NLQ 18/17

The final day of competition at the Northern Lights Qualifier/January Thaw tournament brought the heat! Bracket days are always intense. And with bids up for grabs well it’s anyone’s ball game. DISCLAIMER: I could not be at every court and did my best to watch as many of the matches as I possibly can! So let’s get to it.  18 Open With a smaller field the final day of competition was a four-team pool, which featured Premier Nebraska 18 Gold, MN Select 18-1, Iowa Rockets 18R, and Mizuno Northern Lights 18-1. Premier ended up going 3-0 on the day and taking home the Gold Ball. Sidenote: 5-star recruit and Purdue signee Grace Heaney was back in action and her presence was definitely felt! MN Select 18-1 and Mizuno Northern Lights 18-1 ended up walking away with the bids since Premier had previously qualified.  17 Open The whole day proved to be electric in the gold pools. There was tons of amazing rallies and three-game matches that ended up with No. 3 nationally-ranked A5 17-Jing facing off with top-ranked Dynasty 17 Black in the finals. And like the matches before it this match DEFINITELY was fiery. In the end A5 won in three, 25-20, 18-25, 15-12. For the third-place match, Premier Nebraska 17 Gold ended up defeating Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite in three, 23-25, 25-21,15-11, to join A5 and Dynasty in securing the first 17 Open bids of the season.   14,15,16 Club In the January Thaw 16 Club division, Mizuno Northern Lights 16-1 won the title match in straight sets over Vital 16-1 Gold. Northern Lights was led by middle Keira Schmidt, libero McKenna Garr and outside Ava Ball. For the 15s Club Championship Vital 15-1 Gold defeated Mizuno Northern Lights 15-1 in two. Vital was led by middle Hailey Laffond and libero Cora Bicknese. Mizuno Northern Lights 14-1 captured the championship match over Kairos 14 Alpha in a sweep. Kairos was led by Josalyn Samuels while Northern Lights was led by setter Kaelyn Bjorklund, setter Addison Otto and libero Clara Christ. Shout out to Mizuno Northern Lights 13-1 for taking third with Mizuno Northern Lights 14-2.  Tournament Show Stoppers Outside Hitters Premier Nebraska Trio Destiny Ndam-Simpson (4-star Creighton signee), Alanna Bankston (4-star Louisville signee), and Stella Adeyemi (3-star Hawaii signee) all were fun to watch swinging on the pins.  Hannah Benjamin A5 17 Jing: Benjamin, a 5-star Kentucky commit, was electric throughout the entire weekend, powering through many incredible blocks both at the net and out of the backrow.  Grace Nelson 1st Alliance 17 Gold: Nelson, a 4-star recruit committed to Michigan, was a force everywhere on the court with huge swings.  Ellie White 1st Alliance 17 Gold: Michigan commit and 4-star recruit White was another huge weapon for her squad. Offensively, defensively, outside, opposite, Ellie brought fire to the court.  Carlie Cisneros Dynasty 17 Black: A 5-star Arizona commit, Cisneros is a six-rotation threat. She’s scrappy defensively too backed by powerhouse swings.  Skyler Pierce Dynasty 17 Black: 5 star Nebraska commit, Pierce, was only at this weekend’s qualifier on Sunday BUT that didn’t stop her from lighting up the court offensively.  Lauren Medeck Premier Nebraska 17 Gold: A South Dakota commit, Medeck brings the heat everywhere on the court. She’s an equal scoring threat whether front or back row.  Fallon Stewart  OT 17 O Felix: A 4-star Cincinnati commit, Fallon was a ‘go-to’ all weekend long for this squad.  Emerson Sellman Metro VBC 17 Travel: Sellman, a 5-star recruit committed to Ohio State, unleashes with the best of them. She’s a great six-rotation baller.  Lameen Mambu Metro VBC 17 Travel: Mambu, a 5-star commit, is a strong outside who jumps and swings well.  Setters Stella Swenson MN Select 18-1: Swenson, a 5-star Minnesota commit from the Class of 2024, is a game-changer at the position. She is smooth and cunning at the same time.  Reese Messer Dynasty 17 Black: A 5-star recruit from the Class of 2025, Messer is the quarterback of a great squad whose athleticism and finesse are incredible.  Juleigh Urbina OT 17 O Felix: An Oklahoma commit and 3-star recruit, Urbina had a great weekend guiding her squad. She had great touches with consistent locations.  Setter/Opposite Calli Kenny 1st Alliance 17 Gold: Kenny, a 3-star recruit, is a fierce competitor with the ability to impact the match in so many ways, from her setting to hitting and blocking.  