16U Recap at the Midwest JVA Challenge

<p>A total of 154 club teams from the Great Plains, Iowa, Great Lakes, North Country, Badger, and Heart of America region traveled to Des Moines, IA for the two-day Mizuno Midwest JVA Challenge. Seven total divisions competed May 5-6 with the 16 and Under division being the largest with 32 participating teams. Nearly half of those teams hailed from Nebraska including: Nebraska Elite 16 Apollo, Nebraska Elite 16 Alloy, VCNebraska 16 Black, VCNebraska 16 Blue, VCNebraska 15 Elite, Nebraska Juniors 161, Nebraska Juniors 162, Nebraska Juniors 163, Nebraska Edge 16 Gold, Nebraska Edge 16 Silver, TeamMagic Alpha 161, TeamMagic Beta 162, TeamMagic Omega 163, and River City Juniors 16 Navy.</p> <p><strong>Nebraska Elite 16 Apollo</strong> finished the highest of the Nebraska clubs, securing a spot in the gold bracket and falling to Six Pack 15’s out of the Iowa region in the semi-finals for a 3^rd place finish. Also in the gold bracket, <strong>VCNebraska 15 Elite</strong> tied for 5^th with a 4-1 record.</p> <p><strong>Nebraska Juniors 161</strong> captured the silver bracket championship giving them 9^th place overall with a 5-2 record. <strong>Nebraska Elite 16 Alloy</strong> and <strong>VCNebraska 16 Black</strong> also made it to the silver bracket and tied for 13^th.</p> <p>In the bronze division, <strong>Nebraska Juniors 163</strong> finished 19^th and <strong>Nebraska Juniors 162</strong> finished 21^st.</p> <p>Two Nebraska teams faced off for the copper division championship with <strong>River City Juniors 16 Navy </strong>capturing the win over <strong>TeamMagic Alpha 161 </strong>in three sets, earning them 25^th place. Other finishes include <strong>Nebraska Edge 16 Gold</strong> (27^th), <strong>Nebraska Edge 16 Silver</strong> (29^th), <strong>VCNebraska 16 Blue</strong> (29^th), <strong>TeamMagic Beta 162</strong> (29^th), and <strong>TeamMagic Omega 163</strong> (29^th).</p> <p>The majority of these teams will not see competition again until the Midwest Grand Prix in Omaha set for June 2-4 in preparation for nationals at the end of June.</p> <p>The champion of the 16 and Under division is MVP 16 Blue out of Sioux City, IA, also a member of the Great Plains region.</p>