Weekend Recap of JVA World Challenge and Badger Region

Volleyball in the state of Wisconsin has plenty to be proud of based on this past weekend at the JVA World Challenge in Louisville as well as the 17/18s of the Badger Region Championship. Hardware and medals earned, momentum gained, and memories made. For the athletes in the 18s division, this could be their last competition before Nationals at the end of the month in Anaheim. For those competing at the JVA World, challenge it shows that the clubs in Wisconsin are earning respect across the nation. JVA World Challenge - Age Breakdown 15s Sting came into the JVA World Challenge heavily favored in their pools and whether it be Open or Premier, teams came into the tournament with their eyes on the prize. In 15 Premier Sting Black and Sting White steamrolled their way to the final four to have a matchup with each other. 15 Black came out on top in two sets and eventually would go on to win the Premier championship defeating Asics KIVA 15 White 15-11 in the third set. Motion 15 Blue went 8-2 on the weekend, winning the Silver division of Premier. 15 Sting Gold would be competing for a title from the beginning. However, in eight matches they only dropped one set defeating Sports Performance 15 Elite in the semifinals and OT (Orlando/Tampa) Club for the championship. Sports Performance and OT are always at the top of the Open Division at Nationals and for Sting Gold to come in and make a statement is great momentum heading into the second half of the season. 16s Of the final ten teams in the Premier Gold Bracket, four were from Wisconsin with Capital Adidas 16s, Motion 16 Blue, Sting 16 Black, and Sting 16 White. Capital dropped a tough three set match to Kairos Elite out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Motion 16 Blue had a busy day to say the least. They started at 8 AM with a play in game to the quarterfinals which they won in three sets and won their quarterfinal match at 10 AM. There were more dramatics for Motion for the final two rounds. In the semifinals against Revolution PGH (Pittsburgh) they dropped the first set 21-25, but came back to win set two 30-28 and carried their momentum to win set three 15-6 to set up a date in the finals with an all too familiar opponent Sting 16 White. After dropping the first set, Sting White came back to win set two 25-23 and set three 18-16 to capture the championship. Motion played four matches and twelve sets on the day. In the Open Division, Sting 16 Gold lost a tough three set match to KIVA (Kentucky) in the first round 18-16 in the third. Wisconsin Juniors also competed in the Open Division, finishing in a tie for 11th. 17s Once again of the final eight teams in the 17 Premier Division Gold Bracket, three of them were from Wisconsin with Capital Adidas 17, Sting 17 Black, and Wisconsin Juniors 17-1. Sting 17 Black and Wisconsin Juniors had to square off right away in quarterfinal action with Sting coming out on top in two sets before losing to Team Momentum out of the St. Louis area in three sets. Capital Adidas 17 was coming off a week of momentum with two of their players committing to Division 1 schools with Sopheea Mink committing to High Point and Bailey Neuberger committing to Southern Illinois. Capital rolled through in straight sets in the quarters and semis, and eventually defeating Team Momentum in the finals in three sets to claim the 17 Premier Title. Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold rattled off five victories in a row before dropping their last match before Gold Bracket play to Munciana which is always a powerhouse. On Sunday, in Gold bracket play they were defeated by Upward Stars in two sets with libero, Dru Kuck running a 5-1 as a setter with both setters of 17 Gold having confirmation on Sunday. 18s With this being on of the final tournaments before nationals, the field was absolutely loaded in the Open Division with the likes of Sports Performance, TAV, the top clubs from Florida, California, and even a team from Hawaii. Capital 18 Adidas went up against the big dogs to finish second in the Copper division, winning five out of their last seven. Motion 18 Blue has had an extremely solid year finishing in the the final four of the Badger Region Qualifier and always being a team that can upset some of the best with their intense play and scrappiness. This past weekend will give them momentum heading into nationals with a third place finish in the Premier division and finishing with a weekend record of 7-2. Badger Region The final weekend of Badger Region. After three weekends of dates ranging from 11 year olds, to 18 boys, and finishing with 17/18s division it marks the end for some with their season and others the final time they will play in Wisconsin. With a combined Open Division of the top teams in 17s and 18s there were some shakeups in pool play and some incredibly tight matches along the way. Sting 18 Gold and Sting 18 Black bulldozed their way to bracket play, but Wisconsin Premier 18 Teal avenged an earlier season lost to WVA 18 Black and WVA 17 Black was able to beat their older counterparts (WVA 18 Black) to make it to the Sunday Gold Bracket. The match that was most intriguing was between FC Elite 17 Navy with a roster loaded with Division 1 players facing Milwaukee Sting 18 Black that is so solid, with very little weakness. The winner would have a match up with Sting 18 Gold in the Finals. There was little room for error with Sting 18 Black coming out on top 26-24, 25-23. Sting 18 Gold would once again play Sting 18 Black which resulted in a sweep at 25-14, 25-16 in favor of Gold. Wisconsin Premier 18 Teal is riding a lot of momentum heading into the end of their season. With wins over WVA 17 Black, WVA 18 Black, and taking a set off of FC Elite 17 Navy has shown a lot of growth since the beginning of the season at the first GLPL. In the Club division, Wisconsin Select 18s went undefeated only dropping one set all weekend, defeating Crossfire VBC 17 Blaze in the championship. In the Badger division, Heat out of Hortonville had an early stumble in pool play to Impact, but came back through bracket play to win the championship over WVA Lake Effect 17 Yellow.