15s take on St. Louis, More Heart of America Bids Go Out

<p>In full transparency...I'm coming off of vacation and didn't get to watch as much volleyball as most weekends. With that being said, I did take time today to watch the 15s divisions from the Mideast Qualifier (MEQ). I only took the time to watch three matches of the teams who finished in the top 5 last weekend. </p> <p> In the HOA region, the 17s conducted their regional competition to award two bids in the American Division.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>MEQ 15 USA</strong></em></span></p> <p><strong>Dynasty 15 Blue</strong> finished second to Momentum in the final match of the tournament and earned themselves a bid to nationals. <strong>Keliah Rivers</strong> and <strong>Anna Berardo</strong> were lights out on the pins. Setter <strong>Lauren Wright</strong> did a great job of running the offense throughout the weekend and pushing the pace. We also liked the play of <strong>Hannah Porter</strong> along the back row. She is a competitor and brings high energy.</p> <p><strong>Mavs KC 15-1</strong> walked away with a third-place finish after suffering their only defeat in the semifinals. They received solid play from the two players name Sophia on their roster in libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="119692" first="Sophia" last="Bond"]</strong> and MB <strong>Sophia Munro</strong>. OH <strong>Sara Allmon</strong> was consistent on the pins over the weekend. <strong>Kelsey Schenck</strong> continues to show why she's one of the rising setters in the 15's age group with her play. This team already holds a National bid from their region.</p> <p><strong>Mavs KC 15-2</strong></p> <p>The only loss of the weekend came to the hands of their sister team, Mavs KC 15-1. This was good enough for a 5th place finish but like the other Mavs team, they weren't competing for a bid. They also hold a National bid currently and can only move up to an open bid. <strong>Seenane Brewer</strong> was a scoring machine from the OH all weekend. She has great size and hits a heavy ball. She also puts up a solid block. MB <strong>Eva Tarlos</strong> was efficient and ran a fast slide attack to score points. <strong>Lauren Croom</strong> ran a smooth offense and was on point with her set placements. We also enjoyed watched libero <strong>Isabella Jones</strong> move around the back row making plays at a high level. </p> <p><strong>Mizuno Club North 15-1</strong></p> <p>This continues to be a fun team to watch as they attempted to upgrade their bid from American to USA. Libero <strong>Claire Mosh</strong> has been good all season and a fun player to see in action. Setter <strong>Felicia Wu</strong> continues to do a good job of finding her hitters in one on one situations. On the pins, <strong>Mary Burke</strong> and <strong>Addison Bailey</strong> had good weekends. </p> <p><strong>Rockwood Thunder 15 Navy</strong> has been a very good team this season and kept that play going in St. Louis with a 5th place finish to join Mavs 15-2 and Club North. <strong>Aaliyah Elliott</strong> is as athletic as they come in the middle and would love to see her on the pin in the future. <strong>Jayden Wiese</strong> showed flashes on the outside along with <strong>Anna Wieman</strong> from the right-side. Another player who stepped up was setter <strong>Anna Wieman</strong>. She has great hands and will continue to improve. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>MEQ 15 American</strong></em></span></p> <p><strong>Summit VC</strong> of the HOA region ended up as the tournament champion defeating <strong>Invasion 15 Black</strong>, also of the region in three sets. <strong>Hayle Shepherd</strong> is lights out from the libero position. Great speed and instincts on the court. MB <strong>Alexis Anderson</strong> was a problem for other teams during the 10-0 tournament run. She is a scorer and has good court vision. <strong>Haylie Jenning</strong> played a key role in the defensive specialist position. She was rock-steady in her passing and did a good job of cutting off shots in the seams. We saw another athletic middle in <strong>Ryanne Wattree</strong> for Invasion. She has amazing bounce and rises up over the defenders. She is the second player we immediately said to ourselves, "please move her to the pin in the future!" We saw great libero play for this team also in that of <strong>Lauren Jacobs</strong>. She is a baller and displayed a great first step to get to short balls. The second middle, <strong>Addison Cates</strong> is another standout. She hits a hardball and has good size. She transitions well off the net and has a couple of different shots. Setter <strong>Allison Koepkey</strong> had a good weekend also. </p> <p><strong>Mizuno Club North 15-2</strong></p> <p>A 5th place finish was a good weekend for 15-2, to match that of 15-1 in the USA division. MB<strong> Autumn Erickson</strong>, OH<strong> Delaney Cahill</strong>, and S <strong>Gabrielle Anderson</strong> were key factors over the 6-2 weekend run. </p> <p><strong>Rockwood Thunder 15 Black</strong></p> <p>15 Black joined Club North 15-2 in the 5th place position. The play of MB <strong>Sami Simokaitis</strong> stood out immediately in the first game we watched. She is a force in the middle and aggressive along the front row. OH <strong>Addison Czuppen</strong> was good from the pin but also very effective behind the service line with numerous aces. RS <strong>Madeline Horst</strong> was able to contribute all weekend in the kill department and S <strong>Delaney Willis</strong> did a good job of feeding her hitters. </p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>HOA 17 Regionals</strong></em></span></p> <p>Two American bids went out with the weekend tournament action and those bids were earned by <strong>Dynasty 17 Blue</strong> and <strong>Mavs 816 17-1</strong>. We've mentioned both of those teams over the last couple of weeks and are not surprised by this outcome. Both teams have been well as of late and will carry this momentum into Show Me next weekend. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p>