NCR President’s Day Recap | U17 & U18

The North Country Region hosted one of the area’s largest events of the club season over President’s Day weekend. Four divisions were offered for the U17 and U18 teams over the two-day event. The following is a recap of for these age groups.

18 Gold

With 24 teams competing in the 18 Gold division, two rounds of pool play funneled teams into several playoff brackets. The Gold bracket included six teams that battled for the tournament title. Summit 18 Elite emerged as the champion, fending off Vital 18-1 Gold in the championship match with scores of 25-22, 25-15. Summit finished the weekend with an 8-1 overall record. Also advancing to the Gold bracket were Matrix 18 Red and Central Lakes Juniors 18N, featured against one another in the quarterfinals with Matrix advancing. The other semifinal included Crossfire MN 18-1 versus KEVC 18-1 with Crossfire taking the match. Crossfire and Matrix would finish tied for third following their semifinal losses, while KEVC and Central Lakes tied for 5th overall. Winners from each playoff bracket are as follows:

• Gold = Summit 18 Elite
• Silver = Black Ice 18
• Flight 1 = Eau Claire Air 18-1
• Flight 2A = Hammerhead 18-1
• Flight 2B = Stewie 18

18 Silver

SWC 18-1 swept the competition finishing with a perfect 8-0 record to earn the 18 Silver division championship. They defeated CVC 18-1 in the finals of the Gold playoff bracket. CVC advanced to the finals with a win over MN Attack 18-1, while SWC defeated Northern Heat 18-1. A total of 16 teams competed in this division. Winners from each playoff bracket are as follows:

• Gold = SWC 18-1
• Silver = Granite City 18
• Flight 1 = Matrix 18 Black
• Flight 2 = Jordan Juniors 18

Members of the winning team with SWC 18-1 include:

• Emma Carlson | 2018 | DS | Hopkins HS
• Maya Carson | 2019 | RS/MH | Delano HS
• McKenzie Cayler | 2019 | OH | Delano HS
• Brynn Heinonen | 2019 | S | Delano HS
• Brooke Herman | 2018 | OH | SW Christian
• Berit Hussey | 2019 | MH | Holy Family
• Mya Johnson | 2019 | DS | Delano HS
• Brenna Krommendyk | 2019 | MH | SW Christian
• Olivia Motley | 2019 | MH | Delano HS
• Grace Popp | 2019 | OH/MH | Delano HS

17 Gold

A total of 28 teams competed in 17 Gold as Saturday pool play advanced teams into Group 1 or Group two pool play in Round 2 on Sunday. Eight teams would emerge to compete in the Gold bracket playoff as Kokoro 17-1 marched through the finals with three consecutive 2-0 wins, claiming the title with their championship victory over Summit 17 Elite. Vital 17-1 Gold and MVA 17 Elite finished tied for third after advancing to the semifinals, while KEVC 17-1, Raiders 17 Black, Kokoro 17-2, and Crossfire 17-1 all tied in fifth position. Winners from each playoff bracket are as follows:

• Gold = Kokoro 17-1
• Silver = WEM 17
• Flight 1 = Crusaders 17 Green
• Flight 2 = Chaska Juniors 171
• Flight 3A = Ohana 17U Regional
• Flight 3B = Hammerhead 17-1

17 Silver

One of the largest divisions of the weekend, 17 Silver featured 58 teams competing, all of them chasing Rapids Thunder 17-1, the divisions champion following a perfect 8-0 record. Rapids defeated Panther Volleyball 17-1 in the Gold bracket finals following their 2-0 semifinal win over Byron 17-1. Panther defeated Club Velocity 17-1 for their shot in the finals. Winners from each playoff bracket are as follows:

• Gold = Rapids Thunder 17-1
• Silver = M1 17 Blue
• Bronze = Fierce 17-1
• Consolation = FF 17-1
• Flight 1 = North Juniors 17-1
• Flight 2 = Spartan Wave 17-1
• Flight 3 = Johnston 17 Gold
• Flight 4 = RRIV 17 Royal
• Flight 5 = Crex Meadows 17
• Flight 6 = Northern Pride
• Flight 7 = CVC 17-1
• Flight 8 = SAJO 17-1
• Flight 9 = Cannon Falls 17-2
• Flight 10 = Northern Impact 17-1
• Flight 11 = Rockford JO 17-1