For the second time this season Club V 17 Ren Reed earned gold at a qualifier. Back in March, Club V picked up its bid and first place at Salt Lake City. It closed the season the same way it opened it – taking first, this time at Far Western in Reno. Club V topped Hou Skyline 17 Royal in the final. Hou Skyline was also previously-qualified and it helped create trickle down to fifth place. While AZ Storm 17 Thunder and SynergyForce 17 Jeff earned their bids at the conclusion of gold pool play, it took Absolute Black 17-1 winning the fifth-place match to secure the last bid spot. Here’s how the weekends played out for all involved.
CLUB V 17 REN REED (FIRST, 7-2)
- Day 1: d Encore 17 25-17, 25-15; d SIVBC Storm 25-15, 25-13; l SynergyForce 17 Jeff 16-25, 25-18, 15-12
- Day 2: d NE Elite 17 Vici 25-18, 25-21; l Hou Skyline 17 Royal 25-19, 15-25, 15-10; d Co Jrs 17 Kevin 25-23, 25-20
- Day 3: d SynergyForce 17 James 29-27, 22-25, 15-8; d Absolute Black 17-1 25-23, 25-16; d Hou Skyline 17 Royal 25-20, 27-25
Club V arrived at Far Western with one of the most impressive qualifying records of any team. The Intermountain Region club was 27-3 through the Salt Lake City, Red Rock Rave and Lone Star Classic qualifiers. It led to a first-place showing in SLC; a fifth in Vegas; and a third in Dallas. In Reno, Club V actually lost twice for the first time at a qualifier but still managed to walk away with another gold medal after topping Hou Skyline in the final. It pushed Club V’s qualifier record to 34-5.
“It was a good weekend,” Club V coach Reed Carlson said. “I’m proud of the girls. Losing early is no fun. We haven’t lost very often so to learn from that and come back and finish strong is a big step for us.”
SynergyForce upset Club V on Day 1, pulling that result out in three. It dropped Club V into the same pool as Hou Skyline on Day 2. The Lone Star club handed Club V yet another setback but Club V still advanced to the gold pools. It offered Club V a shot at redemption against SynergyForce. Club V returned the favor and took their second meeting in three sets. Getting past Absolute next gave Club V another chance at Hou Skyline in the final. Club V swept that one.
“We were up 8-3 on Skyline on Day 2 and they went on a 12-3 run,” Carlson said. “We stopped being aggressive in all aspects. The next time our goal was to keep the energy high and keep our foot on the gas. They are such a disciplined team you can’t give them too many opportunities. We had to put the ball away sooner.”
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HOU SKYLINE 17 ROYAL (SECOND, 8-1)
- Day 1: d Absolute Black 17-1 25-19, 18-25, 20-18; d VVA 17-1 25-15, 25-18; d Miz Long Beach 17 Rockstar 25-21, 25-23
- Day 2: d Co Jrs 17 Kevin 25-23, 25-13; d Club V 17 Ren Reed 25-19, 15-25, 15-10; d NE Elite 17 Vici 25-21, 25-16
- Day 3: d AZ Storm 17 Thunder 25-19, 25-21; d NorCal 17-1 Black 25-22, 25-12; l Club V 17 Ren Reed 25-20, 27-25
Hou Skyline closed out a strong qualifying season by adding another silver medal to the mix. Despite its consistent showings it took Hou Skyline until its third try to qualify. The team just missed out on a bid at NEQ in March, coming in fourth and finishing one spot away from qualifying. A seventh-place showing at Sunshine once more kept Hou Skyline one spot removed from a bid. The bid finally came Hou Skyline’s way two weeks ago at the Lone Star Classic, where it placed second.
In Reno, Hou Skyline had a tough opening match against Absolute, taking the third set 20-18. Hou Skyline defeated Club V in three as well on Day 2. On Day 3, Hou Skyline swept both AZ Storm and NorCal 17-1 Black to reach the final where it was swept by Club V.
