With more out-of-state clubs participating this season during the first stop of the Tour of Texas in Dallas back in January, it led to a development no one could see coming. On the first day of play Dynasty 14 Black and Hou Skyline 14 Royal faced off in Power Pool 2. Dynasty came out ahead in three sets. Additionally, they crossed paths twice more at Triple Crown, with Hou Skyline winning both.
Fast forward to Thursday, the final day of competition at USAV nationals in Las Vegas and the sides were the last two standing as they duked it out in the 14 Open championship match. Earlier in the tournament, national No. 3 Hou Skyline beat national No. 8 Dynasty in the final match of the first round of pool play. However, in the rematch in the final it was Dynasty returning the favor and sweeping, 25-22, 26-24, to earn the title of national champions. The victory completed ‘the double’ for Dynasty, which also finished with the 14 Open gold medal at AAUs last month.
In contrast to 15 Open, the 14 Open gold bracket didn’t feature the same thrilling ride that saw five of the seven contests go the distance. Instead, just two of the gold bracket showdowns went to three sets, and none past the quarterfinals.
However, one of the three-set results was massive as national No. 22 OT 14 Laura upset top-ranked Madfrog 14 Green, 25-22, 23-25, 15-8, in a stunner. With Madfrog out, all attention went to national No. 2 HPSTL 14 Royal. HPSTL managed to sweep national No. 13 Legacy 14-1 Adidas, 25-18, 25-23, in its quarterfinal.
That set up a clash between Dynasty and HPSTL, which was 3-2 previously against Dynasty this year. However, Dynasty was victorious in the prior two outings before Thursday’s meeting, as Dynasty beat HPSTL at Show Me and then at the Midwest PreNational event in early June. Dynasty came through once more in the semis, sweeping 25-18, 25-21 and evening the season series at 3-3.
The other semifinal featured Hou Skyline and OT Laura. OT defeated Hou Skyline at Sunshine back in March in their only prior meeting. This time, Hou Skyline was ready and swept, 25-20, 25-16.
While Hou Skyline had no issues in sweeping national No. 6 TAV 14 Black, 25-13, 25-16, in its quarterfinal, Dynasty was in trouble early against national No. 28 SG Elite 14 Rosh. SG was the lowest-ranked team still in contention and put Dynasty on edge before the AAU champion rallied back and prevailed in three, 19-25, 25-18, 15-9, in its quarterfinal.
While Madfrog and HPSTL proved themselves the best teams leading up to nationals, there is no denying no team was playing better at the end of the year than Dynasty. Though the depth of competition wasn’t the same, Dynasty went 12-0 in Orlando where it defeated A5 14-1 Helen in the final. Dynasty went 10-1 in Vegas.
For added perspective, Dynasty lost four times at the Windy City qualifier in late March. Since then, Dynasty went 35-2 to close out the season. The only other team beside Hou Skyline to beat Dynasty in that stretch was Ozark 14-1 Elite, which finished tied for 19th in Vegas.
It was difficult to see OT Laura’s upset of Madfrog coming. OT ended tied for fifth at AAUs after losing to Legacy in the quarterfinals. In Vegas, OT lost twice in the first round of pool to AVC Cle 14 Red and A5. Madfrog also beat OT at Triple Crown.
