14 Gold's Title Highlights Nebraska's Performance at USAV

NEW ORLEANS, LA – It was tough sledding for a vast majority of the 19 Nebraska teams that competed in the USAV Girls Junior National Championships in New Orleans as only four secured top 10 finishes in their division.

For the most part, it was the pre-high school teams that had the most success competing in the highest divisions of competition for Nebraska.

Premier 14 Gold led the way with a divisional championship in the 14 National division. The team came into the tournament as the #3 seed, but finished second in its initial pool after dropping a tight 27-25, 26-24 decision to Victory 14 Elite from Texas.

A 26-24, 25-14 loss to KC Power in the second round of pool play forced Premier into a challenge match with Elevation of Ohio. Premier held on to win that match 25-23, 25-27, 16-14 to punch its ticket into the championship quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, Premier set the tone for the rest of the day with a convincing 25-18, 25-21 win over Oklahoma Peak Performance to set-up a rematch with KC Power in the semifinals. Just one day after getting swept by KC Power, Premier bounced back with a 27-25, 20-25, 15-13 victory to reach the championship match.

In the championship, Premier again found itself in a heart-pounding situation and again prevailed, taking a 20-25, 25-18, 15-12 victory.

Ashley Martin, Tadd Martin and Kiki Linebaugh coach the Premier 14 Gold team. Members of the team are, Jaiden Centeno, Brenna Green, Bailey Hanus, Jessica Hendrix, Lauren Maciejewski, Carly Renken, Megan Skovsende, Ashley Straub, Bailey Wilson and Hailey Zuroske.

The only Nebraska team competing in an Open division at USAV was Premier 13 Gold came into the tournament as one of the last seeds, but performed very well, finishing with a record of 5-4 and tying for 19^th place out of 36 teams.

Meanwhile, in the 12 National division, Premier 12 Gold finished in 9^th place after winning the silver bracket competition. There is no Open division for the 12s age division, so the National division is the highest level of competition available. In the same division, Nebraska ONE 12 Shockerz finished in a tie for 13^th place after also reaching the silver bracket.

In the older age division, both Premier 18 Gold (18 USA) and Premier 17 Gold (17 National) each finished fifth in its respective division. For Premier 18 Gold, Papillion-LaVista setter Jess Peters was named to the USA Division All-Tournament Team while for Premier 17 Gold, Omaha Marian DS Andie Hanus was named to the 17 National Division All-Tournament Team.

Below are the final results for all Nebraska teams that competed in the USAV Junior National Championships. They are listed in order of age, difficulty of division and their finish.

18s

National Division (48 teams)

Nebraska Impact 18 Chaos – 17^th

USA Division (24 teams)

Premier 18 Gold – 5^th

American Division (48 teams)

Premier 18 Black – 30^th

17s

National Division (48 teams)

Premier 17 Gold – tied for 5^th

American Division (48 teams)

Performance VBC 17 Bushido – tied for 43^rd