As loaded as the 17 Open division is in 2022, predicting how any qualifier may play out is as difficult as it’s ever been. The only thing that was known for sure was that the three available Open bids were sure to go out at Show Me but it was anyone’s guess how it would all play out. If anyone had Premier Nebraska 17 Gold running the table and producing a perfect weekend at 10-0 in matches and 20-0 in sets then congratulations on that pick. Of course, Premier Nebraska secured its bid way back in January at the Northern Lights Qualifier so there were still the qualifying spots to fill out. Those went to second-place MN Select 17-1, third-place Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite – who tied with MAVS KC 17-1 – and fifth-place Mintonettte Sports m.71, who didn’t benefit from trickle down and needed to defeat Iowa Rockets 17 in bracket play to secure its bid. Below, we tell the tales of how those teams’ weekend played out.
PREMIER NEBRASKA 17 GOLD (FIRST, 10-0)
- Day 1: d IPVA 17 Black 25-13; 25-14; d TIV 17 Asics Black 25-15, 25-7; d NKYVC 17 Tsunami 25-17, 25-13
- Day 2: d Illini Elite 17 Cardinal 25-20, 25-17; d NE Elite 17 Vici 25-19, 25-15; d MAVS KC 17-1 25-20, 25-23
- Day 3: d Iowa Rockets 17 25-21, 25-12; Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite 25-19, 25-22; NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami 25-19, 25-20; d MN Select 17-1 25-15, 27-25
The Northern Lights 18s Qualifier had a bit of twist this season by adding 17 Open and offering three bids back in January. Premier Nebraska joined 1st Alliance 17 Gold and MAVS KC in taking advantage and qualifying early.
For Premier Nebraska, the only national tournament in between that one and this past weekend at Show Me was Triple Crown in February. If rust was of any concern, Premier Nebraska didn’t show any and instead played like a team eager to get back to competition and stake its claim as one of the title contenders come Nationals.
“The biggest thing this weekend was already having the bid sometimes teams start looking at the finish line instead of continuing getting better,” Nebraska Premier coach Joe Wessel said. “We already had the bid but we didn’t want to take that for granted. We needed to prove why we earned the bid and show we can be one of the best teams in the nation.”
The fact that Premier Nebraska was moving through the weekend without losing a set was on their minds but it remained unspoken about until sweeping MN Select in the final and completing the perfect weekend. The run also included beating NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami twice, plus MAVS KC and Rockwood Thunder.
“They kept it quiet until we beat MN Select,” Wessel said. “Then it was the first thing they said was that they didn’t lose a set all weekend. We went 20-0 but no one made a big deal of it until it was over.”
There’s a lot to like about Premier’s lineup, starting with vballrecruiter.com five-star recruit and right side Grace Heaney. She’s just one of many options Premier throws at opponents, with four-star recruits Destiny Ndam-Simpson and Alanna Bankston being two more. Then there’s middles Kailey Hrbek and Brooklyn Fuchs and outside Stella Adeyemi for setters Ivy Leuck and Reese Booth to utilize as well. Olivia Mauch – a five-star Class of 2024 recruit – and Makenzie Dyrstad can take turns trading off between libero and DS.
“We can make changes to our lineup,” Wessel said. “We have an athletic, versatile team. Some matches we can play girls on the right side. Other matches we can play them on the left side. We have two really good defensive players that we switch up at times too. We don’t really have a set lineup. We do run a true 6-2 so all 10 girls can showcase their talents.”
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MN SELECT 17-1 (SECOND, 8-1)
- Day 1: d Co Jrs 17 Kevin 25-10, 25-22, 25-17; d HPSTL 17 Royal 27-25, 25-22, 25-23
- Day 2: d Madfrog 17 Black 25-21, 25-14; d Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite 25-16, 25-23; d KC Power 17-1 19-25, 25-23, 18-16
- Day 3: d Dynasty 17 Black 21-25, 25-16, 15-11; d MAVS KC 17-1 18-25, 25-21, 15-6; d Mintonette Sports m.71 25-20, 30-28; l Premier Nebraska 17 Gold 25-15, 27-25
Last month at MEQ, MN Select needed to win its gold pool – one that included Circle City 17 Purple – to have a shot at qualifying. At Show Me, it wasn’t so cutthroat for MN Select, which merely needed to finish in the top three in its gold pool to stay in the hunt for a bid. MN Select ended up taking matters into its own hands, downing Dynasty 17 Black, MAVS KC and Mintonette before falling to Premier Nebraska in the final to qualify without any trickle down.
