Motor City Madness 17 Open Recap & Standouts: Short-handed Michigan Elite wins title

<p>Without some of its top players, <strong>Michigan Elite 17 Mizuno</strong> still found a way to capture the 17 Open title at Motor City Madness this past weekend in Pontiac.</p> <p>With Florida-bound OPP <strong>Fran McBride</strong> unavailable and outside hitter <strong>Emily Snay </strong>injured, Michigan Elite still put together a championship weekend by avenging a previous loss to <strong>Pgh Elite 17 Elite </strong>in Sunday’s championship of the gold bracket.</p> <p>After losing to Pgh on Saturday in three sets (25-22, 17-25, 15-12), Michigan Elite grinded out both championship sets on Sunday for a 25-22, 25-23 victory and the title.</p> <p>“The girls just stuck to the game plan. It really came down to execution,” Michigan Elite coach Kristin Eddy said. “The girls really have adapted well. Not having Fran McBride and losing Emily Snay, the girls have had to regroup and they really adapted well this weekend. They really are playing well on the fly as they get to know each other again. I am really proud of them all.”</p> <p>Pgh held a 23-21 lead in the second set as the final looked to be going to a third set, but Michigan Elite rallied. <strong>Shannon Jennings </strong>had a kill to give Elite the lead and then <strong>Sydney Eggleton </strong>finished off the match with one of her many kills.</p> <p>For the weekend, Michigan Elite went 5-1 in matches and 11-3 in sets, grinding out a tough three-set win over <strong>Impact VBC Smack 17 Open </strong>in one of the semifinals, 23-25, 27-25, 15-11. Pgh bested <strong>MVA 17 National Black </strong>in the other semifinal, 18-25, 25-18, 15-8.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Standouts</strong></p> <p><strong>Michigan Elite 17 Mizuno: </strong>With the changes to the hitters, it was defense and serving that played a key role this weekend and <strong>Paige Gallentine</strong> was a major piece to all of that. She was consistent in the back row all weekend and served a tough ball. <strong>Shannon Jennings</strong> also was solid at setter while being aggressive when the opportunity was there. <strong>Elizabeth Norris</strong> easily slipped into a great hitting role as well for the team, something she does during the prep season. <strong>Sydney Eggleton</strong> was also solid on the outside while <strong>Kendall Robertson</strong> and <strong>Carly Doros</strong> were tough in the middle.</p> <p><strong>Pgh Elite 17 Elite: </strong>On the outside, <strong>Skye Eicher</strong> had some really solid finishes with her attacks, as did <strong>Mekayla Dedo</strong>. Setter <strong>Sarah White </strong>(Ohio State) was steady all day and put the ball in perfect position consistently for the hitters while <strong>Taylor Cigna </strong>(Colgate) was giving her all in the back row to keep balls in play and keep rallies going.</p> <p><strong>Impact VBC Smack 17 Open: Isabelle Granger </strong>showed a lot of good form on the outside and had some picture-perfect attacks for the weekend. <strong>Bailey Hartsough </strong>was also a solid outside that stepped up for Impact this weekend in Pontiac. <strong>Callie Mae Bauer </strong>ran the offense very well while <strong>Julia Nagy </strong>had some impressive digs in tight sets.</p> <p><strong>MVA 17 National Black: </strong>A solid roster of talent, MVA has some great hitters in <strong>Ayva Kooistra </strong>and <strong>Addie Vanderweide</strong>, among others that have shown their ability to hit with the best, whether it be on the outside or the middle. <strong>Bailey Torpey </strong>is a consistent setter that can feed the hot hand at the right time while <strong>Gracie Gorsline </strong>has proven to be one of the top DS options in the state for the Class of 2020.</p>