Frostbite Festival U18 Title Achieved From Perfect SMV Effort

<p>Perfection was the outcome for SMV 17-1 Black in earning the 2018 U18 Frostbite Festival title with an unblemished 9-0 record and without dropping a set over the two-day event. Further, only one team was able to score more than 20 points in a set against the champs, that being Club Tonka 17-1 who managed identical 25-21, 25-21 set scores during pool play action.</p> <p>As the tournament’s top seed, SMV came out blazing sweeping through the first round of pool play in defeating Hammerhead 17-1 (25-14, 25-9), PI Rage 17-1 (25-14, 25-7), and Iowa Heart 17U Black (25-14, 25-17). That trend continued in round two pool play that included SMV’s win over Club Tonka as well as wins against Thunder 18-1 (25-14, 25-10) and Southern Elite Energy 18 (25-9, 25-9).</p> <p>With 16 teams competing in the event, following pool play the group was divided for gold and silver bracket tournament play. In the gold bracket, SMV defeated Iowa Heart 25-17, 25-13, advancing them to face Club Tonka 18-1 in the semifinals following their 25-20, 25-18 win over Thunder 18-1. The other semifinal featured Hammerhead 18-1, a 13-25, 25-22, 15-12 victor over Club Tonka 17-1, against Stewie 17 Blue, a 25-17, 18-25, 15-12 winner over Southern Elite Energy 18. SMV advanced to the finals with a 25-12, 25-18 over Club Tonka 18-1 as Stewie cruised to a 25-14, 25-18 win over Hammerhead. SMV would continue their weekend dominance closing out the tournament and capturing the title with a 25-12, 25-13 win. The silver bracket final match pitted two Impact teams against one another as 18-Pink earned the win over 18-Black by set scores of 25-18, 25-20.</p> <p>Members of the SMV 17-1 gold bracket champs include:</p> <p>2019: <strong>Adrienne Anderson</strong> (Century HS), <strong>Abbey Bigelow</strong> (Kasson-Mantorville HS), <strong>Caroline Braun</strong> (Kasson-Mantorville HS), <strong>Rachel Fink</strong> (Century HS), <strong>Jordyn Glynn</strong> (Grand Meadow HS), <strong>Taylor Hodenfield</strong> (Lourdes HS), <strong>Nicole Lund</strong> (Century HS)</p> <p>2020: <strong>Kelly Klees</strong> (Mayo HS), <strong>Kaitlyn Prondzinski</strong> (Stewartville HS), <strong>Emilee Terry</strong> (Kasson-Mantorville HS)</p> <p>Final standings:</p> <p>1^st – SMV 17-1 Black</p> <p>2^nd – Stewie 17 Blue</p> <p>3^rd (tie) – Hammerhead 18-1 &amp; Club Tonka 18-1</p> <p>5^th (tie) – Club Tonka 17-1, Thunder 18-1, Iowa Heart 17U B, &amp; S. Elite Energy 18</p> <p>9^th – Impact 18-Pink</p> <p>10^th – Impact 18-Black</p> <p>11^th (tie) – Hammerhead 17-1 &amp; Crex Meadows 17</p> <p>13^th (tie) – Winona JO 17U, Rochester Storm 17, Impact 17-1, &amp; PI Rage 17-1</p>