“We cut down on our errors,” MN Select coach George Padjen said. “We have some physical hitters and we can be really good offensively. We have a great setter but if we can’t pass we can’t get good swings. We were passing better and Stella (Swenson) was making good decisions getting everyone looks.”
MN Select redesigned its roster that finished 13th in 16 Open last summer. Among those back are outsides Avery Bolles and Marlie Hanson. Plus middle Kate Simington and libero Kate Thibault – both three-star recruits. That left room for many newcomers, including the five-star recruit Swenson and her sister and outside hitter Olivia Swenson – a three-star recruit. Another key addition was 6-4 right side and four-star recruit Sydney Schnichels. Joining the trio was also L/DS Sophia Johnson and middles Annika Veurink and Kaia Caffee, a sophomore like the Swenson sisters and another five-star recruit.
The focus moving forward for the group is continuing tightening up its play and taking some of the close sets that have gone against them. In the team’s last four qualifier losses it has dropped a set 27-25 in all of them.
“It’s the little things,” Padjen said. “If we can find a way to win those one or two points a set then we can end up on the good side of it.”
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MAVS KC 17-1 (T-THIRD, 7-2)
- Day 1: d Iowa PowerPlex 17 Black 25-17, 25-20; d City Volleyball 17 Gold 25-18, 25-8; d Madfrog 17 Black 25-12, 25-13
- Day 2: d NE Elite 17 Vici 25-20, 20-25, 18-16; d Illini Elite 17 Cardinal 25-13, 25-21; d Premier Nebraska 17 Gold 25-20, 25-23
- Day 3: d Mintonette Sports m.71 26-24, 25-23; l MN Select 17-1 18-25, 25-21, 15-6; d Dynasty 17 Black 25-15, 25-18
Like Premier Nebraska, MAVS KC has been qualified since January. It didn’t go as long between qualifiers however, having competed at MEQ last month. MAVS was back in a familiar spot Monday at Show Me, in one of the gold pools and competing against the top competition on the last day. MAVS wound up tied for third after a strong Day 3 in which it earned victories over Sunshine Classic winner Dynasty and Mintonette, which defeated MAVS in gold play at MEQ. There was no need to play out the third-place match so MAVS’ tourney was over at the completion of pool play.
MAVS is certainly not the tallest team out there but can’t be called small either. Middle Ashlyn Reeves – a three-star recruit – is 6-4 and another middle Aisha Aiono is 6-2. Three-star recruit and outside Raegan Barth is 6-0, as is right side and three-star recruit Elizabeth Goodenow. Setter Logan Jones also has 5-11 outside Lily Dudley to go to. Then there’s the defensive side with libero Reagan Anderson and DS Lauren Brown. While MAVS isn’t going to overpower anyone, it can frustrate opponents into mistakes and has shown it can be a tough draw against anyone.
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ROCKWOOD THUNDER 17 ELITE (T-THIRD, 5-4)
- Day 1: l NE Elite 17 Vici 20-25, 26-24, 15-11; d Northern Lights 17-1 25-19, 9-25, 15-9; d HI Intensity Hilo 25-19, 25-10
- Day 2: d KC Power 17-1 25-22, 25-23; l MN Select 17-1 25-16, 25-23; d Madfrog 17 Black 25-23, 25-19
- Day 3: d NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami 27-25, 25-18; l Premier Nebraska 17 Gold 25-19, 25-22; l Iowa Rockets 17 19-25, 26-24, 15-13
It wasn’t necessarily the way Rockwood Thunder wanted to get its bid but in a deep 17 Open division creating your own luck is part of the game. Rockwood Thunder ended gold pool play in a three-way tie at 1-2 with Iowa Rockets and NKYVC. Going into the 3 v 4 contest against Iowa Rockets, Rockwood Thunder knew it needed to only win one set as long as Nebraska Premier beat NKYVC. Rockwood Thunder fell to Iowa Rockets in three and eventually grabbed second place and its bid after Premier in fact beat NKYVC.
