Northern Lights Recap: 12 Black Wins Bid to USAV Nationals

MINNEAPOLIS – It took a couple gut-wrenching three-set matches to do it, but Premier 12 Black become the fourth team from Nebraska to punch its ticket to the USAV Junior National Championships by winning the 12 American division at the Northern Lights Qualifier in Minneapolis recently.

The qualifier, which takes place over consecutive weekends with the younger teams playing April 17-19 and older teams April 24-26, is generally the last chance for Nebraska teams to qualify prior to the Great Plains Region Bid Tournament.

Watch championship point here:

Premier 12 Black came into the tournament as the 4^th seed out of the 25 teams competing in the tournament, and played up to its billing the first day, winning three matches while giving up just 45 points in six sets.

On the second day, 12 Black again won all three of its matches in straight sets to earn a first-round bye into the semifinals of the final day’s Gold bracket. In the semifinals, 12 Black rallied for a 20-25, 25-23, 15-10 win over Dynasty 11 Black of Kansas City.

In the championship, 12 Black took a 25-18, 20-25, 15-12 win over Highlands Performance 12 ROX – also of Kansas City.

Members of the 12 Black team are: Jayden Kistaitis, Maggie Massey, Emma Prentice, Brenna Skala, Bridget Smith, Paige Stobbe, Cendle Vacanti, Grace Werner, Abby Wolfe and Sammie Ziebarth. The team is coached by Nicole Gregory, Renee Gregory and Katy Brown.

This past weekend in the older age divisions, the top performances were turned in by Premier 16 Gold, which reached the Gold bracket quarterfinals in the 16 USA division and Nebraska ONE 16 Heat, which also reached the quarterfinals of the Gold bracket in the 16 American division.

Below are the results of the Northern Lights USAV Qualifier, listed in order from the oldest to youngest ages and highest level of competition to the lowest.

Northern Lights USAV Qualifier in Minneapolis

18 Open

No Nebraska Teams Competed

18 USA

Nebraska Impact 181 Chaos – 11^th

18 American

Nebraska Impact Power 18 Vortex – 20^th

Northeast Nebraska Power 18 Gold – tied for 28^th

17 Open

No Nebraska Teams Competed

17 USA

Nebraska ONE 17 Crossfire – 22^nd

17 American

Premier 17 Black – 15^th

Lincoln TeamMagic 171 – 22^nd

Lincoln TeamMagic 172 – tied for 49^th

16 Open

Nebraska Elite 16 Vici – 28^th

16 USA

Premier 16 Gold – tied for 5^th

Club Legacy 161 ROX – tied for 13^th

Nebraska ONE 16 EnFuego – 30^th

16 American

Nebraska ONE 16 Heat – tied for 5^th

Nebraska Elite 16 Pursuit – 53^rd

Nebraska Impact 161 KSUMA – tied for 57^th

Nebraska Impact 161 Power – tied for 70^th

Nebraska Elite 16 Eclipse – tied for 74^th

Nebraska Impact 162 Drago – 81^st

Nebraska Impact 163 SWAT – tid for 96^th

Bellevue Volleyball Club 161 – tied for 96^th

Lincoln TeamMagic 161 – tied for 100^th

15 Open

Nebraska Elite 15 Revolution – 8^th

Nebraska Impact Power 15 Banzai – tied for 15^th

15 USA

No Nebraska Teams Competed

15 American

Club Legacy 151 ROX – tied for 5^th

Nebraska Impact 15 DV8 – tied for 9^th

Nebraska Elite 15 Nitro – 18^th

Lincoln TeamMagic 151 – 34^th

Premier 15 Silver – 43^rd

Nebraska Impact 152 Havoc – tied for 47^th

Ka Boom 15 Assault – tied for 69^th

14 Open

No Nebraska Teams Competed

14 USA

No Nebraska Teams Competed

14 American

Nebraska Impact 141 Voltage – tied for 5^th

Nebraska Elite 14 Eclipse – tied for 9^th

Nebraska Impact 142 Shockers – tied for 9^th

Premier 14 Silver – 33^rd

Lincoln TeamMagic 141 – tied for 45^th

13 Open

No Nebraska Teams Competed

13 American

Nebraska Impact 131 Lanakila – 4^th

Club Legacy 132 Shattered – tied for 9^th

Nebraska Elite 13 Storm – 15^th

Premier 13 Red – 16^th

Lincoln TeamMagic 141 – 23^rd

Nebraska Elite 13 Moxie – tied for 26^th

12 National

Nebraska Elite 12 Velocity – 4^th

12 American

Premier 12 Black – 1^st

Nebraska Elite 12 Unify – tied for 9^th