Revisiting the GJNC Stars from 2017 – U18

<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 of 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>The final recap highlights the accomplishments from the U18 age division of which there were 10 Minnesota teams that competed across four of the five divisions offered - 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>18 Open</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.mnselect.com/page/show/1591170-home">MN Select</a> again led the way in the open division as their 18-1 team finished with a 5-3 record and in 17th position. The team lost a tough challenge bracket match with the score of 15-13 in the third and final set that would have kept them in the hunt for a gold bracket opportunity. Contributing to the effort were current seniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="152" first="Grace" last="Persson"]</strong> (Eden Prairie HS), <strong>Kayla Blair</strong> (Prior Lake HS), and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="9722" first="Kari" last="Zumach"]</strong> (Buffalo HS). </p> <p><strong>18 National</strong></p> <p>Both MN Select 18-2 and <a href="http://www.gocrossfire.org/page/show/1980666-home">Crossfire MN</a> 18-1 competed in the 18 National division. MN Select finished 11th overall with a 5-3 record, while Crossfire ended at 1-6 and in 37th position. Crossfire’s roster included rising senior standout libero <strong>Kaitlyn Weimerskirch</strong> (Champlin Park HS).</p> <p><strong>18 USA</strong></p> <p>No Minnesota North Country region teams participated in the 18 USA division in 2017.</p> <p><strong>18 American</strong></p> <p>Four teams represented Minnesota and the North Country region in the 18 American division. The highest finisher was 18 <a href="http://www.minnesotavolleyballacademy.com/">MVA</a> ELITE with a 4-4 record and in 27th place. <a href="https://vitalvolleyball.com/">Vital</a> volleyball club placed two teams 18 Royal (37th) and 18 Gold (51st), while <a href="http://www.club43volleyball.com/">Club 43</a> U181 Nat finished 49th with a 6-2 overall record. Players to keep an eye on during the 2018 club season include Club 43’s <strong>Jaelyn Young</strong> (St. Paul Central), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="57482" first="Chudear" last="Tut"]</strong> (Hopkins HS) and <strong>Erika Stensland</strong> (West Lutheran HS).</p> <p><strong>18 Patriot</strong></p> <p><a href="http://clubtonka.org/">Club Tonka</a> 18-1 finished with a 2-5 overall record and in 23rd place as <a href="http://www.m1volleyball.com/">M1</a> had two teams competing in their 181 (32nd) and 182 (36th) squads. <strong>Claire Loomans</strong> (Minneapolis SW HS) and <strong>Madeline Eppard</strong> (Orono HS) return for Club Tonka in 2018.</p> <p>It was an exciting 2017 club season and GJNC event for all Minnesota-based teams. There is plenty to be excited about as the 2018 club season gets under way. MN Select 18-1 will certainly be a contender this coming summer with a roster loaded with some of the country’s top talent. Good luck to all teams with GJNC qualifying season right around the corner!</p>