“I’ve been in situations before with other teams and when you put your fate into someone else’s hands whatever happens happens,” Rockwood Thunder coach Gretchen Moser said. “Fortunately, it went our way.”
The real drama actually involved Iowa Rockets, who earned a third-place finish in the pool and a chance to play for a bid. Had Rockwood Thunder downed Iowa Rockets, NKYVC would have played for a bid instead. Not that any of that concerned Rockwood Thunder, which fell short of gold pool play at MEQ and was happy enough to get the job done at Show Me.
“We worked on being a little more consistent from the service line and continuing working on a diverse offense and not getting stuck in the same old thing,” Moser said. “They did a good job mixing it up.”
Rockwood Thunder started out a little shaky on the weekend, dropping its opening match to NE Elite 17 Vici. With Northern Lights 17-1 up next, Rockwood Thunder may have been in a precarious spot on Day 1 but there was a safety net of sorts. Rockwood Thunder was in a three-team pool and would have to win a crossover match unless it finished first in its pool. Northern Lights, Rockwood and NE Elite tied at 1-1. Rockwood Thunder was the second-place team and then defeated Hi Intensity Hilo in the crossover to move on.
At times, Rockwood Thunder was using three-star libero Ava Roth and DS Madison Smith in a two-person serve receive. Setter Juliette Myrick – a four-star recruit – had big-swinging and three-star recruit Caitlyn Little on the outside, as well as Mia Berg. Sophomore right side Claire Morrissey was also featured in the attack, with middles Tess McConnell and Megan Manaj rounding it out.
“The girls played really well all weekend,” Moser said. “It would have been nice to have those close matches like the 15-13 go our way but in the losses they actually played well. I was really happy with what they did this weekend.”
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MINTONETTE SPORTS M.71 (FIFTH, 7-3)
- Day 1: l Six Pack 17 25-23, 15-25, 18-16; d Tx Performance 17 25-22, 25-15; d PVA 17 Elite 25-17, 25-18
- Day 2: Co Jrs 17 Kevin 25-20 25-18; d Iowa Rockets 17 25-18, 20-25, 15-13; d Northern Lights 17-1 19-25, 25-23, 15-9
- Day 3: l MAVS KC 17-1 26-24, 25-23; d Dynasty 17 Black 25-18, 25-17; l MN Select 17-1 25-20, 30-28; d Iowa Rockets 17 25-17, 25-19
Mintonette had an opportunity to make its path to a bid easier on itself than it did. Up first in gold pool play was MAVS KC, a squad Mintonette defeated in gold pool at MEQ. Yet, MAVS flipped the script and put Mintonette in a hole to start. With Dynasty still on the slate, along with MN Select, there suddenly was lots of work to be done. Mintonette saved itself though by upsetting Dynasty and eventually finishing third in the pool.
That placed Mintonette in a must-win fifth-place meeting against Iowa Rockets for the last available bid. Mintonette turned in a strong performance and swept, 25-17, 25-19, to end the weekend on a high note.
“We are an up and down team,” Mintonette coach Max Miller said. “We are able to score our own points but a lot of times we are giving away points.”
Tightening that up between now and Nationals is one point of emphasis. Mintonette certainly has the pieces to contend with anyone when playing well and clean. Middle Eloise Brandewie is a five-star recruit and a game changer in the middle. There are also three-star recruits in outsides Ava Hoying and Gabriella Durham and right side Lauryn Bowie for setters Kayla Dulgar and Leah Shumate. Also part of the offense is right side Kaleigh Palmer and middle Mercedes Motton. Then there’s three-star libero Jonna Spohn.
“I love the 17s division,” Miller said. “It’s going to come down to matchups and coaches making adjustments on the fly. There are probably four or five great teams, but if anyone in the Top 10 or so has a good day anything can happen.”
