April 4, 2023

The final day of competition of the Show Me Qualifier brought out another level as teams chased bids and gold medals. We already highlighted the first set of our Show Stoppers featuring the ones who caught our attention the most. Below, we present Part 2 of our Day 3 Show Stoppers. DAY 3 SHOW STOPPERS (Part 2) Aspen Nelsen OH Iowa PowerPlex 16 515: Nelsen and teammates were out to surprise on Day 3 and nearly pulled off qualifying. She’s an aggressive, fearless attacker who plays a key role in the attack. Abbey Hayes OH Six Pack 16: Hayes is a lanky outside with the ability to let loose. She has a nice arm and has lots of upside. Ella Rogers S Six Pack 16: Rogers caught our attention with her setting. She showed nice hands and the ability to locate on the regular. Parker Duncan OH AJV 16 Adidas: The 3-star outside was powering the AJV attack. She’s a wirey outside who gets off the floor and has a fluid swing. Claire Anna Brown MB AJV 16 Adidas: Brown was effective in the middle when called upon. She’s a physical hitter who hits a heavy ball and forces defenses to keep track of her. Cari Spears OH TAV 17 Black: Spears – a 5-star recruit from the Class of 2025 – and her TAV teammates were lights on Day 3 in winning 17 Open. Spears’ length and athleticism is a nightmare for opponents. When she gets up and unloads it’s game over. Favor Anyanwu MB TAV 17 Black: Favor – a 5-star USC commit – commanded the middle like no else. Her strength and power takes over at the net as she powers down kills and shuts down attacks. Jadyn Livings RS RS TAV 17 Black: Livings – a 5-star USC commit as well – was strong on the right side, as she also passed at times in serve receive. Her blocking was key at the net in slowing down opposing outsides while bringing her big arm to attack. Gillian Pitts L/DS TAV 17 Black: Pitts – a 5-star recruit from the Class of 2025 – did it all on the defensive side. She read and reacts well and has great range when it comes to covering. Alea Goolsby OH KC Power 17 Black: A 3-star recruit, Goolsby and KC Power earned an Open and took home the silver medal. She can crush balls at times when she springs off the ground and lets it fly. *** Janelle Green S KC Power 17 Black: A 4-star Cincinnati commit, Green is the sparkplug and leader of the attack. Her quickness is an asset, as she can get turn bad balls into hittable sets and keep KC Power in system like few can. Mya Bolton L/DS KC Power 17 Black: Bolton – a 3-star Michigan State commit – was another defender who took care of business in the back row. She’s a solid passer out of serve receive and is rarely off target. She also does well picking up balls and keeping rallies going. Reese Messer S Dynasty 17 Black: A 5-star recruit from the Class of 2025, Messer was doing what she always does – commanding the offense. She’s a difficult setter to read with a smooth, quick release with great accuracy to boot. Abigail Mullen RS Dynasty 17 Black: Mullen – another 5-star recruit from the Class of 2025 – is such a powerful hitter it seems like she scores every time she swings. She can go through or around blocks and sees the court very well. Cy Rae Campbell MB Dynasty 17 Black: Campbell – a 5-star Wake Forest – is such a difficult cover with her speed and quickness. She runs the slide exceptionally. She gets off the ground in a hurry and has a whippy arm and gave Dynasty tons of offense. McKenna Brand L/DS Skyline 17 Royal: Brand – a 3-star Connecticut commit – was a big part of Skyline qualifying and earning its Open bid. She’s a strong presence in the back row with spot-on passing and lots of range. Lauren Perry OH Skyline 17 Royal: Perry – a 3-star UT-El Paso commit – was an integral piece of Skyline’s success as well. She’s a six-rotation mainstay and is a high-IQ hitter who can score with various shots. Lillian Croshaw RS Drive Nation 17 Red: Croshaw – a 4-star recruit – performed well on the right side. She put up a strong block and also gave Drive Nation points with consistent scoring. Malayah Long S VCNebraska 17 Elite: Long – a 4-star Marquette commit – and VCNebraska were on the edge of qualifying in a strong performance overall. Long has great hands and is very accurate spotting the ball. Mallorie Meyer L/DS VCNebraska 17 Elite: Meyer, a Pitt commit, was yet another backrow standout. She’s a scrappy defender with good first-contact skills. *** Tia Traudt OH VCNebraska 17 Elite: A 3-star recruit from the Class of 2025, Traudt is a six-rotation outside with nice passing skills and a sense for scoring. She’s a heady attacker with a nice arm and helped carried the offensive load. Fallon Stewart OH OT 17 Felix: Stewart – a 4-star Cincinnati commit – was among the outsides bringing the heat. She’s long and her extension makes her tough as she can hit tough angles. A’siya Magazine RS OT 17 Felix: Magazine – a UNC-Wilmington commit – was contributing on the right side with her blocking and scoring. She can get up well and get in the way of attackers. She also has a good arm and was providing a scoring punch. Faith Frame L/DS Premier Nebraska 17 Gold: Frame – a 4-star Cincinnati commit – is a smooth defender with great touch. She covers a wide range of court and moves well too. Lauren Medeck OH Premier Nebraska 17 Gold: Medeck – a 5-star South Dakota commit – is a six-rotation, do-it-all outside. She has a big arm

