Northern Lights 17-1 claims 17 Open championship at USAV Junior Nationals

Drew Ellis July 3, 2018 @ 03:22 PM

<a href="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Northern-Lights-Team-2-1.jpg"></a>Northern Lights 17-1 had its rough patches during the 17 Open of the USA Volleyball Junior Nationals this past week, but everything came together on Tuesday as it ran through the Gold bracket to claim the national championship. “I felt like (the national title) was a possibility, but with 17-year-olds, you don’t know what you will get on any given day,” Northern Lights coach Adam Beamer said. “These girls really stayed together as a team and worked hard to be a good team and good teammates to each other. That was important this week and I am proud of what they were able to accomplish.” Northern Lights opened the championships 3-0 through Day 1 of play on Saturday, but then suffered back-to-back losses on Sunday in pool play to Momentous 17-1 and Mintonette Sports – m.71. The threat of missing out on the gold bracket became a reality, but they just brought the team together. Following the second loss, Northern Lights would go on to win its next three matches, all in straight sets. “After that, we really got our stuff together,” Beamer said. “We played really well from that point on.” Tuesday’s gold bracket was all about Northern Lights, as it swept all three opponents. The day began by avenging the previous loss to Momentous 17-1, 25-21, 25-20. In the semifinal, Northern Lights defeated TIV 17 Mizuno 28-26, 25-17. The final against Top Select 17 Elite wasn’t much of a match. Northern Lights took the first set 25-14 and then jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the second set and finished things off with a 25-15 victory. “The plan was to get people out of system and block well on the out-of-system balls,” Beamer said. “I feel like we did that really well. We also worked on serving to defend instead of serving to score points, which we did very well as well.” Northern Lights was led all week by setter/outside Kennedi Orr (Nebraska). Orr earned MVP honors for her play. She also was on the All-Tournament Team alongside teammates, outside hitter Kyndra Hansen and libero Marissa Hinkle, both of whom are uncommitted. “We have really worked in the last month on being a good team and being supportive of one another,” Beamer said. “I think those things really helped us in some of these matches. Teams were trying to slow us down, but we were able to stay focused and together."