Northern Lights Qualifier: 15 Open Preview
Last chance! This weekend at the Northern Lights Qualifier we are taking an indepth look at the teams looking to secure those last spots for the Open Division at USAV Nationals in Detroit held at the end of June, early…
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Continue ReadingLast chance! This weekend at the Northern Lights Qualifier we are taking an indepth look at the teams looking to secure those last spots for the Open Division at USAV Nationals in Detroit held at the end of June, early July. Northern Lights has three bid spots and with Sky High Adidas (Illinois), Rockwood Thunder (Missouri), Colorado Juniors, and NKYVC (Kentucky) in the 15 Open Division all having claimed an open bid the trickle down could make for a very intense and interesting weekend with each match having an impact on who gets those final bids.
When these teams arrive to the Convention Center in Downtown Minneapolis they won’t be strangers to each other. Many have played each other previously, starting with the Omaha President’s Day Classic where Northern Lights was the winner with Dynasty 15 Black finishing third. Plenty of others in the field most recently competed at the Colorado Crossroads, MidEast Qualifier in Indianapolis, Windy City Qualifier in Chicago or the Show Me Qualifier in Kansas City.
A Look At the Minnesota and Wisconsin Teams
Northern Lights, MN Select and M1 have to be the hometown favorites that are going to be anxious to earn a bid. With Northern Lights having won the Omaha President’s Day Tournament and been so close to getting into the final Gold Bracket play at the Show Me Qualifier they will be looking for redemption if they have to play Circle City out of Indianapolis who was one of the teams that knocked them out on Day 2 at Show Me. M1 only had two losses at Show Me (their first match to Coast 15-1 (Southern California) and OT (Florida) in their last match). They have defeated Dynasty 15 Black in Pool A twice while middle blocker and 6’7 Class of 2022 prospect, Carter Booth just recently committed to play for Minnesota. The Gophers have already landed two Class of 2022 prospects in Booth and Mckenna Wucherer who plays for Milwaukee Sting 15 Gold. MN Select 15-1 has played a gauntlet of a schedule heading to the Triple Crown Showcase in Utah, JVA Showcase in Wisconsin Dells, MEQ, and the Molten Series against all the top clubs in the Twin Cities. They were in the Silver Bracket of MEQ and have lost to NKYVC and Circle City in three sets, but defeated FC Elite at the JVA Jamboree in Milwaukee. FC Elite out of the Appleton, Wisconsin area is no slouch with this being their first “Open” tournament of the season. They are consistently in the top 15-20 of the Great Lakes Power League Super Open which has some of the top clubs for 15s and 16s in Illinois and Wisconsin as well as Michigan. In the field this weekend Sky High, Michio, and UNO also play in GLPL which is hosted by Sports Performance. FC Elite has defeated UNO and competed against high level competition all season. In their gym they are competing against their 17s team which has eight Division 1 players.
Who Gets The Bid?
With four teams already having their ticket punched that doesn’t mean a tournament like this is a Sunday afternoon of family picnic volleyball for them, these teams are trying to play for a better seed in Detroit. Those teams that need a ticket to get in are the ones who will be scratching and clawing their way for some important match ups come Sunday. Circle City has been extremely close, and having played plenty of these teams this is their bid to get. However, the double edged sword is a lot of teams will be out to get Circle City knowing they are one of the favorites. Northern Lights has the talent, they get to sleep in their own bed, they have the comfort of staying home as does MN Select and M1. Anyone of these hometown teams could find their way into playing some important games late Saturday and Sunday. HPSTL and Academy Volleyball Cleveland (AVC) have been competitive in plenty of the qualifiers as well. This is a deep and talented field that will be extremely intense knowing this may be the last chance to grab those final spots in the Open division in Detroit.
An * denotes the team has already earned an Open bid to Nationals.
Pool A
*Sky High Adidas 15
Dynasty 15 Black
MN Select 15-1
FC Elite 15 Navy
Pool B
*Rockwood Thunder 15 Mizuno
Metro VBC 15 Travel
Mizuno M1 151
Six Pack VBC 15U
Pool C
*CoJrs 15 Shannon
HPSTL 15 Royal
PVA 15 Elite
Michio 15 National
Pool D
*NKYVC 15-1 Tsunami
Mizuno Northern Lights 15-1
UNO 15 Elite
Pool E
Circle City 15 Purple
Academy Volleyball Cleveland 15N Harvey
EC Power 15-True