is a group with massive expectations and a ton of younger, gifted athletes.
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Libero Bella Tavares-Seda was a rock star for JJVA 16 Teal within the 16 Open division of the JJVA Tropical Ice Open tourney in Jacksonville. JJVA received the match.
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Florida Gulfside 16 Prime went 9-0 to win 16 Open on the Florida USA MLK Showcase at Wireglass Ranch. The group performed in honor of their coach, Tito Martinez, whose mom handed away unexpectedly the week earlier than.
Outdoors hitters Olivia Znotens and Medeny Garraux led the way in which for Gulfside with explosive hitting. The group additionally performed nice all-around protection and served with aggression.
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East Carolina Juniors 16 Nationwide completed second to Triangle 16 Black within the 16U division on the Metropolis of Oaks MLK match in Raleigh final weekend.
“The group was very sturdy up entrance with massive time swings from all hitters and over 90 aces from the serving line,” famous ECJVC’s Kelley Kraniak .” It was an important begin to the season. Now we have many offensive choices and had been very assured general in serve obtain. I’m pleased with the group for beginning the season with such depth; the ladies introduced excessive vitality and stayed constant even throughout the powerful battles.”
Triangle squads additionally received the 18/17U and 15U divisions.