2022 Kickoff: Clubs Finding Early Form at Premier Showcase

<p>The club season is here!</p> <p>On Sunday, Premier Nebraska, Nebraska ONE, and Banzai joined forces at The Courts for a season-opening pool play event. It was clearly an invaluable opportunity to get some live reps and experiment with different lineups before the big gauntlet of travel tournaments begins.</p> <p>Personally, I was excited to see how some new-look rosters would come together in this early-season contest. Forming a cohesive connection with new club teammates takes time. In spite of this, I came away impressed with how well many of the event’s teams adjusted.</p> <p>Take, for example, the tournament’s eventual champion, <strong>Premier 17 Gold</strong>. This team has a variety of notable additions from last year’s iteration, including outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id="59208" first="Destiny" last="Ndam-Simpson"], middle blocker [player_tooltip player_id="112002" first="Brooklyn" last="Fuchs"], and libero [player_tooltip player_id="109590" first="Olivia" last="Mauch"]. In the spotlight for this team, I mused about the championship potential of this squad. It’s early, but it appears they’re backing up that hype. This is a seriously hard-hitting squad that didn’t skip a beat when thrown into a pool with some 18s teams.</p> <p>17 Gold also demonstrated the lineup experimentation that I mentioned earlier. I saw a two-setter system from this team that featured [player_tooltip player_id="103095" first="Alanna" last="Bankston"] and [player_tooltip player_id="59201" first="Grace" last="Heaney"] at opposite (a truly terrifying D1-commit combination, for sure). Later, these two attackers shared time in the front row with Bankston playing on the left. Mauch and [player_tooltip player_id="59198" first="Makenzie" last="Dyrstad"] both got plenty of run in the libero jersey, too. I’ve made zero commitments regarding which lineup I like most, and it’s really hard to go wrong with any combination on 17 Gold.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Love what 18 Gold and 17 Gold are bringing this year.<br /> <br /> Already getting used to the new-look 17 Gold squad. <a href="https://t.co/RJxvz1dBaE">pic.x.com/RJxvz1dBaE</a></p> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1480190673458450440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Premier 18 Gold</strong> looked the part, too. Like their 17s counterpart, 18 Gold gave opportunities to several different backcourt players with [player_tooltip player_id="58783" first="Skylar" last="McCune"], [player_tooltip player_id="58775" first="Estella" last="Zatechka"], and [player_tooltip player_id="58779" first="Ella" last="Hazen"] leading the way. [player_tooltip player_id="58782" first="Shaylee" last="Myers"] remains a well-rounded six-rotation left side, and <strong>Brynlee Arnold</strong> had some big moments on the right side. I’m enthusiastic about this bunch.</p> <p>There were plenty of other highlight moments and standout teams from this event. I particularly enjoyed seeing <strong>Nebraska ONE 18 Black</strong> take the floor for this one, and there’s a lot of great athletes on this roster to keep an eye on. [player_tooltip player_id="82465" first="Molli" last="Martin"] put down some nice swings from the middle, while [player_tooltip player_id="58792" first="Brianna" last="Lemke"] and [player_tooltip player_id="58806" first="Lexi" last="Theis"] were effective on the pins. 18 Black will join many of the other teams at this event in traveling down to Kansas City for the MLK Tournament this weekend.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Good to see Nebraska ONE in the Premier gym this morning.<br /> <br /> Plenty of athletes on this 18s team who have just finished making a big impact on the high school side, including [player_tooltip player_id="58792" first="Brianna" last="Lemke"] and [player_tooltip player_id="82463" first="Raegan" last="Holle"]. <a href="https://t.co/qWUhaFDJzG">pic.x.com/qWUhaFDJzG</a></p> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1480201070139871241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>On the 16s side, <strong>Premier 16 Black</strong> and <strong>Premier 16 Red</strong> had a three-set battle that was really fun to watch. It’s so hard to score on 16 Red with their skilled corps of defensive specialists that includes [player_tooltip player_id="155040" first="Kenzie" last="Kucks"], <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="109613" first="Reese" last="Boyd"]</strong>, [player_tooltip player_id="105830" first="Sydney" last="Guthard"], and <strong>Grayson Piening</strong>.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">So much defensive grit today between Premier 16 Black and 16 Red. <a href="https://t.co/lYYwQdQ5e5">pic.x.com/lYYwQdQ5e5</a></p> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1480213169129807881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>I also have to comment on how nice it is to have Banzai right next to Premier to provide an excellent cross-training opportunity for both sides. <strong>Banzai 18 Select</strong> was an especially fun bunch. <strong>Lily Meyer</strong> anchors this team as a front-row middle blocker and a backcourt setter. What a fun hybrid. <strong>Kennedi Branigan</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="58788" first="Taniya" last="Golden"]</strong> also had standout moments when attacking on the left.</p> <p>Overall, this is how you put together a prelude to the club season.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Always fun to see a battle of next door neighbors: Banzai and Premier. <a href="https://t.co/57ZlCV6sT6">pic.x.com/57ZlCV6sT6</a></p> — Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://x.com/KingsleyATK/status/1480203215559921673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>