Rayna Christianson Mizuno Northern Lights 15-1: Christianson is a 5-star athlete can do it all out there on the court. Very smooth, very powerful, very athletic, and great size to boot.  Opposites Grace Heaney Premier Nebraska 18 Gold: A 5-star Purdue signee, Heaney was not at the tournament the entire weekend BUT when she was out there you knew. Abigail Mullen Dynasty 17 Black: Mullen, a 5-star recruit, is an opposite who can play the pins in the pinch. She can go right over blocks or she can tool them. Either way, she has the ability to frustrate defenses. Mackenna Golden Mizuno M1 151: Golden’s block was HUGE. She’s someone to watch grow in the game for sure!  Liberos Olivia Mauch Premier Nebraska 18 Gold: Mauch, a 5-star recruit committed to Nebraska, is an accurate, reliable passer out of serve receive and she flies around the court covering tips and touches well. Gabi Cornier A5 17-Jing: Cornier, a 4-star Florida signee, was smooth and scrappy like usual in the backcourt. She makes tremendous plays keeping rallies alive and bringing a defensive tenacity to the floor. Faith Frame Premier Nebraska 17 Gold: A 5-star Cincinnati commit, Frame was just plain smooth. She’s always making huge plays and making them look easy.  Ava Falduto 1st Alliance 17 Gold: Falduto, a 4-star recruit committed to Penn State, was holding down the back row with her steady play. Her passing out of serve receive was consistent and she was making scrappy hustle plays throughout the weekend. Ryan McAleer Dynasty 17 Black: McAleer, a 4-star recruit committed to Purdue, was a back row force. She made a ton of plays to keep her team in points and was rarely off her mark putting the ball on target. Madeline Kraft Mizuno Northern

In the 18 Open Division, undefeated and previously-qualified Premier Nebraska 18 Gold is in the four-team gold pool along with MN Select 18-1, Iowa Rockets 18R and Mizuno Northern Lights 18-1 on Sunday morning.  In 17 Open, Dynasty 17 Black and A5 17-Jing are the last two teams which are undefeated. But Sunday is another day and both gold pools have very good matchups in store! Gold Pool 1 features A5 as the No. 1 seed, 1st Alliance VBC 17 Gold as the No. 22 seed and Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite as the No. 3 seed while Gold Pool 2 has Dynasty as the one seed, OT 17O Felix as the No. 2 seed and Premier Nebraska 17 Gold as the No. 3 seed. A match I truly enjoyed watching was the TAV Houston 17 Adidas against Club Ignit Select 17 Blue in 17 USA. TAV Houston was led by outsides Caelyn Emmerling and Katy Barger, setter Peyton Fadal and middle Chloe Morgan. Club Ignit Select was led by outsides Mackenzie Dean and Noelle Sutcliffe, setter Brittany Bacorn and middle Maeve Rehmann. Day 2 Show Stoppers Sierra Pertzborn MB 608 Jr’s 18-1s: A Toledo signee, Pertzborn, was a wall at the net.  Kate Simington MB MN Select 18-1: A 4-star Clemson signee, Simington shut down opponents at the net all day.  Gabi Cornier L A5 17-Jing: A 4-star Florida signee, Cornier was smooth and scrappy like usual in the backcourt.  Caelyn Emmerling OH TAV Houston 17 Adidas: Emmerling, a 3-star Texas State commit, was literally hammering balls on the OH today.  Lauren Medeck OH Premier Nebraska 17 Gol: A South Dakota commit and recently named Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year, Medeck was a ball of fire on the court. From swinging to defense, wow.  Carlie Cisneros OH Dynasty 17 Black: A 5-star Arizona commit, Cisneros was literally everywhere on the court. If she wasn’t sweeping up the back court defensively then she was swinging with fire on the outside.  Abigail Mullen Opp Dynasty 17 Black: Mullen, a 5-star recruit, was skying and hitting with force everywhere she was. Fallon Stewart OH OT 17 O Felix: A 4-star Cincinnati commit, Fallon was a hammer on the outside ALL DAY.  Mailinh Godschall L Metro VBC 17 Travel: Godschall, a 3-star Duke commit, was everywhere on the court.  Rayna Christianson S/Opp Mizuno Northern Lights 15-1 : A 5-star athlete, Christianson can do it all out there on the court. Very smooth and very powerful.  Josalyn Samuels S/Opp Kairos 14 Alpha: A 2028 playing up, Samuels is strong and can dish to the pins efficiently.  Clara Christ L Mizuno Northern Lights 14-1: Christ was a smooth passer who sets the tempo for her squad.

