In this edition of the Week That Was we run through which teams found success at NEQ, including tournament and bid winners. We also highlight the remaining 18s divisions and who brought home championships and medals from Phoenix.
Northeast Qualifier
16 Open
Metro 16 Travel started off as the No. 1 overall seed at the Sunshine Classic in early April but left for home without a bid. It took until two weeks later when Metro qualified at Windy City. A week later, Metro has a qualifier victory to its name after topping the field in Philly.
Metro went 10-0, dropping just one set in three days. It came at the start of gold pools when Metro outlasted previously-qualified Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite in three. In the final, Metro swept Salt Lake City Showdown champion Co Jrs 16 Sherri, 25-18, 25-20. Metro also beat previously-qualified NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami in straight sets in the semis. Another team Metro picked up a victory over that had a bid was AJV 16 Adidas when it won their Day 2 encounter in pool play.
Co Jrs was upset by Tx Performance 16s on Day 1 but finished strong from there. Co Jrs secured victories over TAV 16 Black – in gold pool – and Circle City 16 Purple – in the semis. Both those squads had won previous qualifiers.
As for the bids, Norco 16 Black and Seal Beach 16 Black grabbed them, with one going back into the at-large pool. Six teams with bids finished in the top eight, so Norco and Seal Beach were the only two teams to qualify.
Seal Beach just missed its bid at the Red Rock Rave in Las Vegas in early April. There, Seal Beach lost the fifth-place match to Drive Nation 16 Red and missed qualifying by one spot. Seal Beach picked up its bid this go around after defeating AVC Cle Rox 16 Red in gold pool play to make the top eight.
Norco fought past Rockwood Thunder before losing to Metro in gold pool play. That allowed Norco to qualify or else only Seal Beach would’ve earned a bid. Norco’s only other setback came against Co Jrs on Day 2.
15 Open
TAV 15 Black added a qualifier victory under its belt in Philly, going 10-0 and besting Surfside 15 PV Legends in the final. Surfside qualified, along with NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami and MAVS KC 15-1. Surfside had its first shot at qualifying last month at PNQ, where it was the No. 1 seed to start but was upset on Day 2 and missed the gold pools. Surfside lost to Tribe 15 Elite on Day 2 at NEQ but reached the final when it responded with victories over HPSTL 15 Royal and MAVS.
HPSTL tied for third and was competing in its third qualifier in a row. It tied for fifth at Show Me, where it qualified. Then HPSTL finished runner up at Big South before its latest effort in Philly.
NKYVC had a nice run. It did lose three times, but two were against TAV and the other against Surfside. It outlasted both Vaqueras 15-1 and Boiler Jrs 15 Gold in gold pool play to clinch second in the pool and qualify.
It left MAVS and Boiler Jrs fighting for the final bid in the fifth-place match. MAVS swept, 25-13, 26-24, to get it. MAVS defeated Boiler Jrs on Day 2 as well, along with GP 15 Rox, which already had its bid.
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USAV 18s
18 National
Front Range 18 VBC – which began as the No. 11 overall seed – finished on top of the field with a 9-0 mark but it certainly didn’t come without challenges along the way. Five of the team’s victories went the distance, including beating Alliance 18 Ren in the championship match, 25-20, 24-26, 15-13. The sides shared the same pool, where Front Range downed Alliance in three games Saturday on its way to winning the pool. Front Range also needed three sets to get past MKE Sting 18 Gold in the semifinals.
Alliance opened up seeded No. 28 and played three sets in four of its five pool matches. It finished 3-2 to break pool, including a must-win over Mintonette Sports m.81 in the final pool contest that gave Alliance third place over Mintonette. Once in the gold bracket, Alliance earned three-set victories over both Tstreet 18 Madi/Liz and Norco 18 Black to reach the final.
MKE Sting and Norco tied for the bronze medal. The pair had similar runs. Both lost once in pool play before falling in the semis. Sting topped USANY Fortitude in the quarters, while Norco clipped VCNebraska 18 Elite in three, winning Game 3 15-13.
