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 it’s not surprising from this perspective to see Northern Lights rise up.
MAVS is a different story, as MAVS was the lowest-ranked team from our Top 50 in the field at No. 44. MAVS upset No. 30 Dynasty 16 Black on Day 2 to reach the gold pools and then took down No. 35 Austin Jrs for another key upset.
As for TAV, it first had a chance to qualify at Red Rock Rave but was upset by Wave 16 Kevin to miss out on the final and bid. Then, TAV lost in three to Arizona Storm 16 Thunder in the third-place match and finished in fourth, one place out of qualifying. That made it likely TAV was coming into Show Me determined not to come up short again. But ultimately it was Northern Lights holding the trophy. Northern Lights recently finished in sixth place at its home qualifier when it lost on Day 3 to both Nebraska One and Premier Nebraska 16 Gold.
15 OPEN
With heavy-hitters in top-ranked Skyline 15 Royal and No. 5 TAV 15 Black already qualified and in separate three-team pools, the path to qualifying seemed rather straight forward barring any crazy upsets. That’s because if Skyline and TAV both won their pools and reached the finals, the second-place teams from each pool would get one of the two bids.
Unless someone could upset Skyline or TAV, it essentially paired Premier Nebraska 15 Gold against MAVS 816 15-1 for one bid in Pool 1 and Pohaku 15-1 against OP2 15-1 for the other bid in Pool 2. Premier Nebraska swept MAVS 816 handily in that contest while Pohaku did the same to OP2 in its match.
It meant Premier Nebraska and Pohaku had their bids earned before pool play was even finished. There was no need to play the third-place match off as a result, so both finished tied for third.
Pohaku sits at No. 20 in our latest Top 50 National Rankings. The surprise was Premier Nebraska, which entered the tournament unranked behind teams like No. 18 Dynasty 15 Black, No. 46 MAVS 816, No. 47 MN Select 15-1 and No. 49 Northern Lights 15-1.
As for the final, TAV outlasted Skyline in three, 24-26, 25-18, 15-13, in an intense clash. While there wasn’t a whole lot riding on the outcome big picture, the North Texas rivalry was clear as TAV definitely didn’t want to lose to Skyline once more.
