The 16s and their trip to Omaha

<p>We will continue our look back over the weekend that was in Omaha for the MLK Classic. This Classic replaced the MLK tournament for many teams scheduled to take place in Kansas City. Like with the 17s and 18s, let’s see how these teams did battling amongst some quality competition.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Dynasty 16 Black; Day 1 2-4, Day 2 4-2</strong></span></p> <p>Dynasty 16 Black went into Omaha looking to compete with a depleted roster. Among those we saw in street clothes were [player_tooltip player_id="99224" first="Calissa" last="Minatee"], [player_tooltip player_id="102558" first="Grace" last="Toney"], and [player_tooltip player_id="99215" first="Brooklyn" last="Young"]. A lot of height and athleticism had to sit this one out. They had little problem running through pool play winning by large margins and finished second in the pool, separated by one point to KC Power. They would face Mavs KC in the silver bracket and lose in two sets, with the second being 25-24 on time limit. On the second day of competition, they would finish third in their pool, going 2-2 in sets before taking down Nebraska Elite in the bronze bracket. They would stick around for a third day and split those matches losing to a talented Colorado Juniors 15 Sherie team. Despite missing key pieces, they proved they are a competitive team that should compete in the open division. </p> <p><strong>Standout Players: OH [player_tooltip player_id="120033" first="Rylee" last="Unruh"], S [player_tooltip player_id="99216" first="Ashley" last="Mullen"], L Heidi Devers</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>KC Power 16-1; Day 1 5-2, Day 2 5-1, Day 3 0-4</strong></span></p> <p>Don’t let day 3 fool you, Power had one of the stronger weekends among local teams. They are a talented group who should be among a favorite to grab an open bid in the qualifier season. They went undefeated in pool play on the first day and played a 3 set slugfest vs Premier 16 Gold, in which Premier would take the final two sets. On the second day, they emerged from pool play 3-1 dropping a set to Nebraska Elite and playing two close sets against Mavs 816. The bracket championship would be a rematch from the day prior but this time Power would win this time. On the final day, they played Premier 17 and 18 Gold which will only help them down the road.</p> <p><strong>Standout Players: S [player_tooltip player_id="101566" first="Ella" last="Swindle"], OH [player_tooltip player_id="102555" first="Isabel" last="Day"], OH [player_tooltip player_id="120040" first="Ava" last="TeStrake"], MB [player_tooltip player_id="120010" first="Sawyer" last="Thomsen"]</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Mavs KC 16-1; Day 1 4-2, Day 2 4-0, Day 3 3-1</strong></span></p> <p>Mavs KC 16-1 showed they will be in the midst of competition for an already deep open field of teams in Kansas City. They were impressive over the weekend going 11-3 in sets. They took a hard loss to Premier in pool play to go 2-2 in sets played. They rebounded to take out local foe Dynasty in the silver playoff match in two straight. They would again finish second in their pool on day 2 but only due to points as they would win all of their sets. This team has many offensive weapons to choose from and should be fun to watch over the coming months. They run a fast, efficient offense and has good ball control from their defenders. </p> <p><strong>Standout Players: S [player_tooltip player_id="101701" first="Logan" last="Jones"], MB Ashlyn Reeves, OH [player_tooltip player_id="119220" first="Lily" last="Dudley"], RS Elizabeth Goodenow, L Lauren Brown</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Mavs 816 16-1; Day 1 5-1, Day 2 0-4</strong></span></p> <p>Mavs 816 had an overall productive weekend. They have shown they have the personnel and fight to earn a nationals bid this summer. They have a good mix of local talent to make major strides during the qualifying season. They had a strong first day in the club division only dropping a two-point set to Premier 16 Black. The day 1 success moved them to the open division for day 2, which proved a little more difficult, losing both pool play matches to local KC teams. </p> <p><strong>Standout Players: OH [player_tooltip player_id="99226" first="Ashlyn" last="Bellamy"], MB [player_tooltip player_id="119222" first="Aisha" last="Aiona"], L Sidney Kacsir, S Molly Brown</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Dynasty 16 Blue; Day 1 3-3, Day 2 5-1</strong></span></p> <p>8 set wins to only 4 losses is a good weekend on the tournament scene. They split their sets on day 1 having split a match with Premier 16 Black. They found their mojo on the second day going 5-1, dropping their lone set to SMV. They are a scrappy bunch who leans on their defense to get things going. They are a high energy bunch who should compete on a high level during the season. </p> <p><strong>Standout Players: OH Greta Treff, OH Jocelyn Renfro, MB Aubree Hoffman, S Amber Allen</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Mavs KC 16-2; Day 1 2-2, Day 2 0-4</strong></span></p> <p>16-2 played well on their first day only losing to NE Elite in a three-team pool. They wouldn’t fare as well on the second day, going 0-4 in sets losing to Norco out of Colorado and Premier.</p> <p><strong>Standout Players: OH Addison Steiner, MB Kate McKnight, S Victoria Creason</strong></p>