COLUMBUS, OH – If you thought the only club volleyball national championships were in either Orlando or New Orleans this year, you’re wrong.
And, if you think volleyball is just for girls, well, you’d be wrong about that as well.
The High Flyers 181 team out of Lincoln began competition in the USAV Boys’ Junior National Championships in Columbus, OH, today and is out to try and add to the string of success other Nebraska teams have had this summer at the national level.
The High Flyers are competing in the 18 Club division, although the team is fairly evenly divided between 16, 17 and 18 year olds. While the Great Plains Region has struggled to get anything going with the development of boys’ volleyball, this is a passionate group with a love for the sport.
In its initial pool play today, High Flyers scored a 25-16, 25-22 win over Tool City 18s but dropped matches to Sports Performance 18 Wave (25-23, 25-15) and MB Surf 18s White (26-24, 25-21).
With its 1-2 record, High Flyers will play in a challenge match at Noon on Thursday against Diamond Elite Enigma. The winner of the challenge match will remain in championship competition later that evening while the loser will be send into the consolation portion of the tournament.
High Flyers pulls players from throughout the region, and its roster is as follows (grades listed are grades just completed):
Alec Doran, 6-foot, soph., OH, Ankeny, Iowa – Ankeny Centennial High School.
Chance Wilken, 6-foot1, soph., OH/MH, Lincoln – Lincoln East High School
Jace Kranau, 6-foot, sr., Setter, Blue Hill – Blue Hill High School
Jared Williams, 5-foot-10, sr., Libero, Lincoln – Lincoln North Star High School
Jake Brand, 6-foot-9, sr., MH, Homer – Homer High School
Dillon Parks, 6-foot-1, jr., OPP, Milford – Milford High School
Christian Stoneall-Nelson, 6-foot-2, jr., OH/MH, Lincoln – Lincoln High School
Eric Bussen, 6-foot-3, jr., MH, Yutan – Yutan High School
Greg MacLean is the coach of the team, and anyone interested in getting involved with the boys team can reach him via email at high_flyer@earthlink.net.
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