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ARIZONA STORM 17 THUNDER (THIRD, 6-3)
- Day 1: d Hive 17 Gold 25-8, 25-23; l Club V 17 Ren Matthew 29-27, 25-18; d Rage 17 Greg 25-9, 25-17
- Day 2: d Academy 17 Diamond 25-19, 20-25, 15-12; d OJVA 17-1 Gold 25-15, 25-20; l Absolute Black 17-1 25-22, 25-18
- Day 3: l Hou Skyline 17 Royal 25-19, 25-21; d NorCal 17-1 Black 25-20, 23-25, 15-13; d SynergyForce 17 Jeff 25-20, 25-21
Injuries played a role in AZ Storm’s qualifier struggles and tested the resolve of the team as it headed to Reno in hopes of earning an Open bid. There were no crazy dramatics or out of the ordinary happenings at Far Western. Just a steady determination to pull through and go home qualified.
Once AZ Storm defeated NorCal 17-1 Black in its final gold pool match on Day 3 its wish was granted. Storm finished out by topping SynergyForce in the third-place match.
“We knew we had a bid but our mindset was let’s earn it,” Storm coach Aaron Payne said. “Let’s go win this match and say we qualified outright. We played tough against Synergy. That was a great win.”
Storm had worked to get past its disappointment at the Red Rock Rave in early April. A 0-3 mark on Day 1 was not what the team expected as it was knocked from contention. Storm did earn a National bid through the regional tournament but came to Reno looking to end the qualifier season on a high note.
Even without its full lineup available. Storm found a way.
“The injuries have been tough,” Payne said. “We’ve been going back and forth with our setters. We had Gabby (LeBlanc) setting for a period of time. We got Tatum (Longnecker) back in the gym and she took it back over. We really haven’t found a static lineup. We got our national bid with Kadyn (Dahlke) playing middle. She’s normally a right side.”
The team is without normal starters in Andi Nothdurft and Jayden Eaker. Storm brought middle Ella Lomigora down from the 18s to fill one spot. It put a lot of responsibility on outsides Ali Wiest and Kamryn Gibadlo to carry the offense.
“The heat fell on the pins,” Payne said. “They both played six rotations all weekend. They took a lot of swings. They played so consistent. Our libero Mckenzie Schoenhardt was a huge factor too. If you look at stats as well as she’s making plays on balls a lot of people would miss. She should definitely be getting looks.”
With Lomigora coming down there wasn’t a lot of time to build a connection but Payne said he was pleased with the contributions from the middles. He noted Pagie Hoeder, who is new to the roster this year.
“Adding Paige, she’s a new kid and is by far our most improved player,” Payne said. “To see her come in with a bid on the line, she played well. She was making great plays.”
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SYNERGYFORCE 17 JEFF (FOURTH, 6-3)
- Day 1: d SIVBC Storm 25-14, 26-24; d Encore 17 22-25, 25-23, 15-5; d Club V 17 Ren Reed 16-25, 25-18, 15-12
- Day 2: l NorCal 17-1 Black 25-14, 19-25, 15-11; d OMNI 17 Rick 26-24, 25-17; d Club V 17 Ren Matthew 25-17, 26-24
- Day 3: l Club V 17 Ren Reed 29-27, 22-25, 15-8; d Absolute Black 17-1 26-24, 25-21; l AZ Storm 17 Thunder 25-20, 25-21
Everything changed this past weekend in Reno for SynergyForce. It didn’t crack the top 10 in Spokane or Vegas but a new addition made all the difference at Far Western. Senior outside Morgan Colyer – an Oregon commit – was brought down and changed the dynamics of the attack. It led to a fourth-place finish and one of the three available bids.
