KANSAS CITY – After a rough start to the 2016 JVA World Challenge in Kansas City over the weekend, Nebraska teams rebounded the final two days with strong finishes.
Nebraska’s best showing in the Open divisions came in 18 Open where Nebraska Juniors 181 finished in a tie for 9th place out of 46 teams. The team coached by Gwen Egbert and ranked #49 in the nation was upset 25-21, 28-26 in pool play on the first day by Southwest Illinois, but the squad rebounded with a 25-23, 25-22 upset of AVA of Texas, ranked #30 in the nation, to stay in the title hunt.
In pool play on Day 2, Nebraska Juniors 181 started with a 25-9, 25-20 win over Michigan Volleyball Academy and then convincingly swept #33 Washington Volleyball Academy 25-17, 25-18. In its final match of the day, Juniors dropped a 25-15, 27-25 decision to #2-ranked Sports Performance, but still advanced to the Gold bracket by finishing second in its pool.
All 12 teams in the Gold bracket on Sunday were ranked in the top 50 nationally, including five of the top seven. Nebraska Juniors 181’s run came to an end in the first round with a 25-17, 17-25, 15-13 loss to #20 Rockwood Thunder.
In 17 Open, VCNebraska used a strong start to the tournament to help it to the highest finish among Nebraska teams after tying for 19th place. VCNebraska got sweeps of both MVA Black and Rockwood Thunder Blue in pool play on the first day and its only loss came in three sets to the #9 team in the nation – KIVA – which features seven players committed to Division I schools.
On the second day, VCNebraska fell in straight sets to #21 Fusion and then pushed #8 Mintonette in a 22-25, 25-13, 15-9 loss which, combined with another three-set loss to Asics MAVS 171, sent VCNebraska into Sunday’s Silver bracket. In the Silver bracket, VCNebraska fell to Alliance of Tennessee in the first round.
Also in 17 Open, both Nebraska Elite 17 Ooh Rah and Nebraska Juniors 171 went 1-2 on the first day but each responded by winning their next five matches in a row, which led to the teams facing each other for the championship of the Bronze bracket. Nebraska Juniors 171 was able to take a 25-15, 23-25, 15-12 win to finish 21st while Elite finished 22nd.
Below is a recap of how all teams from Nebraska did in their respective divisions at the JVA World Challenge.
2016 JVA World Challenge
18 Open
Nebraska Juniors 181 – tied for 9th place
Nebraska Juniors 182 – tied for 41st place
18 Club
River City Juniors 181 ROX – tied for 5th place
River City Juniors 182 ROX – tied for 33rd place
17 Open
VCNebraska 17 Elite – tied for 19th place
Nebraska Juniors 171 – 21st place
Nebraska Elite 17 Ooh Rah – 22nd place
17 Premier
River City Juniors 171 ROX – 11th place
17 Club
Nebraska Juniors 172 – 9th place
VCNebraska 17 Black – tied for 13th place
River City Juniors 172 ROX – tied for 19th place
Volleystrong 17 Platinum – tied for 27th place
16 Open
Nebraska Juniors 161 – tied for 25th place
VCNebraska 16 Elite – tied for 25th place
16 Club
River City Juniors 161 ROX – tied for 5th place
VCNebraska 16 Black – tied for 17th place
Nebraska Juniors 162 – tied for 33rd place
River City Juniors 162 ROX – tied for 39th place
15 Open
VCNebraska 15 Elite – tied for 19th place
Nebraska Juniors 151 – 27th place
15 Premier
VCNebraska 15 Black – 15th place
15 Club
VCNebraska 15 Blue – tied for 27th place
14 Open
VCNebraska 14 Elite – 20th place
Nebraska Juniors 141 – tied for 21st place
14 Premier
VCNebraska 14 Black – tied for 15th place
14 Club
River City Juniors 141 ROX – tied for 5th place
Nebraska Juniors 142 – tied for 5th place
Papillion Volleyball Club 14 National – tied for 5th place
VCNebraska 14 Blue – tied for 13th place
River City Juniors 142 ROX – tied for 15th place
VCNebraska 14 White – tied for 33rd place
13 Open
Nebraska Juniors 131 – 14th place
VCNebraska 13 Elite – tied for 15th place
13 Club
VCNebraska 13 Black – 9th place
River City Juniors 131 ROX – tied for 11th place
VCNebraska 13 Blue – tied for 13th place
River City Juniors 132 ROX – tied for 21st place
Papillion Volleyball Club 13 National – tied for 27th place
12 Open
River City Juniors 121 ROX – 8th place
12 Club
Papillion Volleyball Club 12 National – 10th place
River City Juniors 122 ROX – 13th place
River City Juniors 111 ROX – tied for 15th place
