13 Teams Punch Ticket to Indianapolis at Great Plains USAV Bid Tournament

OMAHA – A total of 13 teams from Nebraska earned bids to the USAV Girls Junior National Championships in Indianapolis this summer at the 2016 Great Plains Region Bid Tournament over the weekend.

If teams want to compete in the USAV national championships, they must either qualify at one of the regional qualifiers throughout the season or capture a bid via its designated regions. Regions have different ways of distributing bids and the Great Plains Region – which covers Nebraska – opts to hand out the bids based on a one-day, double-elimination tournament. Based on the number of athletes registered with USAV in the region, Great Plains was able to award just one bid to the National division and one to the American in each age group.

Not all major clubs in Nebraska opt to play in the USAV bid tournament. Only Premier, Club Legacy, Nebraska ONE and Performance VBC and Nebraska Elite (12s-14s) sent more than one team to play in the bid tournaments this weekend. Meanwhile, Nebraska Juniors, VCNebraska, River City Juniors and Nebraska Elite (15s-18s) opt to compete in the AAU national championships or other international year-end tournaments.

In the 17s bid tournament, Premier 17 Gold earned the National bid and in the process rejected the bid it had earned to the USA division at a qualifier early this year. That USA division bid then went to Premier 17 Black after it defeated Nebraska ONE 17 Shockwave in the loser’s bracket final. Nebraska ONE 17 Shockwave then claimed the American division bid. Club Legacy 17 ROX did not compete but had secured a bid to the GJNC in the USA division during qualifier season.

Premier 16 Gold earned the National bid in the 16s tournament and Nebraska ONE 16 Krush took the American bid with a 2-1 win over Performance VBC 16 NIKE.

Things got a little dicey in the 15s bid tournament when Premier 15 Gold – which won the National division championships at the 2015 GJNC – started the day without two of its players and then lost two more during the tournament, leaving it with just six players. Premier 15 Black defeated Gold in two sets and forced Gold to play Performance VBC 15 NIKE just for the opportunity to reach the national tournament. 15 Gold held of Performance 2-1 and then 15 Black forfeited the championship match and subsequent one-set playoff to allow 15 Gold to take the National bid while taking the American bid for itself. Nebraska ONE 15 Titanium did not compete in the tournament because it has already earned a bid in the USA division.

In the 14s tournament, Premier 14 Black upset Nebraska Elite 14 Havoc in the championship match and one-set playoff to earn the National bid while Havoc took the American bid. Premier 14 Gold had already earned an Open division bid during qualifier play.

In the 13s division – where Nebraska Elite 13 Thunder, Nebraska ONE 13 Shockerz and Premier 13 Gold have all earned Open division bids already – Premier 13 Black took the National bid and Nebraska ONE 13 Chaos earned the American bid. In the 12a division, Premier 12 Gold won the National bid and 12 Black won the American division.

Teams still have one last chance to qualify for the GJNC this weekend at the Northern Lights Tournament. Also this weekend, Premier 18 Gold will take part in the USAV GJNC for 18s in Milwaukee. USAV decided to move most 18s divisions to a separate and earlier location this year to shorten the season for an age division dominated by athletes who are seniors in high school.

Great Plains Teams That Have Qualified for USAV GJNC

18 Open – None

18 National – Premier 18 Gold

18 USA – None

18 American – Performance 18 NIKE

17 Open – None

17 National – Premier 17 Gold

17 USA – Club Legacy 17 ROX, Premier 17 Black

17 American – Nebraska ONE 17 Shockwave

16 Open – None

16 National – Premier 16 Gold

16 USA – None