NLQ Results Rundown: Saturday Pool Winners in 17 and 18 Open
It was a wild, energetic day full of great volleyball at the Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier in Omaha. Let’s break down all the results from the first day of pools in 17 and 18 Open! 18 Open Pool 1…
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Continue ReadingIt was a wild, energetic day full of great volleyball at the Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier in Omaha. Let’s break down all the results from the first day of pools in 17 and 18 Open!
18 Open
Pool 1 belonged to Front Range VBC 18 Black. The Colorado club team used back-to-back three-set victories over VA Elite 18s and HJV 18 Elite to put themselves in prime position heading into Sunday. 18 Black’s big, physical lineup finished the day with a win over Dynasty, and I’ll surely have a lot more to say about this team in the aftermath of this event.
Perhaps no group was packed with more parity than Pool 2 in 18 Open. No team emerged without a win or a loss. In the end, Vital 18-1 Gold surprised many by taking the top spot in the pool on point percentage. 18-1 Gold put everyone on notice when they started Saturday with a win over PVA and followed it up by taking down Premier Nebraska. Watch out for Vital!
Pools 3, 4, and 5 in 18 Open each had one team soar ahead to perfect records by the end of opening day. In Pool 3, the biggest match of the day turned out to be the first one. KC Power 18-1 scraped past that stacked FC Elite roster in three sets and carried that momentum into subsequent wins against Metro VBC and Idaho ONE. Like I said in our previews, KC Power finds a way to leave a mark on these events.
Perfection was in store for Mizuno Northern Lights 18-1, who played through Pool 4 without dropping a single set. With such a wide-open race among the 18s here, perhaps Northern Lights can assert themselves as a favorite.
Lastly, Dynasty Academy 18 Adidas made a spectacular underdog journey through Pool 5 and wound up unscathed at the end of the day. This team was not intimidated by the physical lineups of VC United, MN Select, and Nebraska Elite. The point spreads in this pool were tight throughout, so Pool 5 is battle tested.
17 Open
The first pool in 17 Open went to MAVS KC 17-1. I saw this team excel in this same building as 16s a year ago, so their continued success is never surprising! An NLQ title might be coming.
Pool 2 had some late drama that we always love to see. The final match of the pool turned out to be a de facto Pool 2 championship between 2-0 teams Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite and MAVS 816 17-1. Fittingly, these two teams exchanged sets before Rockwood pulled away to win the tiebreaker. Both of these teams should be on your radar for Sunday.
Iowa PowerPlex 17U Elite Black brought some juice to Omaha this weekend and swept through Pool 3. This is what this team is capable of when they’re in rhythm, and I was thrilled to see it come together on opening day.
Pool 4 ended up with a three-way tie in the record column. Love it! OT 17 J John, Dynasty 17 Black, and High Performance STL 17 Royal set out to break the transitive property: HP STL beat OT, Dynasty beat HP STL, and OT beat Dynasty. Point aggregate number-crunching gave the #1 nod to Dynasty, but we’ve giving everyone their due here.
Once again, we find a pool in which the last match would decide the overall group winner. Pool 5 pitted Premier Nebraska 17 Gold against Skyline 17 Royal to end the day, and each team entered the match undefeated. After a wild three-set affair that featured multiple comebacks, Skyline won the deuce tiebreaker.
A grueling battle goes to HJV! What a match to close out opening pools. pic.twitter.com/iy7Mex7gQ5
— Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) January 29, 2022
More parity! Pool 6 finished with every team notching a win. HJV 17 Elite looked to be on the ropes after suffering a narrow loss to MN Select 17-2 midway through the day. However, 17 Elite found redemption against Nebraska Elite and snagged a three-set win. They finished atop the point standings in a tie with ID Crush 17 Bower, who showed some impressive firepower Saturday.
HJV 17 Elite wins a three-set battle with Nebraska Elite to finish out a pool that was full of parity!
Bianna Muoneke Bianna Muoneke 6'0" | OH Cy Ranch | 2023 State #80 Nation TX (13) was dominant down the stretch and records the block to finish it. pic.twitter.com/qY2IARVmDW
— Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) January 29, 2022
Finally, we reach the point where we discuss perhaps the most dominant team in the gym. 1st Alliance VBC 17 Gold was spectacular. Their energy, quickness, and swagger propelled them to a flawless 6-0 mark in set count and an impressive point total to boot. These figures, though, only begin to tell of 1st Alliance’s command of the volleyball court. Look out.