Despite the gnarly wind chill outside, Day 1 of the Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier 18s and 17s and January Thaw 14-16s tournament started off with straight fire Friday in Minneapolis. There were tons of great teams and athletes on several courts so let’s just jump right in with a few team and athlete spotlights. Iowa Rockets 18R: In 18 Open, this was the team which literally got touches on everything. St. Cloud State commit and outside Shelby Kimm was swinging well along with libero Meg Berkland owning the backline. Another athlete who was fun to watch was setter Allie Barlow, a Northern Michigan signee.  1st Alliance 17 Gold: This was a fun team to watch in 17 Open. You have 4-star Kansas commit Grace Nelson and 4-star Michigan commit Ellie White – the vballrecruiter.com 2022 HS Junior Player of the Year – swinging away on the outside. There is also 3-star recruit Ellery Rees owning the middle and 3-star recruit Calli Kenny dishing and swinging well. Ava Falduto – a 4-star Penn State recruit at L/DS – and Samantha Falk, a 3-star recruit, run the back court. And that’s just to name a few.  Day 1 Show Stoppers Jae Fitting DS Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold: A Loyola Chicago commit, Fitting is an incredible asset to her squad. Don’t get me wrong, Clemson commit Claire Luoma was amazing in the libero jersey but kudos to Fitting for being a lights-out DS on the court.  Calli Kenny S 1st Alliance 17 Gold: The 3-star S/RS Kenny was impressive on Day 1 in 17 Open. She was dishing and swinging with the best of them all the way around.  Bree Messenger OH VC United 171 Elite: Messenger is an undersized and an incredibly scrappy outside hitter. Messenger was fun to watch both offensively and defensively.  Kananihokuao Misipeka OH/Opp Pohaku 17-1: Misipeka, a 3-star athlete, is another undersized hitter who literally flies out there.  Malayah Long S VCNebraska 17 Elite: Long, a Marquette commit, was fun to watch run the show for her VCN squad. She is a fiery setter with great connections.  Mackenzie Dean OH Club Ignit Select 17 Blue: Dean, a Kansas commit, brings the heat on the outside.  Hannah Benjamin OH A5 Jing: Benjamin, a 5-star Kentucky commit, just keeps getting better and more explosive on the court.  Andi Spies S 608 Juniors 18-1: Spies, a Middle Tennessee 2024 commit, is playing on the new 608 Juniors 18s team. She is fiery and has great hands. Stella Swenson S MN Select 18-1: Swenson, a 5-star 2024 Minnesota commit, ran her court with precision. She has a great cast around her along with great decision making skills. Sidenotes With FC Elite 18 Elite 5-star libero Saige Damrow at Wisconsin this spring, make sure to watch 2026 athlete Peyton Carlson filling into the libero role for FC Elite this year. Skyler Pierce was missing from the court today but will be back on Sunday with her Dynasty 17 Black squad. In the meantime, outside Maya Houseworth filled in nicely.  Michigan signee and Nebraska Elite senior Morgan Burke was back dishing on her club team. On her high school squad Skutt Catholic she was the jack of many trades and was an offensive powerhouse at outside hitter.  Anyone else excited for Day 2!?