Cool, Calm, and Gritty KC Power 16-1 Prevails To NIT Elite Eight
Things didn’t necessarily go according to plan for Power ‘] 16-1 in the start of their match to head to the elite eight of Triple Crown’s NIT. A 10-1 deficit did not deter this hometown team from making their comeback one point at a time.
“I think we all just have such faith in each other, we all know that we’re going to give everything that we got to do what we can to win. There wasn’t a time even when we were down, where we we turned our backs on our teammates or ourselves, we knew we could get out of a deficit. We proved it by leaning our teammates to support each other, ” said setter, Janelle Green Janelle Green 5'9" | S Blue Valley North | 2024 State #68 Nation KS .
“We know we’re going to make errors, but it’s how we bounce back from the errors that count. Even though one person might get aced or hit the ball into the net, we just move on to the next point and put it in the past.”
Green is the quarterback of this squad where her energy and grit is contagious. The 5’9 setter was extremely physical at the net, finding a few kills for herself as well as a huge stuff block against a very Power ful front line of Triangle 16 Black out of North Carolina.
Throughout set one, Power ‘] slowly inched their way back going on mini runs, not feeling the pressure of the scoreboard. It wasn’t until the 20s they managed to tie and had their final run at the end to outlast Triangle 26-24.
Set two was much like the end of set one with teams trading points while the attacker of Triangle started to heat up from the front and back row that included Kiarrah Horne and Asia Thigpen.
Gritty performance by @kc Power vb 16-1 as they punch their ticket to the @TCVolleyballNIT Elite Eight tomorrow morning. Story to follow! pic.twitter.com/3Cml9im8kD
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) February 20, 2022
However, it was once again those gritty points and big, aggressive swings by Alea Goolsby Alea Goolsby 5'11" | OH St. Thomas Aquinas | 2025 State #36 Nation KS (Class of 2025) and Rachel Van Gorp Rachel Van Gorp 5'9" | OH Heritage Christian | 2024 State #94 Nation KS , both 5’10 or under that proved to be key throughout the whole match.
Van Gorp is undersized at 5’9 with most matchups at this level, but that doesn’t affect how much Power she poses when she attacks with an “I Can” attitude. She can split the block, find the line or hard cross, or use the block to her advantage.
“I just tell myself, I can do this, I just go for it,” said Van Gorp.
Power ‘] will head to the elite eight along with A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe (Atlanta), OT 16 T Jason (Tampa), TAV 16 Black (Dallas), NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami (Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati), Dynasty 16 Black (Kansas City), Wave 16 Brennan (Del Mar/San Diego), and Arizona Storm 16 Thunder (Phoenix). These athletes know the company they are in and what it’s like to represent Kansas City on one of the largest stages in club volleyball.
“We have such great volleyball here with all the great clubs around and it’s so nice to be in the mix. Our team loves to compete,” said Green.
Van Gorp added, “This is a lot of fun and its such great competition. We love to compete and go against the best”.
The best indeed, Dynasty was impressive today with dominant performances and will also be representing Kansas City in the elite eight. They will face Wave 16- Brennan. If Power ‘] 16-1 and Dynasty were to win their first match tomorrow, it sets up an All KC semifinal.