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 Lights 15-1: Kraft is steady with her serve receive and does a good job digging.
Clara Christ L Mizuno Northern Lights 14-1: Christ is a smooth passer who set the tempo well for her squad.
Defensive Specialists
Samantha Falk 1st Alliance 17 Gold: Falk, a 3-star recruit, has good range and does well tracking down balls to keep plays alive.
Jae Fitting Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold: A Loyola Chicago commit, Fitting is a lights out style defensive player with touches on everything.
Alivia Hausmann Premier Nebraska 17 Gold: Hausmann was a defensive scrapper in the backcourt.
Middle Blockers
MN Select 18-1 duo Kate Simington (4-star Clemson signee) and Kaia Caffee were strong presences in the middle all weekend long.
Anna Bjork MKE Sting 17 Gold: Bjork, a 4-star recruit committed to Notre Dame, moves side to side well and causes problems for attackers. She’s also a scoring threat and someone defenses have to track.
A5 17 Jing duo Logan Wiley (4-star recruit committed to Georgia Tech) and Mia Hood (4-star recruit committed to Michigan State) were both huge at the net defensively and offensively.
Keira Schmidt Mizuno Northern Lights 16-1: Schmidt, a 3 star recruit, is always moving, trying to read to set up the block or get herself positioned to attack.
Take Notes of these Athletes
Andi Spies S 608 Juniors 18-1
Lilly Wagner S MKE Sting 18 Gold
Jordan Czajkowski S FC Elite 18 Elite
Malayah Long S VCNebraska 17 Elite
Mailinh Godschall L Metro VBC 17 Travel
Claire Luoma L MKE Sting 17 Gold
Mackenzie Dean OH Club Ignit Select 17 Blue
Bree Messenger OH VC United 171 Elite
Miliana Sylvester MB 417 Juniors 17-1
Reese Ricketts OH 417 Juniors 17-1
Caelyn Emmerling OH TAV Houston 17 Adidas
Sonja Laaksonen OH Vital 16-1 Gold
Ava Ball OH Mizuno Northern Lights 16-1
Sydney Light MB PowerPlex 15U Elite Black
Hailey Laffond Vital 15-1 Gold
Anna O’Keefe S Mizuno Northern Lights 15-1
Josalyn Samuels S/Opp Kairos 14 Alpha
Kaelyn Bjorklund S Mizuno Northern Lights 14-1
Addison Otto S Mizuno Northern Lights 14-1
