President’s Day 14, 15 & 16 Open Recap: Nebraska Teams Make Statement in 15 Open
OMAHA – Nebraska’s Class of 2019 has the potential to be one of the deepest recruiting classes in terms of talent in many years in the state, and that’s reflected in how the 15 Open division looks after the first day of competition at the Asics President’s Day Classic.
Five of the final 12 teams still in the hunt for the title are from Nebraska. That’s the good news. The bad news is that three of them – Premier 15 Gold, Nebraska Elite 15 Kekoa and Nebraska Elite 15 Synergy will all be knocking heads in the same pool tomorrow along with Colorado Juniors 15 Shannon. Only two of those four teams will advance to the championship bracket.
VCNebraska 15 Elite also advanced in 15 Open competition by going 2-1 today with wins over Colorado Juniors 15 Nikki and Ozark Juniors 151. Its only loss came to Mizuno Northern Lights 151. Nebraska ONE 15 Titanium also advanced after it went 2-1 with wins over Colorado Juniors 15 Shannon and Mizuno Northern Lights 152 before falling in three sets to Springfield Juniors 15 Red.
Perhaps the best news for the five Nebraska teams in the 15 Open division is that neither had the kind of day it’s capable of having and still advanced.
Premier 15 Gold stumbled out of the gates this morning before regrouping for a 20-25, 25-18, 15-12 win over Minnesota Select 151 and then rolled past Kaepa Rapid Spikers 25-14, 25-12. KC Power then handed 15 Gold its only loss in heart-breaking fashion 19-25, 25-12, 15-13.
Nebraska Elite 15 Kekoa also was shaky in its first match, rallying for a 22-25, 25-18, 15-13 win over Club ONE 15 Black and then held on for a 25-21, 18-25, 15-13 win over Topeka Impact 151. Momentum 15 Black, however, prevented Kekoa from having a perfect day with a 25-23, 25-23 win in the final match.
Elite 15 Synergy went 1-2 on the day, getting its lone with over CIS 15M, which was vital in Elite earning the tiebreaker over CIS for the opportunity to advance up out of its pool.
VCNebraska 15 Elite has a strong showing with a 27-25, 17-25, 15-7 win over Colorado Juniors 15 Nikki and a straight-set win over Ozark Juniors sandwiched around a straight-set loss to Mizuno Northern Lights 151.
It might have been Nebraska ONE 15 Titanium, however, that had the most impressive day considering the team went 2-1 without one of the top freshmen in the state in Johnson-Brock’s Fallon Stutheit who was ill. Titanium has already established itself as one of the most talented and scrappy 15s teams in the state and that was further evident in its 22-25, 25-23, 16-14 win over Colorado Juniors 15 Shannon and its 25-18, 25-21 handling of Mizuno Northern Lights 152. Titanium’s only loss came the hard way in a 31-29, 27-29, 15-11 loss to Springfield Juniors.
Premier 15 Gold libero Jaiden Centeno of Millard West gets a lot of love as being an amazing freshman – and she deserves every bit of that. But Lincoln North Star freshman libero Erin Williams of Titanium is right there with Centeno and she was flashing some big-time defense today.
It wasn’t quite as good of a day in the 16 Open division for Nebraska teams as only Nebraska Elite 16 Meraki – which went 3-0 – advanced on to the final 12.
Meraki didn’t drop a set and wasn’t challenged all that much after its tournament-opening 25-21, 25-22 win over Rocky Select 16 Black. Meraki followed that up with a 25-17, 25-17 win over Club Iowa 16 Silver and a 25-14, 25-14 win over Gold Cal Juniors.
Kelsie Cada, right, and Maggie Sempeck, left, of VCNebraska 16 Elite both go after a serve during competition Saturday at the President’s Day Classic.VCNebraska 16 Elite went 1-2 with a nice 22-25, 25-18, 15-10 win over Colorado Juniors 16 Kirk while Nebraska ONE 16 Krush and Premier 16 Gold each went 0-3 on the day.
In 14 Open, the competition involved two days worth of pool play. Nebraska Elite 14 Havoc sits at 3-0 so far, sweeping both Club Legacy 14 ROX and Adrenaline 14 ROX before beating Team Momentum 14 Navy 25-21, 23-25, 15-11. Premier 14 Gold also is 3-0 with wins over Colorado Juniors 14 Matt, Mizuno Northern Lights 141 and VCNebraska 14 Elite. Club Legacy 14 ROX finished the day at 2-2 and VCNebraska 14 Elite was 0-3.