That is “Dots,” VolleyballMag’s weekly have a look at 10 issues in membership volleyball, previous or current, that curiosity me and hopefully will curiosity you. Search for Dots each Tuesday via Junior Nationals this summer time.
• The Mideast Qualifier befell this previous weekend in Indianapolis. I’ll all the time bear in mind MEQ fondly, as a result of it was the primary nationwide qualifier I ever attended after beginning PrepVolleyball.com again in 2003.
Again in 2003, there have been solely eight nationwide qualifiers that had Open divisions. Sunshine, Windy Metropolis, Salt Lake Metropolis Showdown and Present Me didn’t but exist. The Pacific Northwest Qualifier in Spokane was for Membership divisions solely. Crossroads, which is now not a qualifier, was in Kansas Metropolis, because the Colorado Conference Heart in Denver underwent renovations. The Northeast Qualifier, now in Philly, was in Baltimore. Lone Star, now in Dallas, was in Austin. Far Westerns, now in Reno, was in Sacramento. The SCVA qualifier, now in Las Vegas and now often called “Pink Rock Rave,” was in lots of places throughout Southern California. The Tampa Bay Qualifier, now in Atlanta and now often called “Huge South,” was in Tampa on the Gulf Coast.
Northern Lights was one of many final qualifiers each spring and has been in Minneapolis this entire time.
MEQ, one of many first qualifiers each spring, has all the time been in Indy, close to the well-known St. Elmo Steak Home and its famend shrimp cocktail, the conference heart and different factors simply accessible by a collection of interconnected skywalks, the Huge Ten basketball match inevitably taking resort rooms and restaurant reservations from these of us there for volleyball…These are my recollections of my first MEQ qualifier, together with the outpost in the midst of the conference heart the place low-cost scorching canine and rooster strips could possibly be had, however watch out, as a result of Krissy Brown, the 5-4 dynamo for Cleveland Volleyball Firm; was launching salvos and your head was in play if not paying consideration.
Good recollections…
• Munciana Volleyball Membership was a contender in these Open divisions at my first MEQ. So, too, was Circle Metropolis, the host membership of the Mideast Qualifier. These two have been the primary golf equipment organized within the nation’s heartland 40 or so years in the past and, being situated not more than an hour aside, have been fierce/pleasant rivals.
With out these two golf equipment, there would seemingly by no means have been PrepVolleyball.com, as a result of these coaches have been so entertaining with their swipes at one another that they constructed a following for volleyball at Scholar Sports activities, my first nationwide sports activities gig. As extra of us got here to Scholar Sports activities to take a look at the “should learn” message boards, they hung round lengthy sufficient to learn my volleyball articles. This led to my being acknowledged as an authority on women volleyball and prompted the creation of PrepVolleyball.com with my good pal Kevin Laseau, who on the time was working in Indy and coach at Munciana. “So” is now the Affiliate Head Coach at Yale and nonetheless one of many funniest individuals I do know.
• In 2007, Munciana stopped going to MEQ. Munciana, KiVA, Workforce Z and Sports activities Efficiency have been key elite golf equipment that cut up from USA Volleyball to begin the Junior Volleyball Director’s Affiliation.
For 16 years, Munciana didn’t attend any nationwide qualifiers, nor compete at Junior Nationals. It was nonetheless a dominant membership, buying and selling AAU Nationwide titles in 18 Open with Sports activities Efficiency through the years, but it surely wasn’t a part of the USAV qualifier drama or the historical past of the Junior Nationwide championships over that time-frame.
In 2024, Munciana returned to MEQ for the primary time since 2007.
“I actually imagine that once we first stopped taking part in in USAV occasions it was extra about us not having the autonomy to host/run occasions in our area,” mentioned Munciana 18 Samurai head coach and membership director Mike Lingenfelter. “Regardless that that modified, we had change into so locked into our ‘new’ schedule that we stayed established order. This previous 12 months, I lastly opened my eyes and famous that it’s a GREAT occasion (MEQ), with nice competitors and permits nearly all of my households to sleep in their very own beds. Backside line…I’m a creature of behavior and didn’t make the plain change.”
• I feel you possibly can name Samurai’s return to the highlight at MEQ a profitable one. Lingenfelter’s workforce went 10-0, dropping simply three units, on its strategy to successful the 40-team 18 Open division. Muncie’s final 5 wins came to visit WAVE, FC Elite, Academy, 1st Alliance and Milwaukee Sting, a most spectacular run to a title!
“It was a unbelievable occasion with a veritable plethora of aggressive groups,” Lingenfelter noticed. “Our matches with Wave and 1st Alliance have been super progress occasions…each of these groups have been unimaginable.”
