The month of January has come and gone in a flash. With no major snow storms, no Packers in the playoffs, to say Wisconsin has been exciting is, well…I’ll let you finish that statement. One thing I know is that…
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Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log inThe month of January has come and gone in a flash. With no major snow storms, no Packers in the playoffs, to say Wisconsin has been exciting is, well…I’ll let you finish that statement. One thing I know is that there is a lot of great club volleyball being played and so many more positional trainings, early morning car rides, hotels, and team inside jokes to be made in the club volleyball world. Here is a look at the weekend to come for Wisconsin club volleyball.
Northern Lights Qualifier….In Omaha
The Northern Lights Qualifier is traditionally held in Minneapolis, but with the Super Bowl, the site was changed this year to Omaha. The set up for the Super Bowl is quite the process with the whole area around US Bank Stadium being transformed into a large football village, with all the logistics, hotels, and security NLQ would not be a possibility to be held downtown Minneapolis at the Convention Center.
In Omaha, the 18s will be trying to qualify for a bid to USA Nationals. Milwaukee Sting 18 Gold fell just short a couple weeks ago in Chicago, and will be trying again starting out with Mizuno Northern Lights 17-1, HPSTL 18 Elite, and A4 Volley 18 Purple in their pool. Wisconsin Volleyball Academy (WVA) 18 Black will be competing in the Open Division as well, but is a four seed in their pool with MN Select 18-1, Coast 18-1, and Nebraska Elite 17 TKO.
In the USA Division we have two Wisconsin teams competing with V-Hawk Xtreme 18 National which has a two seed in their pool with Premier Nebraska 18 Gold, Invasion Volleyball Club 18 Black, and Momentum Volleyball 18. Milwaukee Sting 18 Black is a two seed in a pool of three with Rocky Select 18 and Club Legacy VBA 18 Rox.
Play will start Friday morning and end Sunday afternoon.
Big City Luau – Minneapolis, MN
This is probably a little confusing that NLQ cannot be played in Minneapolis this weekend, but the Big City Luau is out of Minneapolis as well. Not quite. The Big City Luau will be scattered throughout various sites in the Twin Cities. Milwaukee Sting will be sending teams to this tournament. The Luau is hosted by the club, Kokoro right on the Wisconsin/Minnesota border and is the home club to many of the players from River Falls High School that include Izzy Barr, Marissa Stockman, Emily Banitt, Halle Olson, and Anna Wolf.
JVA Wisconsin Cup – Wisconsin Dells
Played in the Wisconsin Dells and hosted by Capital Volleyball Academy, Wisconsin Volleyball Academy, and Wisconsin Power VBC this event will be played on two different weekends which include this upcoming weekend as well as the weekend of February 24 and 25. Point totals are kept and there will be an overall winner of each division. Last year’s winners include Wisconsin Performance UA 18 in the 17/18s division, WVA 16 Red in the 16s, WI Ice 15 Purple in the 15s, and Eclipse 14 Solar in the 13/14s division.
Great Lakes Power League – Aurora, IL
This will be the second weekend of the Great Lakes Power League for the 17/18s in Aurora, IL at Sports Performance. Some matchups to watch will be between FC Elite 17 Navy and Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold in pool play on Sunday, Capital 17 against Motion 18, and the flip flop of these two clubs with Capital 18 against Motion 17. The first weekend of play FC Elite 17 Navy came out undefeated and was the only Wisconsin team to do so in Super Open. Southwest Volleyball Club was 6-0 in opening weekend of match play of the afternoon session with a loaded 18s roster.
Opening weekend of GLPL for 17/18s was a quiet period for Division 1 coaches. This weekend is fair game. Division 1 coaches will be out checking on the progress of recruits coming in or getting that late commit to fill their roster for the Fall.
A quick tip from a coaching perspective is that college coaches watch A LOT of warm ups filming to evaluate approach and height of the point of contact with the ball. Coaches are also looking at not only the plays made on the court, but also how players body language is when plays are not made and things may not be going well. Body language speaks volumes.
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