Nebraska Elite 15 Synergy Wins Northern Lights Championship

MINNEAPOLIS – Nebraska Elite 15 Synergy may have started as the #9 overall seed of the 80-team field in the 15 American Division at the Northern Lights USAV Qualifier last weekend, but the Omaha-based team finished the tournament as the top team.

Nebraska Elite 15 Synergy capped a gut-wrenching Sunday in Minneapolis with a 26-24, 19-25, 15-4 win over Club H of Huntington Beach, CA, in the championship match. All four of Synergy’s wins in the Gold bracket on Sunday came in three sets.

Although the team earned the only bid available in the division for the USAV Girls Junior National Championships, Synergy declined the bid because of its prior commitment to the AAU National Championships, which ultimately gave the USAV bid to Club H.

It was a long and stressful Sunday for Synergy in the 16-team Gold bracket. Elite started with a 11-25, 25-23, 15-11 win over Mizuno Northern Lights 15 Red in the first round and then turned around and beat Elite 15U Gold 21-25, 25-20, 15-12 in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Elite Synergy again had to rally, this time for a 21-25, 25-20, 15-12 win over Madfrog 15 Black to get to the championship match. For the tournament, Synergy went 9-1 and six of its 10 matches went three sets.

Members of the team are: Mackenzie Kilton, Lily O’Mara, Lexie Langley, Taylor Pribyl, Mallory Stamm, Michaela Bartels, Margaret McElhose, Kamryn Willman, Megan Raszler and Kylie Emsick. The team is coached by Brandon Cerny and Kelly Ziola.

Below are the results of how all the teams from Nebraska did at the Northern Lights Qualifier.

2016 Northern Lights USAV Qualifier

12 National

None.

12 American

Premier 12 Black – Tied for 5^th place

Nebraska Elite 12 Zinc – Tied for 5^th place

Club Legacy 12 Prism – 14^th place

13 Open

Premier 13 Gold – Tied for 7^th place

Nebraska Elite 13 Thunder – 9^th place

13 American