Munciana wanted three units to defeat Sting for the championship. It was an awesome exhibiting for each groups.
Sting got here to Indy battling feelings, as one participant was coping with a major loss coming into the weekend. Then, on Saturday, the squad acquired information that one among its gamers might have torn her quad at a monitor meet. On Sunday at match level of the semifinals, a Sting OH, Melia Johnson, went down.
“Melia was having an outstanding match,” mentioned coach Scott Blackmon (who by the best way was an early, main contributor to the message boards at Scholar Sports activities and Prep). “The child is passing almost lights out proper now and her protection has picked up a magnitude. Her offense was in an awesome rhythm all weekend till she went down.
“Within the finals it will have been simple for the children to pack it in. It was an emotionally draining weekend for everybody and so they simply stored combating via it. We misplaced in 3 to Muncie, who all the time grinds you down however I couldn’t be happier with how the children responded to every part this weekend.”
The extent of Johnson’s harm is unknown. She hit .328 on the weekend with 91 kills whereas passing a 2.2.
“She has come thus far for her teammates,” Blackmon harassed.
“Our closing with an excellent Sting workforce was enjoyable,” Lingenfelter mentioned. “I hated the truth that they have been down attributable to an earlier harm.”
Key gamers all weekend for Samurai included setter Macy Hinshaw (Santa Clara), who was “insanely regular.”
Lingenfelter additionally acknowledged MB Tiff Snook (Memphis) for having a breakout occasion and mentioned that outsides Addy Tindall (Purdue) and Lindsey Mangelson (Mississippi St) began to actually present that they “can and will likely be recreation changers.”
• Workforce Pineapple, coach by former USA national-team setter Lloy Ball, additionally certified by tying for third. Pineapple gained final week’s 18 Open division at Bluegrass in Louisville.
Bluegrass was known as the “Bluegrass Pre-Qualifier,” as a result of it was used as a warmup for qualifier season earlier than the host membership, KiVA, turned a part of that unique breakaway group.
The third bid went to Tri-State Elite, a membership fashioned with most of the coaches and 4 former gamers from Workforce Z, one other one of many breakaway golf equipment. Tri-State Elite 18 Blue, with Maria Drapp at setter, was one of many shock standout golf equipment at Triple Crown in February. The workforce, coached by Matt Lengthy, confirmed that it stays formidable by destroying FC Elite for the ultimate bid.
Tri-State hit .363 as a workforce for the weekend and gained by wider margins than any workforce in 18 Open. That’s a credit score to Drapp, Lengthy mentioned. The Bradley signee set completely from wherever and in all places on the court docket.
Credit score additionally goes to defenders Lexi Woolf, Dakota Henry and Kelsey Nielsen.
“They gave the impression to be one within the again row and didn’t let a lot hit the bottom,” Lengthy mentioned. “Our workforce’s passing and serving was at its finest this weekend, and with that we had some fairly fluid offense.”
On the pins, Addy Brus and Religion Younger have been environment friendly on the left and Sophia Adkins hammered balls from the precise. The block from middles Anna Guard and uncommitted Molly Dorger was “completely formidable,” Lengthy added.
• Within the fully-subscribed 17 Open division, the highest three finishers all certified, OT 17 T Aaron, Coast 17 Rodrigo and Circle Metropolis 17 Purple.
All three certified groups wanted to beat adversity to punch their tickets.
OT misplaced its opening Gold pool match to WAVE 17 Juliana and will have been eradicated had Wave gained its subsequent match over Legacy 17-1 Adidas. Legacy gained, 15-13 within the third, to provide the Orlando squad new life and it took benefit by rolling over Legacy to clinch first in its pool by set proportion tiebreaker.
Coast misplaced to CUVC 17 Open on Day 1 in straight units and misplaced once more on Day 2 to fall right into a three-way tie for first (it got here out first), however went 2-0 in its Gold pool to succeed in the semifinals.
Circle Metropolis’s run to the Gold bracket semis went via robust Michigan Elite and Triple Crown winner Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold.
Within the semis, OT gained two shut units from Circle and Coast swept the rematch from CUVC, clinching bids for each golf equipment.
OT then authored one other sweep to say the championship.
“We attempt to go to MEQ annually due to the extent of competitors and that was no completely different this 12 months,” mentioned OT head coach Aaron Harrison. “We got here into the weekend targeted on discovering our rhythm quicker. We run a faster offense as a result of we’re by no means the most important workforce on the court docket.”