With the stakes elevated on the final day of the Show Me Qualifier in Kansas City, the play certainly followed suit. There were plenty of impressive standout efforts as athletes laid it all on the line. Below, is Part 1 of the players who stood out to us the most on Day 3 with our Show Stoppers. DAY 3 SHOW STOPPERS (Part 1) Danielle Whitmire S/RS TAV 15 Black: Whitmire – a 5-star recruit – was part of a perfect weekend as TAV ended 9-0 in winning 15 Open. The long setter/right side performs both roles at a high level. She has a smooth release and locates well setting. She’s also an above-average hitter on the right side who earns her team points scoring. Kylie Kleckner OH TAV 15 Black: A 4-star recruit, opponents struggled to slow Kleckner and her powerful arm. Her strength was too much, as she powered through blocks or crushed balls around them as a key piece in the attack. Kinsley Young MB TAV 15 Black: Young – a 5-star recruit – was dominant in the middle. Her physicality showed on both sides of the ball as she delivered resounding stuff blocks or slammed down big swings. Julianna Hernandez L/DS TAV 15 Black: Hernandez – a 3-star recruit – brings a lot of energy to the defensive side. She was passing and defending very well. Keoni Williams MB Skyline 15 Royal: A 5-star recruit, Williams is going to get the ball as much as Skyline can feed her. She’s a force at the net with her length and reach. She can easily go over blocks and score from angles that are tough to defend and cover. Kiley Brooks L/DS Skyline 15 Royal: Brooks was strong in the back row, giving Skyline a defensive edge with her passing and covering. Taylor Clarke RS Skyline 15 Royal: Clarke – a 4-star recruit – is capable of taking matches over with her scoring ability. She can get up and hit hard cross-court angles or turn it up the line and tool blocks, making a very difficult attacker to stop. Skylar Jackson OH Skyline 15 Royal: Jackson – a 3-star recruit – held it down as a six-rotation outside passing and swinging away. She was a key piece of Skyline’s second-place finish as she helped carry the offense in stretches. Willow Weninger RS Pohaku 15-1: A 4-star recruit, Weninger and Pohaku had a strong weekend, finishing third and earning an Open bid. She’s a big part of the offensive and becomes the go-to hitter when she checks in across the front row with her strong arm. Grace Martin OH Pohaku 15-1: Martin was an integral part of the lineup with her passing and attacking. She was going for it with her swings, staying aggressive and challenging the defense to stop her. *** Addison West OH Premier Nebraska 15 Gold: West – a 3-star recruit – and her Premier Nebraska teammates earned the other 15 Open bid. West is a go-to attacker with nice length and extension. Combined with a nice swing, she’s a capable scorer. Kami Dyrstad L/DS Premier Nebraska 15 Gold: Dyrstad was another libero who stood out with her defensive presence. She’s a scrappy libero who was making plenty of hustle plays. McKenna Garr L/DS Northern Lights 16-1: Garr – a 3-star recruit – and her Northern Lights teammates took home the gold in 16 Open with an impressive performance. Garr took care of the back row, passing sharply and defending with reckless abandon. Reese Axness S Northern Lights 16-1: Axness and her hitters were clicking on Day 3. She did well getting them all going and keeping defenses on guard. Mesaiya Bettis OH Northern Lights 16-1: Bettis – a 4-star recruit – brought the punch to the lineup with her ability to get up and send it down. She gets off the ground well and extends nicely, which leads to impressive kills at times. Keira Schmidt MB Northern Lights 16-1: Schmidt – a 3-star recruit – was a presence at the net with her blocking and hitting. She was frustrating opponents who had trouble getting around her big block. The same opponents also struggled slowing her down as she was able to exploit open spaces in the defense. Olivia Cohee RS TAV 16 Black: A 3-star recruit, Cohee had a great day on the right side. She provided valuable offense and helped open the attack by scoring consistently anytime she was front row. Sydnee Peterson OH TAV 16 Black: Peterson – a 4-star recruit – helped TAV reach the championship match and qualify for Open. She carries a powerful arm and was attacking defenses with hard swings. Sarah Pfiffner S TAV 16 Black: Pfiffner – a 4-star recruit – was running the show effectively. She was getting all her hitters involved and showed a nice, consistent touch locating. Lauryn Mack OH TAV 16 Black: Mack – a 4-star recruit – was yet another piece defenses needed to be worried about. She can bring it at times with booming kills and bouncing balls down. *** Sophia Armstrong L/DS TAV 16 Black: Armstrong is a gamer who did well on Day 3. She was passing well and making plays in helping TAV finish second overall. Logan Parks S/RS MAVS KC 16-1: Parks – a 5-star recruit – and her MAVS teammates earned one of the three 16 Open bids with a great day of volleyball. Parks is an athletic two-way player. She’s a strong setter who moves and gets to the ball well. When hitting, she flies and unloads with more than enough pace to punish defenses. Maddie Mitchell S/RS MAVS KC 16-1: Mitchell was a key piece in MAVS’ success as well. She was also playing a dual role setting and hitting. She did well keeping the offense churning when dishing and was also able to provide her share of scoring to help boost the offense. Ashlyn Blazer OH MAVS KC 16-1: Blazer brings height to the

