Motor City Madness: Milwaukee Sting Gold wins 18 Open

[caption id="attachment_14985" align="alignright" width="250"]<a href="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/unnamed.jpg"></a> Motor City Madness[/caption] <p>Scott Blackmon has noticed a trend in his Milwaukee Sting 18 Gold team.</p> <p>“We don’t lose to teams twice,” he said.</p> <p>The coach’s statement proved to be true on Sunday as the Sting avenged a pair of losses from Saturday and went on to win the 18 Open Gold Bracket of Motor City Madness in Pontiac.</p> <p>The Sting went 1-2 in Saturday’s pool play, suffering losses to Hurricanes 18 Black and Legacy 18-Elite, but they got the last laugh in both instances on Sunday. In the quarterfinals, the Sting defeated Hurricanes 26-24, 24-26, 15-13 in a razor-thin match.</p> <p>That led them to the semifinals of the Gold Bracket where it defeated Michigan Elite 18 Mizuno 25-21, 25-19. From there, a rematch with Legacy took place in the 18 Open final.</p> <p>After winning the first set 25-22, Legacy took the second set 25-17. Legacy would open the third set with a 6-0 lead on the serving of <strong>Hannah Grant</strong> (Michigan State) and have two championship points with a 14-12 lead. However, the Sting rallied behind kills from <strong>Mia Grunze </strong>(Ohio State) and <strong>Rachel Murphy </strong>(New Mexico) to even the score. They would then close out the victory on an ace from <strong>Mikaylah Van Lanen</strong> (Dayton) to win 16-14.</p> <p>“It’s been like that all season,” Blackmon said of the Sting rallying to the victory. “We don’t start tournaments well, we don’t start sets well. I don’t know. The girls do a good job of battling back. I think they know they are a talented group and I don’t think it matters to them what the score is, they know they can win it.”</p> <p>Legacy finished the tournament 5-1 as it defeated Impact VBC 18 Open 28-26, 25-14 in the quarterfinals and defeated FaR Out 18 Black 21-25, 25-21, 15-6 in the semifinals.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Motor City Madness 18 Open</strong></p> <p><strong>Sunday’s Gold Bracket Results </strong></p> <p><strong>At Ultimate Soccer – Pontiac</strong></p> <p><strong>Opening Round</strong></p> <p>M1: Impact VBC 18 Open def. Legacy 18-National (25-17, 25-17)</p> <p>M2: FaR Out 18 Black def. Michigan Elite 18 Elite East (25-20, 25-16)</p> <p>M3: Hurricanes 18 Black def. FIVE1 VBC 18-ADIDAS (25-13, 25-20)</p> <p>M4: Volleywood Starz 18 Elite def. Unified 18-1 (21-25, 25-7, 15-8)</p> <p><strong>Quarterfinals</strong></p> <p>M5: Legacy 18-Elite def. Impact VBC 18 Open (28-26, 25-14)</p> <p>M6: FaR Out 18 Black def. Circle City 18 Purple (25-22, 25-20)</p> <p>M7: MKE Sting 18 Gold def. Hurricanes 18 Black (25-13, 25-20)</p> <p>M8: Michigan Elite 18 Mizuno def. Volleywood Starz 18 Elite (25-23, 25-17)</p> <p><strong>Semifinals</strong></p> <p>M9: Legacy 18-Elite def. FaR Out 18 Black (21-25, 25-21, 15-6)</p> <p>M10: MKE Sting 18 Gold def. Michigan Elite 18 Mizuno (25-23, 25-17)</p> <p><strong>Finals</strong></p> <p>M11: MKE Sting 18 Gold def. Legacy 18-Elite (25-22, 17-25, 16-14)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/2qQEKkz">RELATED: MOTOR CITY MADNESS 18 OPEN DAY 1 RECAP</a></strong></p>