OT’s three-set win over AVC Cleveland on Day 2 helped get the workforce able to compete on the ultimate day, Harrison ventured. However the workforce wasn’t prepared for WAVE, which had a few new additions and was hungry to avenge a loss at Triple Crown.
After Legacy did OT a stable by beating WAVE to maintain its hopes alive, “the women had a ton of vitality and pleasure understanding we nonetheless had an opportunity to win the pool if we gained in 2, which we did,” Harrison mentioned.
OT’s semifinal sweep of Circle Metropolis required a comeback from down 17-7 within the first.
“The finals match versus Coast was similar to the Circle Metropolis semis,” mentioned Harrison. “They received up on us early and stored the lead till we received the serve at 20-24 and Lily Hayes went on one other serving run for us and received it to 25-25, and we received the win 27-25.
We received after it within the closing set, driving plenty of momentum from the comeback win within the first, to win 25-19.”
“General, the workforce performed arduous all weekend,” Harrison added. “Like I discussed earlier, MEQ is all the time one of many hardest qualifiers annually and we needed to undergo some actually good groups to win it. We discuss each observe about being disciplined and the groups that may keep disciplined the longest will win at this stage. Ten matches at this stage is quite a bit for any athlete, each bodily and mentally.”
Each participant on OT had moments that actually impacted its success this weekend. Six-rotation outsides Hannah Hankerson and Maggie Dostic have been enormous for the workforce all weekend and got here up clutch each on the internet and within the again row. Setter Izzy Mogridge and Hayes, the libero, set the tone for each match.
“Lily’s relentless pursuit of the ball defensively provides us so many additional touches, and Izzy’s athleticism as a setter permits us to look in system even once we don’t get an ideal go,” Harrison mentioned.
• After Triple Crown in February, Coast head coach Rodrigo Suelotto challenged his workforce to get 1% to three% higher at each observe main as much as the loaded area at MEQ. After a month of observe, they agreed that they have been 13% higher.
The workforce began off scorching on Day 1, with a 10-point service run from Joey Salas to begin its first match. Coming in seeded 14th, Coast, seeded second in its pool, held seed on that first day, getting nice play from freaky MB Ariel Chime and OH Juliet D’Eliseo.
Day 2 began off with Coast taking part in KiVA 17 Pink, the No. 2 general seed. Coast swept behind distinctive play from its rock, OH Ava Poinsett, a Yale commit destined to do nice issues within the Ivy League (and for Coach “So”). In its second match versus native rival WAVE, terrific setting from Ava Zamora and distinctive work off the bench from OH Ryleigh Quick fueled a Sport 2 comeback win, 32-30, in one other sweep that clinched first in its pool earlier than the final match.
Coast gained its Sunday pool by beating Academy Cleveland in three and Elevation in two. Savannah Simpson helped out with well timed blocks.
The important thing match for the bid got here versus CUVC and Coast was revenge minded and tremendous motivated. The San Diego squad gained the serve and go battle and had nice serving and protection from Milli Villarreal and a giant again row swing from Poinsett to win in two.
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Circle Metropolis’s bid got here on the expense of CUVC, which had an distinctive exhibiting.
The eighth seed beginning the match, Circle Metropolis’s motto for the weekend was “dig or die.”
“Our objective was to attempt to get a contact on each ball whatever the consequence and never let it hit the bottom with out somebody making an effort for it,” mentioned coach Chris Due. “I believed the women took that to coronary heart and it actually confirmed.”
Circle Metropolis began the match strongly with a 3-0 (6-0) first day however fell sufferer to Dynasty 17 Black (Reese Messer; Abigail Mullen) to begin Day 2 and wanted to win out to advance.
The second-place end put Circle into a tricky pool with Sting and Michigan Elite, which made going 2-0 all of the sweeter. MB Reese Dunkle, who broke a finger on Day 1, got here up with a giant block to clinch the sweep of Sting and ship the host membership to the ultimate 4.
With no certified groups within the semifinals, every workforce wanted one win to say a bid. After dropping to OT, Circle began down CUVC understanding that one workforce would go away the match disenchanted.
The primary set was backwards and forwards, however Circle Metropolis ended up pulling away on the finish with some scrappy performs from libero Avery Freeman and a few large swings from outsides Logan Bell and Raegan Durbin.
Circle discovered itself down early within the second however grinded its method again to a slim lead earlier than the serving of MB Ellen Zapp made it 24-16, placing Circle Metropolis on the cusp of the bid.
“We ended up successful the match on a giant swing from Reese Dunkle,” Due mentioned.
Setter Ava Hunter did a extremely good job placing her hitters in nice positions all weekend. She averaged 11.1 assists per set and actually stepped up along with her blocking and protection as effectively.