Open bids were awarded across 15, 16 and 17s on Monday at the Show Me Qualifier in Kansas City. Let’s get to it and look at how those divisions played out on the final day of competition. 17 OPEN The most dramatic bid chase played out in 17 Open, and not because second-ranked Dynasty 17 Black, No. 3 Drive Nation 17 Red and No. 4 TAV 17 Black were in the same pool with No. 20 OT 17 Felix. While the volleyball was epic in that pool, Dynasty, Drive Nation and OT already owned bids. It meant all that TAV had to do to qualify was not finish last in its pool, but that was of course easier said than done given the stiff competition. However, once TAV downed Drive Nation in its pool opener, it was looking bright for TAV. TAV clinched its bid by downing OT Felix in its next outing before beating Dynasty to win the pool and eventually sweep KC Power 17 Black for the gold medal. It was OT Felix which kept TAV from qualifying at Sunshine, so there was a measure of payback extracted there. With KC Power wrapping up its bid and winning its pool before playing its final match, it really left all the bid drama to the 3 v 4 contest in Pool 2. That paired Skyline 17 Royal and VCNebraska 17 Elite for a winner-take-all match for the final bid. Both were 1-1 at the time, with the winner moving to 2-1 and guaranteed second place and the last remaining bid. The drama didn’t disappoint, as Skyline finally prevailed in the back-and-forth contest. It was looking dire for Skyline as VCNebraska crept ahead 11-8 in Game 3. But, Skyline went on a remarkable 6-0 run to gain match point at 14-11. VCNebraska stalled Skyline’s celebration for one more point before Skyline closed it out 15-12 and began jumping up and down. It was a big deal for Skyline, which tried qualifying previously at both Sunshine and MEQ but came up short. Show Me wasn’t Skyline’s last chance, but probably its best chance with Lone Star on tap and the difficult field there. VCNebraska coach Blake Rawlins said the club was seeking its first Open bid. KC Power bounced back from a tough time in Indy. KC Power positioned itself to qualify at MEQ by reaching the fifth-place bracket but was eliminated in the first match by Pohaku 17-1. KC Power took care of Pohaku on Day 2 here before upsetting Drive Nation and taking over the No. 2 seed on Day 3. KC Power outlasted Skyline in three sets in its opener before rallying past VCNebraska to move to 2-0. When Premier Nebraska 17 Gold – which was already qualified – fell to 0-2, it meant KC Power clinched the pool before facing Premier. Meanwhile, there was no let up for TAV after clinching its bid. The Texas club turned in one of the best days any teams had this season. TAV entered Day 3 holding a 1-1 mark against Drive Nation and was 0-1 against both Dynasty and OT Felix. TAV not only qualified but showed it’s as good as anyone in the country when it’s on its game. 16 OPEN Much of the bid hunt on Day 3 in this division hinged on Nebraska One 16 Synergy. The top seed in Pool 2 was the only team already qualified and so it was a question of would Nebraska One help create trickle down to fourth place or not? Nebraska One opened with victories over both Skyline 16 Royal and Six Pack 16 to move to 2-0. That assured Nebraska One of finishing in the top four and gave much more clarity to the rest of the results. Once TAV 16 Black beat Skyline in the 2 v 3 outing to also get to 2-0, the bid was clinched for TAV. TAV and Nebraska One then faced off for a spot in the final. It’s always interesting to see how a team performs once it knows it has its bid and TAV deserves a lot of credit for beating Nebraska One and reaching the championship match. TAV faced a match point against at 24-23 in Game 2 but Sydnee Peterson’s stuff block erased it before TAV forced a third set and eventually prevailed in three. However, the day did not belong to TAV. Not in this division. That honor belongs to Northern Lights 16-1, which turned in a big-time performance on the final day to not only qualify, but take home the gold medal after sweeping TAV in the final. The matches in Pool 1 were intense because the teams knew what was at stake and that finishing first and second was likely good enough to qualify considering the strength of Nebraska One in the other pool. Northern Lights earned a key victory right out of the gate by taking down AJV 16 Adidas in straight sets. MAVS KC 16-1 followed by outlasting Iowa PowerPlex 16 515 in three sets before then sweeping AJV. At 2-0, MAVS was in a great spot but could quite count itself qualified just yet. At that moment it was still possible for a three-way tie to occur, but once Northern Lights beat Iowa PowerPlex, both Northern Lights and MAVS could celebrate. It wasn’t quite that simple though as Northern Lights needed a little extra volleyball to get past the pesky PowerPlex squad and win in three, 26-24, 20-25, 17-15. That put Northern Lights and MAVS each at 2-0 and about to play for first place in the pool and spot in the championship game. Northern Lights swept that one. With sixth-ranked Nebraska One and No. 9 TAV the only teams in the Top 10 and Top 20 from our Top 50, I knew Show Me represented a great opportunity for two other clubs to get it done. Northern Lights was actually the third-highest ranked team in the field at No. 26, so