Revisiting the GJNC Stars from 2017 – U16

<p><em>With the club season here several clubs and teams will approach 2018 with sights on the Girls’ Junior National Championships to be held in Detroit, MI (U15, U16, U17) and Anaheim, CA (U18). The GJNC is USA Volleyball’s pinnacle event for junior clubs. In anticipation for the big slate of qualifying events ahead we take a look back at highlights and star players representing Minnesota at the 2017 GJNC. Minnesota teams compete in and represent the North Country Region for USA Volleyball. </em></p> <p>Next up are the U16s of which there were 19 Minnesota teams that competed across five divisions - Open, National, USA, American and Patriot. The following is a list of results for MN-based teams, including links to their club’s website for additional information about them:</p> <p><strong>16 Open</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.northernlightsjuniors.org/">Northern Lights</a> 16-1 finished 13th overall with a 6-3 record, losing a tough three-set match to a team from Arizona for an opportunity to advance to the Gold bracket. </p> <p><strong>16 National</strong></p> <p>Earning a medal and the highest finish among all U16 Minnesota-based teams was <a href="http://www.gocrossfire.org/">Crossfire MN</a> 16-1. With an 8-2 overall record, Crossfire advanced to the gold bracket semifinals with an exciting 15-13 third set quarterfinal victory. However, their run fell short in the third set of their semifinal match with an opportunity to advance to the championship on the line. Crossfire’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="29868" first="Evie" last="Harrington"]</strong> (St. Michael, MN) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="29852" first="Lauren" last="Clark"]</strong> (Crystal, MN) both earned 16 National All-Tournament honors. </p> <p><strong>16 USA</strong></p> <p>Northern Lights 16-2 finished in 27th place overall with a 3-6 record.</p> <p><strong>16 American</strong></p> <p>Four Minnesota teams competed in the 16 American division with <a href="http://www.mnselect.com/page/show/1591170-home">MN Select</a> 16-1 leading the way with a 13th place finish overall on a 6-3 record. Northern Lights has two teams competing in this division as 16-B and 16-R finished 19th and 34th respectively. <a href="http://www.m1volleyball.com/">M1</a> 161 concluded the event in 21st position and a 5-4 overall record.</p> <p><strong>16 Patriot</strong></p> <p>Once again the Patriot division saw the most Minnesota teams with 12 among the 72 competing for a championship. <a href="http://www.rochesteryouthvolleyball.org/page/show/2486497-smv">SMV</a> 16-2 Yellow and Northern Lights 16-W tied at 13th place in the final standings. They were followed by <a href="http://www.swmnvb.com/">SWMNVB</a> (17th), <a href="http://mvavolleyball.com/">MVA</a> 16 Elite and <a href="http://www.chaskajuniors.com/">Chaska Juniors</a> 16-1 both at 21st, M1 162 (21st), SMV 16-1 Black (38th), Crossfire MN 16-2 (42nd), MN Select 16-2 (47th), <a href="http://clubtonka.org/">Club Tonka</a> 16-1 and Black Ice 16’s both at 58th, and <a href="https://www.hutchvolleyball.com/club-volleyball">Hutch Volleyball</a> 16-1 (72nd).</p> <p>These rising 17’s competed well and are experienced to do so once again with sights on Detroit, MI and the 2018 USA Volleyball national championships.</p>