USAV 18s: Sunshine Does It Again
How difficult was the Winter Girls Championship as an opening qualifier back in January? The three teams which earned bids there all medal this past weekend at the USAV 18s Girls Junior National Championships in Phoenix. Sunshine 18 LA – which finished first in Chicago – went undefeated in claiming the 18 Open gold medal after defeating Madfrog 18 Green in the final. FC Elite 18 Elite and Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite – which finished second and third respectively in Chicago – tied for third and walked away with bronze medals. Here’s how their weekends played out. SUNSHINE 18 LA (FIRST, 9-0) Pool: d 1st Alliance 18 Gold 25-14, 25-15; d NPJ 18 Forefront 25-11, 25-11; d PVA 18 Elite 25-13, 25-20; d MN Select 18-1 25-23, 25-20; d AZ Storm 18 Thunder 25-16, 25-20 Challenge: d Rage Westside 18 25-23, 25-23 Gold: d Skyline 18 Royal 25-21, 19-25, 15-13; d FC Elite 18 Elite 25-21, 25-19; d Madfrog 18 Green 25-18, 25-21 All 10 players returned from last year’s 17 Open undefeated gold medal squad as Sunshine 18 LA – which added four new members – looked to go back-to-back in 2022. Once more, the So Cal club proved untouchable in claiming another gold medal. Sunshine powered its way to the 18 Open championship with a 9-0 mark and lost just one set along the way in Phoenix, concluding with a sweep over Madfrog 18 Green in the final. Winners of the Girls Winter Championships in January and the SCVA 18s qualifier in March, the only match Sunshine lost all season on a national stage came against Munciana 18 Samurai in the finals of Triple Crown in February. “We knew it would be very tough,” Sunshine coach Ali Fathali Nejad said. “We got our bid early in Chicago in January. We wanted to get better and put a lot of focus on practice. We had good focus and good concentration. We knew we had a good plan and a group of talented players.” Sunshine – seeded No. 2 overall – rolled through its pool but showed some vulnerability in its challenge match against Rage Westside 18 Michelle. Outside Dani Thomas-Nathan became injured in that contest which forced a lineup change. Sunshine was able to narrowly escape 25-23, 25-23. Heading into the gold bracket, Sunshine switched from its two-libero lineup and kept Megan Verbiest in that spot while moving Ellie Geoghegan to DS in hopes of solidifying the passing. Skylar Gerhardt and Ava-Marie Lange – a junior – took turns filling in for Thomas-Nathan. With the change to the lineup, Sunshine received its biggest test of the tournament when Skyline 18 Royal pushed Sunshine to three games in the quarterfinals. Sunshine was able to take the third set 15-13. “That was a very tough match and stressful for the families,” Nejad said. “Skyline is a big team with a lot of good players. The coaches are experienced and very smart. It was an amazing game.” Sunshine then swept FC Elite 18 Elite in the semis. Once in the final, Sunshine played one of its cleanest matches of the tournament in beating Madfrog. “At this level of the sport, it really matters what you have planned,” Nejad said. “Madfrog has a really good right side hitter and very fast, very smart middle blockers. We served very well against them and we wanted to keep trying to side out. We served tough and kept their passes near the 10-foot line. That gave us a good chance to block their pin hitters and defend the ball.” Among the core lineup that was back for Sunshine was outside Elia Rubin, setter Kelly Belardi, middle blockers Lucia Scalamandre and Kennedy Hill and right side Kerry Keefe. Lange was a new addition this season, along with Gabriella Gelfound, Alex Townsend and Shannon Knight. “It’s an amazing time for our club,” Nejad said. “Everything went very smoothly this season for us. We were ready for this championship. It’s a short season for us. It was very tough going for back-to-back championships. The girls had really good preparation and good mental preparation.” *** MADFROG 18 GREEN (SECOND, 7-3) Pool: d Premier Nebraska 18 Gold 25-23, 25-17; d Gainesville Jrs 18/17 25-20, 29-27; l FC Elite 18 Elite 25-18, 18-25, 15-7; d Club V 18 Ren Reed 20-25, 25-19, 15-11; l Adversity 18 Adidas 25-21, 25-20 Challenge: d PVA 18 Elite 25-12, 25-22; d A5 Mizuno 18 Marc 25-23, 26-24 Gold: d Mizuno Long Beach 18 Rockstar 25-22, 17-25, 15-11; d Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite 25-22, 25-20; l Sunshine 18 LA 25-18, 25-21 Having picked up a qualifier victory and two more runner ups Madfrog 18 Green earned the No. 3 overall seed. Yet, the North Texas Region club was not performing like a high seed during pool play and barely escaped to the challenge rounds based on tiebreakers. From there though, Madfrog found its stride and delivered a crushing blow to top-seeded A5 Mizuno 18 Marc in challenge play on its way to a runner up finish, falling to Sunshine 18 LA in the title match. “We struggled on Day 1,” Madfrog coach Matt Sipes said. “We lacked energy and focus and we were kind of going through the motions. That being the case, the fact we made it through not playing up to our potential I actually felt confident going into the challenges.” Sunshine defeated Madfrog in three games in the final of the SCVA 18s Qualifier in March. Madfrog played that contest without outside Maya Duckworth and right side Mia Moore. Both were back for Junior Nationals, though Moore was still playing in a limited capacity. Unfortunately for Madfrog, it wasn’t able to flip the script and cap its revenge tour that began with the challenge rounds. Still, the silver medal was the first time Madfrog as a club earned an 18 Open medal and Sipes hopes it’s a sign of what’s to come. “We’ve been very successful,” Sipes said. “I feel we are the
