Nebraska ONE 13 Shockerz, Premier 14 Gold Earn USAV GJNC Bids in KC
KANSAS CITY – It’s safe to say that the Nebraska ONE 13 Shockerz didn’t make it easy on themselves to qualify for the USAV Girls Junior National Championships at the Show Me Qualifier in Kansas City last weekend, but the squad still accomplished just that despite taking a difficult journey to get there.
In each of the first two days, Nebraska ONE faced a do-or-die match to keep its hopes for a bid alive and each time the Shockerz came through with a three-set win to ultimately finished fourth in the 13 Open division and earn a bid to nationals. Ultimately, it was Nebraska ONE’s 25-19, 25-27, 15-4 win over Team Momentum that clinched its place in the top four of the tournament and the bid. Even though only two bid were available at the tournament, two of the other final four teams in the tournament had won bids at earlier tournaments meaning the Shockerz played in the championship pool on the final day already knowing it had secured a bid.
Nebraska ONE’s first dicey situation came on the first day after the Shockerz had defeated KC Power 131 in three sets but then dropped a three-set decision to Rockwood Thunder 131. That meant Nebraska ONE faced a must-win match against HJC Elite in order to advance and the Shockerz came through with a 25-14, 23-25, 15-6 win.
By earning the bid to USAV nationals, the Shockerz became the third team from Nebraska to qualify for the GJNC in that division, joining Premier 13 Gold and Nebraska Elite 13 Thunder which had qualified previously at the Colorado Crossroads and Mideast Qualifiers, respectively. Only 24 bids are available across the nation at qualifiers for the 13 Open division, so for Nebraska to have three of the 16 teams to already qualify is incredibly impressive.
Members of the Nebraska ONE 13 Shockerz are: Maisie Besieger, Malorie Besieger, Kalli Kroeker, Holly Ochsner, Brooke Peltz, Molly Ramsey, Kyle Sealock, Kaysia Woods, Tyrah Woods and Brittany Wulf. The team is coached by Christina Besieger and Ashley Wagner.
A similar situation played itself out in the 14 Open division where Premier 14 Gold was able to secure a bid to the USAV GJNC with a fifth-place finish in Kansas City.
Premier 14 GoldAfter going 2-1 on the first day, Premier split its first two matches on the second day and faced a must-win match against Rockwood Thunder in order to advance to the six-team championship round. Gold controlled that match pretty much from the start and took a 25-19, 25-21 victory to keep its bid hopes alive.
In the championship round on Monday, Premier dropped its first two matches and found itself playing for fifth place against San Gabriel Elite of California. But, again, because some of the teams that placed higher had already secured a bid at other qualifiers, the winner of the Premier-San Gabriel match would finish fifth and still get a bid.
Premier controlled the first then mounted a furious rally late in the second set to take the match 25-17, 26-24 and earn the bid.
Members of the 14 Gold team are: Emma Crouch, London Emmons, Sophie Hendrix, Gabrielle Nordaker, Chloe Paschal, McKenna Ruch, Kennedy Schaecher, Brooklyn Schram, Lydia Yost and Cameron Young. The team is coached by Ashley Martin, Tad Martin and Kiki Linebaugh.
Below are the results of all the teams from Nebraska that competed in Kansas City last weekend. The Show Me Qualifier continues this weekend for the older age divisions.
15 American Division
Tied for 9th – Premier 15 Black
Tied for 17th – Nebraska Elite 15 Fortis
Tied for 17th – Nebraska ONE 15 Platinum
Tied for 17th – Club Legacy 15 ROX
Tied for 17th – Performance VBC 15 NIKE
Tied for 35th – Premier 15 Red
Tied for 35th – Performance VBC Power
Tied for 39th – South Central Nebraska VBC 15 Black
Tied for 54th – Grand Island Juniors 151
Tied for 65th – Performance 15 Pride
Tied for 84th – Nebraska ONE 15 Momentum
Tied for 95th – Nebraska ONE 15 Eclipse
107th – Nebraska ONE 15 Renegades
Tied for 108th – Premier 15 Silver
Tied for 108th – TeamMagic 151 Shock
Tied for 110th – TeamMagic 152 Electric
Tied for 110th – Nebraska ONE 14 Thunder
14 Open Division
5th – Premier 14 Gold
Tied for 21st – Nebraska Elite 14 Havoc
14 USA Division
4th – Club Legacy 14 ROX
Tied for 13th – Premier 14 Black
14 American Division
Tied for 9th – Premier 14 Red
Tied for 9th – Club Legacy 14 Accelerator
Tied for 29th – Nebraska ONE 14 Xtreme
Tied for 31st – TeamMagic 14 Platinum
Tied for 44th – Club Legacy 14 Prism
Tied for 53rd – Nebraska Elite 14 Alliance
Tied for 67th – Nebraska ONE 14 Eclipse
Tied for 69th – Performance VBC 14 Power
Tied for 75th – Premier 14 Silver
Tied for 70th – Nebraska ONE 14 Inferno
Tied for 93rd – Nebraska ONE 14 Mayhem
Tied for 93rd – Volleystrong 14 Pioneers
99th – TeamMagic 142 All In
13 Open Division
4th – Nebraska ONE 13 Shockerz
13 American Division
Tied for 25th – Club Legacy 13 ROX
Tied for 43rd – Nebraska ONE 132 Chaos
Tied for 45th – Performance VBC 13 NIKE
Tied for 45th – Nebraska ONE 13 Xtreme
Tied for 75th – Nebraska ONE 13 Momentum
Tied for 75th – Performance VBC 13 Power
12 National Division
Tied for 3rd – Premier 12 Gold
Tied for 5th – Nebraska Elite 12 Synergy
Tied for 5th – Nebraska ONE 12 Voltz
Tied for 11th – Performance 12 NIKE
12 American Division
Tied for 5th – Premier 12 Black
Tied for 29th – Nebraska ONE 12 Smash
31st – Premier 12 Red
Tied for 41st – Premier 12 Silver
11s Division
Tied for 7th – Premier 11 Black