Infinity 17 Fury Finishes 2nd at Crossroads After Being Seeded 99th out of 104 Teams

DENVER - Two years ago at this time, the Infinity Volleyball Club in Omaha did not exist. On Sunday, an Infinity 17s team completed the best showing in its division of any Nebraska club team at Colorado Crossroads - narrowly missing on the only available bid to the USAV National Championships in the 17 American Division.

After winning its first nine matches of the tournament, Infinity 17 Fury ran into a buzzsaw named Gainesville Juniors 17 Elite, which downed the Nebraska team 25-11, 25-14 in the championship match. Gainesville Juniors 17 Elite won all 10 of its tournament matches in straight sets and only surrendered more than 20 points in any set to one team along the way.

Infinity 17 Fury's road wasn't nearly as easy as it started the tournament seeded #99. After starting tournament play with a 25-20, 25-14 win over Oklahoma Charge 172, Infinity 17 Fury got its first signature win with a 25-22, 13-25, 15-12 win over the tournament's #6 seed San Gabriel Elite out of Los Angeles.

Infinity 17 Fury then won it's opening pool with a 25-17, 25-9 win over Colorado North Stars 17 Red. On the second day, Infinity started with a 25-19, 25-21 win over Lincoln-based TeamMagic 171 and then pulled out a pair of come-from-behind wins over Believe Volleyball Club of Colorado (19-25, 25-12, 15-13) and Diablo 171 Black of California (17-25, 25-22, 15-8) to again win its pool and advance to the 16-team, single-elimination tournament.

Infinity opened with a 25-23, 25-14 win over Dynasty 17 Blue of Kansas City and then defeated fellow Omaha club Nebraska Impact 171 Bushido in a heart-pounding 19-25, 25-20, 17-15 match to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, Infinity defeated Kansas Networks VBC 25-20, 25-18 to get to the title match.

Infinity 17 Fury is a team comprised of players that played last year for Omaha Wave (which is not operating this year) and players from Omaha Concordia. The team is coached by Concordia assistant Dan Yaksich. The Infinity club started last year when a group of parents approached Omaha Concordia head coach Kiley Hansen about coaching a club team. She still coaches that team - 17 Chaos - which tied for 57th in the same tournament in Denver.

Members of the Infinity 17 Fury team are Claire Bexten (Omaha Central), Olivia Flott (Papillion-LaVista), Victoria Jones (Omaha Concordia), Chloe Madigan (Omaha Central), Erica Scheetz (Millard North), Natalie Sjostedt (Bellevue West), Brooke Sorenson (Omaha Concordia), Jenna Spellerberg (Omaha Concordia) and Hannah Stodolka (Omaha Westside).

Meanwhile, at the JVA Showcase at the Wisconsin Dells over the weekend, Nebraska Juniors 17 Black came up just short of defending the championship it won as 161s last year.

Juniors 17 Black entered the 17 Open division as the #4 seed and opened tournament play by going 3-0 in its power pool with convincing wins over Minnesota Crossfire 171 (17-25, 27-25, 15-6), Wisconsin Volleyball Academy (25-23, 25-21) and IlliniElite17 (25-14, 25-21).

Juniors 17 Black - coached by Gretna assistant Cola Svec - stayed hot the following day, taking a 25-19, 25-15 win over Milwaukee Sting 17 Black and beating Fusion 17 Black 25-22, 25-23. Wisconsin Premier 17 Teal, however, snapped Juniors 17 Black winning streak with a 25-19, 25-15 win - which sent Juniors 17 Black into the championship bracket as the #3 seed.

In the championship bracket quarterfinals, Juniors 17 Black again defeated Minnesota Crossfire 171 in three sets - 25-11, 21-25, 15-13 - to reach the semifinals against IlliniElite17. This time, however, IlliniElite17 came out on top, taking a 25-21, 25-20 win.

Members of the Nebraska Juniors 17 Black team are Callie Alberico (Blair), Brianna Boender (Waverly), Ellie Brown (Holdrege), Taylor Els (Lincoln Southwest), Lauren Hinrichs (Doniphan-Trumbull), Kiley Hixson (Aurora), Raegan LeGrand (Papillion-LaVista South), Cassidy Loberg (Millard West), Elizabeth Loschen (Omaha Marian), Sophia Terwilleger (Omaha Marian), Paxton Throne (Millard South) and Amanda Young (Gretna).

JVA Showcase at Wisconsin Dells

18 Open (50 teams)

Nebraska Juniors 18 Black - tied for 9th
Nebraska Elite 181 Freak Show - 13th
Nebraska Juniors 18 Red - 26th

17 Open (36 teams)

Nebraska Juniors 17 Black - tied for 3rd
Nebraska Juniors 17 Red - tied for 9th

16 Open (68 teams)

Nebraska Juniors 16 Black - tied for 21st
Nebraska Juniors 16 Red - tied for 37th

15 Open (52 teams)

Nebraska Juniors 15 Black - tied for 21st

Colorado Crossroads USAV National Qualifier at Denver

18 Open (56 teams)

Premier 18 Gold - tied for 34th

18 USA (72 teams)

VCNebraska 18 Elite - tied for 41st
Premier 18 Black - 46th
Nebraska ONE 18 Lone Wolf - tied for 59th

17 Open (48 teams)

Premier 17 Gold - 13th
Nebraska Elite 171 SWAT - 32nd

17 USA (64 teams)

Nebraska ONE 17 Crossfire - tied for 19th

17 American (104 teams)

Infinity 17 Fury - 2nd
Nebraska Impact 171 Bushido - tied for 5th
TeamMagic 171 - tied for 27th
Premier 17 Black - tied for 29th
Infinity 17 Chaos - tied for 57th
Grand Island Islanders 17 Black - tied for 70th
VCNebraska 17 Black - 92nd

16 Open (56 teams)

Nebraska Elite 161 Vici - tied for 13th
Premier 16 Gold - tied for 53rd

16 USA (80 teams)

Club Legacy 16 ROX - 18th
VCNebraska 16 Elite - 19th

16 American (152 teams)

Nebraska ONE 16 Heat - tied for 5th
Nebraska Impact 161 Kusma - tied for 9th
Nebraska Elite 16 Pursuit - tied for 25th
Club Legacy 16 Shattered - tied for 25th
VCNebraska 16 Black - tied for 34th
Premier 16 Black - tied for 39th
Nebraska ONE 16 Nitro - tied for 47th
VCNebraska 16 Blue - tied for 58th
Nebraska Impact Power 161 - 74th
Nebraska Elite 16 Eclipse - tied for 119th