How Wisconsin Teams Fared in the 2018 USAV Girls’ 18s Junior National Championships – Part 1 – Open Division

<p>I just loved seeing so many Badger Region teams competing in the 2018 USAV Girls’ 18s Junior National Championships in Anaheim, California.  And with the weather Wisconsin has had the last few weeks, I bet these teams were ready for some California sunshine!  Hopefully these Wisconsin coaches, players, and families were able to get out of the gym long enough to enjoy it during their long weekend in Anaheim.  The Badger Region was represented by 6 teams in the 4 Qualifying divisions and 7 teams in the non-qualifying Patriot Division. Over the next couple days, we will go thru a quick recap of how our 13 Badger Region teams fared in the USAV 18s Junior National Championships.</p> <p>Starting with…</p> <p><strong><u>OPEN DIVISION</u></strong></p> <p><strong>MILWAUKEE STING 18 GOLD- FINISHED 21^ST OUT OF 36</strong></p> <p>Sting Gold started out on Friday (4/27) in Pool 6 beating OPU 18 Rox Blue (25-19, 25-18) and TAV 18 Black (25-23, 25-19).  They ended the day dropping a match to SA Magic 18 Elite (14-25, 22-25) but bounced back Saturday morning (4/28) beating A5 Mizuno 18-2 John in a barn burner 3-set match (19-25, 25-19, 15-13). Their final pool play match ended in a loss to Sunshine 18 Westside (17-25, 19-25).  Sting Gold was in a tie for 3^rd with Sunshine 18 Westside with a 3-2 record, but in a tie-breaking procedure, they took 4^th having lost to Sunshine head to head.</p> <p>            Placing 4^th put Sting Gold into the Challenge D Bracket where they would be in a playoff deciding whether they went to the Gold, Silver, or Bronze division.  Keep in mind, Sting Gold had played 2 matches already at 9am and 11am on Friday, and they were now going to play a tough match, but would have to wait until 5pm to play it.  They ended up losing a heartbreaker 3-set match to OT 18 T. Aaron (20-25, 25-22, 14-16).  This placed Sting Gold in the Bronze A bracket for Day 3. </p> <p>            Starting at 9am on Sunday (4/29), Sting Gold dropped their first match to A5 Mizuno 18-1 Bob in another 3-set battle (26-24, 24-26, 11-15).  A5 Mizuno 18-1 Bob did end up winning the Bronze A Bracket.  Sting Gold took on some tough competition, including beating TAV 18 Black, who went on to take 3^rd overall.  TAV is composed of recruits from Lehigh, McNeese and a number of D2 and D3 colleges.</p> <p>Their initial pool was stacked with not only TAV, but also SA Magic 18 Elite (2^nd place finish) and Sunshine 18 Westside (9^th place finish).  SA Magic 18 Elite, out of Orlando, FL, currently has a record of 50-8 and is comprised of players committed to play for colleges such as Texas A&amp;M, Texas State, SMU, University of Birmingham AL, Incarnate Word, Northeastern University, and Rice University. They also had some hard fought battles with OT 18 T. Aaron (9^th place finish) and A5 Mizuno 18-1 Bob (17^th place finish).  Sting Gold finished 21^st out of 35 teams with a record of 3-4.</p> <p>Milwaukee Sting 18 Gold finished out a great club season winning 4 out of 7 tournaments while competing in California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Utah and, of course, Wisconsin.  While their high school and club seasons may be over, the Sting Gold players will all be playing at the next level, and we look forward to seeing how they make their mark!  Good luck, ladies!</p> <p><strong>Brooke Andersen</strong> – Iowa State</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="9263" first="Mia" last="Grunze"]</strong> – Ohio State</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="9267" first="Mikaylah" last="Van Lanen"]</strong> – Dayton</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="9274" first="Haley" last="Multerer"]</strong> – Western Carolina</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="9264" first="Claire" last="Mosher"]</strong> – Marquette</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="9270" first="Katie" last="Schoessow"]</strong> – Marquette</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="9312" first="Rachel" last="Murphy"]</strong> – New Mexico</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="9268" first="Miranda" last="Wucherer"]</strong> – Northern Kentucky</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="9279" first="Karli" last="Graham"]</strong> – Austin Peay</p>