In a whirlwind of volleyball activity over the last 10 days that involved teams competing in Chicago, Kansas City and Louisville, club teams from Nebraska captured three division championships, earned three bids to USAV Nationals (even though only two were accepted) and repeated as a World Champion.
At the Windy City USAV Qualifier in Chicago April 3-5, Nebraska Elite 18 Freak Show won the 18 USA championship and the bid to the USAV National Championships that goes with it. However, that bid was turned down and allowed to go to another team.
Meanwhile, at the Show Me USAV Qualifier in Kansas City April 3-5, Premier 17 Gold took home the championship in the 17 USA division and accepted the bid to USAV nationals in that division after coming out on top in the 19-team tournament. And, while Premier 18 Gold finished tied for 3rd in the 18 USAV division, it was able to accept a bid to USAV nationals as well after all the teams which finished ahead of it rejected the bid.
Then, at the JVA World Championships in Louisville April 10-12, River City Juniors 181 won the 18 Premier division championship, repeating a feat it accomplished last year as 171s in the 17 Premier division.
While all of the bids and titles for Nebraska teams came in mid or bottom-tier divisions, several teams also performed well in the highest level of competition (Open division) in two of the three tournaments.
In 17 Open at the Windy City Qualifier, Nebraska Elite 17 SWAT finished in a tie for 5th place while in the 16 Open division, Nebraska Elite 16 Vici finished in 13th place.
In Louisville, two teams came away with top-10 finishes in Open division play. Nebraska Juniors 18 Black finished in a tie for 9th place out of 40 teams in the 18 Open division while Nebraska Juniors 14 Black finished in 10th place out of 30 teams in the 14 Open division.
Below is a list of how all the Nebraska teams did in the three major tournaments. Teams are listed oldest to youngest and the division are listed from most to least competitive.
Windy City USAV Qualifier in Chicago – April 3-5
18 Open
No Nebraska teams entered
18 USA (16 teams)
Nebraska Elite 181 Freak Show – 1st
Nebraska Impact 181 Chaos – 5th
18 American
No Nebraska teams entered
17 Open (20 teams)
Nebraska Elite 17 SWAT – tied for 5th
17 USA
No Nebraska teams entered
17 American (39 teams)
Nebraska Impact 171 Bushido – tied for 5th
16 Open (25 teams)
Nebraska Elite 161 Vici – 13th
14 Open
No Nebraska teams entered
14 USA
No Nebraska teams entered
14 American (69 teams)
Club Legacy 14 ROX – 4th
Show Me USAV Qualifier in Kansas City April 3-5
18 Open
No Nebraska teams entered
18 USA (20 teams)
Premier 18 Gold – tied for 3rd
Nebraska ONE Lone Wolf – 18th
18 American (65 teams)
Nebraska Gold 18s – 2nd
Flatrock VBC – tied for 9th
South Central Nebraska VBC 18 Black – tied for 9th
Premier 18 Black – tied for 9th
Nebraska Impact Power 18 Vortex – tied for 21st
South Central Nebraska VBC 18 Red – tied for 43rd
Starlings 18s – tied for 51st
KaBoom 17s – tied for 61st
17 Open
No Nebraska teams entered
17 USA (19 teams)
Premier 17 Gold – 1st
17 American (67 teams)
Nebraska West 17s – tied for 17th
Club Legacy 17 ROX – tied for 21st
Nebraska X’s 17 Red – 37th
16 Open
No Nebraska teams entered
16 USA
No Nebraska teams entered
16 American (83 teams)
Premier 16 Black – tied for 64th
Nebraska ONE 16 Nitro – tied for 64th
JVA World Challenge in Louisville April 10-12
18 Open (40 teams)
Nebraska Juniors 18 Black – tied for 9th
Nebraska Juniors 18 Red – 35th
18 Premier (71 teams)
River City Juniors 181 – 1st
River City Juniors 182 – tied for 21st
17 Open (30 teams)
Nebraska Juniors 17 Red – tied for 13th
Nebraska Juniors 17 Black – 23rd
17 Premier (36 teams)
River City Juniors 171 – tied for 17th
17 Club (48 teams)
River City Juniors 172 – tied for 15th
16 Open (40 teams)
Nebraska Juniors 16 Black – 27th
Nebraska Juniors 16 Red – tied for 38th
16 Premier
No Nebraska teams entered
16 Club (84 teams)
River City Juniors 161 – tied for 27th
River City Juniors 162 – 44th
15 Open (32 teams)
Nebraska Juniors 15 Black – tied for 13th
15 Premier
No Nebraska teams entered
15 Club (74 teams)
River City Juniors 151 – tied for 14th
River City Juniors 152 – 67th
14 Open (30 teams)
Nebraska Juniors 14 Black – 10th
Nebraska Juniors 14 Red – tied for 27th
14 Premier
No Nebraska teams entered
14 Club (60 teams)
River City Juniors – 40th
13 Open
No Nebraska teams entered
13 Premier (50 teams)
River City Juniors 131 – tied for 17th
River City Juniors 132 – tied for 47th
12 Open
No Nebraska teams entered
12 Premier (21 teams)
River City Juniors – tied for 15th
