Nebraska Juniors 181 Finishes 9th To Lead Local Teams at JVA World Challenge

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 9^th 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 19^th 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 21^st while Elite finished 22^nd.

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 9^th place

Nebraska Juniors 182 – tied for 41^st place

18 Club

River City Juniors 181 ROX – tied for 5^th place

River City Juniors 182 ROX – tied for 33^rd place

17 Open

VCNebraska 17 Elite – tied for 19^th place

Nebraska Juniors 171 – 21^st place

Nebraska Elite 17 Ooh Rah – 22^nd place

17 Premier

River City Juniors 171 ROX – 11^th place

17 Club

Nebraska Juniors 172 – 9^th place

VCNebraska 17 Black – tied for 13^th place

River City Juniors 172 ROX – tied for 19^th place

Volleystrong 17 Platinum – tied for 27^th place

16 Open

Nebraska Juniors 161 – tied for 25^th place

VCNebraska 16 Elite – tied for 25^th place

16 Club

River City Juniors 161 ROX – tied for 5^th place

VCNebraska 16 Black – tied for 17^th place

Nebraska Juniors 162 – tied for 33^rd place

River City Juniors 162 ROX – tied for 39^th place

15 Open

VCNebraska 15 Elite – tied for 19^th place

Nebraska Juniors 151 – 27^th place

15 Premier

VCNebraska 15 Black – 15^th place

15 Club

VCNebraska 15 Blue – tied for 27^th place

14 Open

VCNebraska 14 Elite – 20^th place

Nebraska Juniors 141 – tied for 21^st place

14 Premier

VCNebraska 14 Black – tied for 15^th place

14 Club

River City Juniors 141 ROX – tied for 5^th place

Nebraska Juniors 142 – tied for 5^th place

Papillion Volleyball Club 14 National – tied for 5^th place

VCNebraska 14 Blue – tied for 13^th place

River City Juniors 142 ROX – tied for 15^th place

VCNebraska 14 White – tied for 33^rd place

13 Open

Nebraska Juniors 131 – 14^th place

VCNebraska 13 Elite – tied for 15^th place

13 Club

VCNebraska 13 Black – 9^th place

River City Juniors 131 ROX – tied for 11^th place

VCNebraska 13 Blue – tied for 13^th place

River City Juniors 132 ROX – tied for 21^st place

Papillion Volleyball Club 13 National – tied for 27^th place

12 Open

River City Juniors 121 ROX – 8^th place

12 Club

Papillion Volleyball Club 12 National – 10^th place

River City Juniors 122 ROX – 13^th place

River City Juniors 111 ROX – tied for 15^th place