“I used to be actually happy with how the workforce responded after the semifinal match,” Due noticed. “We might have simply given up after that defeating loss and our children have been gassed going into the finals, however the women dug deep and confirmed resilience to drag off the win to earn the bid.”
Due lauded his reserve gamers for bringing a ton of vitality all through the match.
“I’d spotlight people; nevertheless, I believed it was a complete workforce effort,” Due added. “If everybody didn’t step up and do their half, then we might have by no means been within the place we have been in. We have been actually pleased with the women on their efficiency and look ahead to making extra large enhancements come nationals.”
• Mintonette m.61 gained its second straight qualifier with an undefeated run via 16 Open. Coupled with its second-place end at Triple Crown, Max Miller’s workforce must be thought of the favourite to win Junior Nationals in a fully loaded age division.
Mintonette’s path to the title was made simpler when 1st Alliance 16 Gold misplaced its setter to harm on Day 2. Mintonette was capable of go 2-0 in its Gold pool to succeed in the Remaining 4. They then took out A5 16 Gabe within the semis.
Miller known as A5 “proficient” “very athletic” and “most likely essentially the most improved workforce from the place they have been in the beginning of the season.”
“That they had us two steps behind all the first set,” Miller mentioned. “We made changes to blocking and serving angles and located our stride in units 2 and three.”
The workforce began down Boiler Juniors within the championship match. The Boilers received there by taking down Triple Crown champion Legacy 16-1 Adidas in Gold pool play, then knocking off Madfrog 16’s Nationwide Inexperienced within the brackets semis.
Boiler Juniors gained the primary set of the ultimate earlier than m.61 grinded and competed its strategy to the title in three units.
“Alia Schoonover got here up with large blocks in each the semifinals and finals at key moments,” Miller noticed. “That swung the momentum and consequence in our favor.”
• As a result of Mintonette had certified beforehand, the three different semifinalists all clinched Open bids. We didn’t hear from the Boilers or the Frogs earlier than our deadline, however we did hear from Gabe Aramian at A5 about his workforce.
“The workforce has actually come collectively in tackling the expertise subject on the workforce,” he mentioned. “With a number of new gamers and coming off a tough season final 12 months, we put as sturdy of a schedule collectively as we might to permit them to regulate to the 16 Open leap and be assured in taking part in below the pressures inside. As I mentioned to the workforce in an e mail as we speak, now we have condensed years of coaching and expertise into months, and the end result was their dominant efficiency at Mideast.”
A5 received to Day 3 driving a win over Boiler Juniors that Aramian known as “the most effective of the season.”
That match was wire to wire, with A5 down in every set till the 20-point mark earlier than successful 25-23, 25-23.
The Day 3 spotlight was avenging a loss at Triple Crown to Winter Park to win the Gold pool and clinch a bid.
Key performers for A5 have been six-rotation OH and first passer Clara Briley, libero Ruby McDermot, setters Olivia Siskin and Kalyssa Taggart, and proper sides Simone Searles and Sofia Wilson.
• Fusion 18-1 Apex performed in 18 USA at MEQ after beforehand qualifying in Liberty on the Windy Metropolis qualifier.
The workforce, after present process main lineup adjustments, completed third out of 62 to eanr its first-ever USA bid.
“The ladies by no means lowered their expectations for a way they need to play with the brand new lineup,” mentioned coach Henry Graack. “There have been plenty of shut matches, with 5 of the 9 matches going to a 3rd set, six units going into additional factors, and two extra units that ended 25-23.”
The spotlight of the weekend noticed Fusion rally from down 14-10 within the third set of a quarterfinal with TVC 18 Black to win, 20-18. That win clinched the USA bid.
Fusion misplaced one other battle, within the semifinal, to Circle Metropolis 18 Black — the eventual champs — 16-14 within the third.
“It was a tricky loss as a result of it was such a great match, however I’m actually pleased with how the women handled the adversity of a brand new lineup, new roles, a better division, and plenty of large comebacks by taking part in their finest when it mattered essentially the most,” Graack mentioned.
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JJVA 17 Teal went 6-2 this previous weekend within the 17 USA division at MEQ.
This workforce has improved a lot, mentioned JJVA’s CJ Sherman.
After JJVA defeated Circle Metropolis 17 Black to remain in Gold, libero DD Banton’s little sister, Annie, ran out onto the court docket to have fun with the workforce.
“The pure pleasure that this baby shares along with her sister’s workforce is how the phrase ‘celebration’ is described,” Sherman mentioned.
