News and Notes from Day Two of AAU Nationals

<p>The second day of Nationals often allows the big competitors to separate themselves from the pack. I think we’re starting to see that.</p> <p>Day two is also an opportunity to settle in. The grand stage that Nationals presents can be intimidating, and some teams need a while to get into their groove. We’ll be looking at squads that fit this description, too.</p> <p>So, let’s take another tour around the field of Nebraska teams as the second day of competition wraps up.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>VCN Keeps Winning</strong></p> <p>VCNebraska has a handful of teams entered in 15s and 17s, and it’s been a lot of success across the board.</p> <p>In 17 Open, VCN 17 Elite clawed to a 2-1 record in an ultra-competitive pool featuring Michigan Elite, Club V, and Idaho Crush. It was a scrappy group in which none of the four teams emerged winless or undefeated.</p> <p>I remain very impressed by the offense of this VCN team. It’s an attack largely led by the setter, [player_tooltip player_id="58770" first="Ellie" last="Baumert"]. Baumert’s tremendous range allows her hitters to tee off against favorable blocks. Back-to-back winning records in the first two days of the tournament put 17 Elite in a good spot to make some noise.</p> <p>Across the way in 17 Club, VCNebraska 17 Black continued its own strong showing on Wednesday. The team began the day with wins over Synergy and CHiCKS before facing off in a nightcap against Nebraska Elite. In another three-set slugfest, 17 Black took the win to finish the day undefeated.</p> [caption id="attachment_101546" align="alignright" width="225"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-101546" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/07/Hannah-Allick-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /> Allick[/caption] <p>Continuing our trend of giving shoutouts to setters, [player_tooltip player_id="58796" first="Hannah" last="Allick"] has done a great job running the show for 17 Black. There’s another Hannah who has been big for this offense, too: outside hitter <strong>Hannah Fleming</strong>.</p> <p>And, of course, the fun for VCN doesn’t stop. 15 Elite still hasn’t lost. This was a team that I previewed earlier in the week, and now they’re looking like legitimate title contenders in 15 Open.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Nebraska Elite 17 Alpha Still a Threat</strong></p> <p>NE Elite 17 Alpha followed up its 3-0 opening day with a hard-fought 2-1 record on Wednesday. After dropping Wednesday’s preliminary matchup against Tri-State Elite, NE Elite bounced back with wins over City Beach and OT.</p> <p>This team is loaded with college-bound 2022s, and they back up their talent at every event. [player_tooltip player_id="37532" first="Ava" last="Heyne"] continues to be a stout scorer. [player_tooltip player_id="58772" first="Sydney" last="Raszler"] and [player_tooltip player_id="37531" first="Abby" last="Schomers"] are as terminal as ever.</p> <p>Bottom line: this team can put together another championship run.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Bounceback for NE Jrs 15 Black</strong></p> <p>Nebraska Juniors picked up a pair of wins in 15 Open on Wednesday. The team claimed two-set victories over Brandywine and BEV to solidify a bounce-back campaign on the second day.</p> <p>The blocking tandem of [player_tooltip player_id="104674" first="Carolyn" last="Maser"] and [player_tooltip player_id="103091" first="Lucy" last="Ghaifan"] was particularly effective again. I think this will be a trend to follow throughout the competition.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>River City Rolls</strong></p> <p>We’ve got another team from the Cornhusker State to post a perfect record through two days.</p> <p>River City Juniors 17 Navy put up three more wins Wednesday against HPVBA, LEVBC, and RVC to move to 6-0 on the tournament.</p> <p>This a team clearly looking to contend in 17 Club. So far, so good.</p>