18 USA
After making it through pool play without dropping a set, the competition became significantly tougher for Sunshine 18 Westside. The So Cal club went three sets in three of its final four matches, including edging Capital 18 Adidas in the final, 25-18, 14-25, 15-12. Sunshine, which opened as the No. 2 overall seed, clipped Aspire 18 Premier, 21-25, 25-17, 15-13, in a thrilling contest in challenge play to reach the gold bracket. The quarters had Sunshine downing Mem Metro 18 Masters, 22-25, 25-16, 15-12, before sweeping Kairos 18 Adidas, 25-21, 25-14, in the semis.
Capital opened as the No. 19 overall seed and won its pool after earning the tiebreaker in a three-way tie at 4-1. From there, Capital swept its challenge match then beat Tejas 18 Black in straight sets in the quarters. In the semis, Capital topped Roots 18 UA Green.
Roots and Kairos tied for the bronze medal. Kairos started as the No. 1 overall seed but was upset by Aspire in pool play and wound up finishing third in a three-way tie at 4-1. Kairos swept both challenge contests then swept Northern Lights 18-2 in the quarters. Roots started off as the No. 18 seed and was on roll until running into Capital in the semis. That was the only match Roots lost all weekend. Roots defeated NIVA 18 Purple in three in the quarters.
18 Liberty
The championship match was a clash of two undefeated teams. GW/TZ 18 Asics held off Arsenal 18 Gold, 25-21, 25-21, to finish on top of the pack and complete a 9-0 weekend. GW/TZ lost its opening set on Day 1 and then didn’t drop another set the rest of the way. It included beating MKE Sting 18 White in the quarters and TX Legacy 18 Elite in the semis.
Arsenal had the exact same run working. It too lost its first set of the weekend but didn’t lose another until facing GW/TZ in the final. Arsenal fended off San Clemente 18-1 in the quarters before sweeping Elite VBC 18 Gold in the semis.
Elite earned its bronze medal after getting past Mizuno Club North 18-1 in the quarters. Club North swept Elite in pool play on Friday. TX Legacy lost to Arsenal in Day 2 pool play. It beat Co Jrs 18 Jayne in the quarters to medal.
18 American
SA Juniors 18 Adidas held the No. 1 seed by going 10-0 and claiming the title with a victory over Viper 18-1 in the final. It was one of four times SA Juniors was taken to three sets. However, SA Juniors swept both MN Select 18-2 and Hou Skyline 18 Black in the quarters and semis to reach the final.
Viper fell to Hou Skyline to end its second round of pool play. Viper rebounded to beat 414 18 Elite in the challenge round to make the top eight. All three of Viper’s gold matches went the distance. Viper defeated A2 18 Green in the quarters and then BVA 18 Mizuno in the semis.
Hou Skyline and BVA grabbed the bronze medals. Losing to SA Juniors in the semis was Hou Skyline’s only setback on the weekend. BVA lost its opening match to MN Select before going on a run that ended with a loss to Viper in the semis.
18 Freedom
Coast 18 Rachel took care of Paramount VBC 18s, 25-20, 25-22, in the championship match. It helped Coast end the weekend undefeated at 9-0. Coast lost just two sets during its run. It happened in consecutive matches. First, Coast topped Pulse 18 Henry in three in its challenge round. Then Coast opened up gold bracket by outlasting Wisconsin Premier 18 Teal in three. Coast swept MJVA 18 Fields in the semis.
Paramount had its hands full in reaching the final. It narrowly escaped EliteVBTC 18 Blue, 17-25, 25-21, 19-17, in its second challenge match. In the quarters, Paramount snuck past Slainte Black 18-1, 25-23, 19-25, 15-13, before clipping Webfoot 18-1 Brian, 25-27, 25-21, 15-13, in the semis. Webfoot’s only loss was to Paramount. Webfoot hadn’t dropped a set until then.
18 Patriot
San Gabriel 18 Rosh swept Balboa Bay 18 Blue, 25-15, 25-14, for the crown. It capped a perfect weekend for SG, which didn’t drop a set in going 10-0. Balboa Bay didn’t lose until the final in earning the silver medal.
NNJ 18 Jason and Vegas United 18 Navy tied for the bronze medal. NNJ was on an undefeated run until going against Balboa Bay in the semis. Vegas United lost three times in pool play but won at the right times. It beat Forza1 18 UA in challenge play then IV Force 18 Wildpepper in the quarters.
