Takeaways & Top Liberos from 18 Open Div at MEQ

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The State of Michigan was represented by 4 teams this past weekend in the 18 Open division at the MEQ in Indianapolis.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>The teams had mixed results but overall it was a good outing for the clubs playing out of Michigan. </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Legacy 18 Elite had a strong showing as the team made it to the Gold bracket of 4 teams. Finishing 3rd the team was led by <strong>Chandler Duff and Hannah Grant</strong> both providing solid play all weekend.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>The team finished the weekend with a 6-3 record earning their third open bid in as many qualifiers.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Michigan Elite 18 Mizuno also fared well as they finished 14th<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>overall and 2nd in the Silver division.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>The offense struggled at times but <strong>Molly Asmus and Madison Whitfield</strong> helped keep the team on track with their strong blocking.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>The team finished the tournament with 5-3 record for the weekend.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Volleywood Starz 18 Elite competed their way to a 3rd place finish in the Bronze division of 18 Open.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>The team was undersized at the net but stayed competitive with the help of a strong defense.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span><strong>Adrien Yondo, Kathryn Persons and Madison Gates</strong> covered the back row remarkably throughout the tournament.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>The team finished the tournament with a 2-5 record good for a 21st place finish.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Unified 18-1 struggled on the weekend finishing with an 0-7 record but did seem to improve as the weekend went on.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span><strong>Hailey Barden and Illyria Kataj</strong> were bright spots for the team.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>Barden, a very athletic outside hitter let the team on the offensive side and Kataj played a scrappy style of defense for Unified.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>The team finished the tournament with an 0-7 record for a 47th place finish.</span></p> <h2>Top liberos</h2> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Although Michigan's 18 Open Division teams had mixed results, the liberos all stood out for their respective teams.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span><strong>Hannah Grant</strong> (Legacy), <strong>Lauryn Gibbs</strong> (Michigan Elite), <strong>Kathryn Persons</strong> (Volleywood Starz) and <strong>Illyria Kalaj</strong> (Unified) all provided solid serve receive and strong defense for their respective teams.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Grant</strong></span> - Legacy 18 Elite earned it’s third bid of the season in large part due to Grant who led the team with solid passing and incredible dig after incredible dig.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>The Michigan State bound Junior showed all weekend why she will be continuing her career in the Big 10.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Gibbs</strong></span> - Michigan Elite had a solid performance on the weekend and the play of Gibbs was a key factor in the success of the team.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>She was steady on serve receive and took charge of the back row with excellent defense.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>Gibbs is another future Spartan at Michigan State and will combine with Hannah Grant to help form a solid back row for the Spartans.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Persons</strong></span> - Volleywood Starz finished with a 3rd place finish in the bronze bracket led by Persons who provided much-needed ball control for the team.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>In the second match of the tournament, the team found itself overmatched by a Milwaukee Sting team but still competed into the 3rd set due to the play of Persons.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>She will be moving her career to the collegiate level and play for Auburn University in the fall.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Kalaj</strong></span> - Unified struggled on the weekend but Kalaj proved to be up to the challenge and played well all weekend.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>Unified did provide a solid block which Kalaj took advantage of and put her self into positions to make scrappy plays on defense throughout the tournament.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>She will be taking her talents to Western Michigan University next fall to compete for the Broncos.</span></p>