“We had a small team to start with having 10 kids,” SynergyForce coach Jeff Deter said. “It went down to nine. We added (Morgan) and that gave us 10 again. It freed us up to make changes, plus she’s a very good player. It allowed us to coach. We were kind of stuck all year. If someone wasn’t playing well there wasn’t anything we could do.”
The move paid dividends right away. Synergy upset Club V Reed on Day 1 to set the tone. Though it lost to start Day 2 to NorCal, Synergy bounced back with sweeps over OMNI 17 Rick and Club V 17 Ren Matthew to reach the gold pools. While Club V Reed extracted revenge to begin Day 3, all Synergy needed to do to earn its bid was down Absolute to close out pool play. Synergy swept to clinch it.
“The kids worked really hard,” Deter said. “It was a complete team win. Everyone played a vital role. They believed. We are all excited.”
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ABSOLUTE BLACK 17-1 (FIFTH, 5-4)
- Day 1: l Hou Skyline 17 Royal 25-19, 18-25, 20-18; d Miz Long Beach 17 Rockstar 25-19, 19-25, 15-8; d VVA 17-1 25-21, 25-13
- Day 2: d OJVA 17-1 Gold 25-16, 19-25, 15-10; l Academy 17 Diamond 25-13, 23-25, 15-10; d AZ Storm 17 Thunder 25-22, 25-18
- Day 3: l Club V 17 Ren Reed 25-23, 25-16; l SynergyForce 17 Jeff 26-24, 25-21; d NorCal 17-1 Black 25-23, 15-25, 15-13
Hollywood writers couldn’t have penned a more dramatic script than how the final bid played out in 17 Open. Absolute had two prior chances to qualify in Salt Lake and Spokane and didn’t survive Day 1 at either.
After making the gold pools on Day 3 in Reno, Absolute could have saved itself from all the drama had it defeated SynergyForce to close out pool play. But, that was not the case and Absolute was relegated to a fifth-place, winner-take-all meeting with NorCal. As the fifth-place match was not originally scheduled, tournament directors had to add it and set it for 4pm.
With most of the action for the weekend long wrapped up, Absolute and NorCal were playing for the final bid of the season in 17 Open! As if that wasn’t enough, of course it went down to the wire with Absolute edging NorCal in three, 23-25, 25-15, 15-13.
“It was a wild turn of events,” Absolute coach Jake Spain said. “I’m still pretty fried from the weekend. How far this team has come I’m so proud of them.”
Absolute has shown flashes before but hadn’t been able to break out of its Day 1 pool. At Salt Lake, Absolute notched a big victory over Sunshine 17 LA. However, it stumbled in its next match and was swept by Aspire 17 Premier. That placed Absolute in a three-way tie at 2-1 and the club took third in bad tiebreaker luck.
In Spokane, Absolute fell to NPJ Seattle 17 National on Day 1. It also lost to ID Crush 17 Bower, which went on to qualify. Those losses kept Absolute from advancing.
The led to Reno, where the first piece of business was getting past the Day 1 hurdle. Absolute nearly upset Hou Skyline in the first match, falling 20-18 in the third set. It then scored a key victory over Mizuno Long Beach 17 Rockstar that led to Absolute finally making the top half for Day 2.
“We’ve been in that position before,” Spain said. “Emotionally, we were ready to go compete in the next match. We were on a mission. We were focused on breaking pool by any means necessary.”
Absolute kept it going on Day 2. It earned important victories over OJVA 17-1 Gold and AZ Storm – with a loss to Academy 17 Diamond in between – to reach the gold pools.
“Our Day 1 and Day 2 we were unrecognizable from the beginning of the year,” Spain said.
One change Absolute incorporated was switching to a two-person serve receive. Libero Tehani Ulufatu and DS Simone Adam steadied out the passing and allowed Absolute to find its rhythm.
“Not a lot of teams are doing that or are able to do it,” Spain said. “Tehani at libero, she took control of 60 percent of the court and was just daring people to serve the wide-open court. Simone, she brought consistency and balance.”
