Pacific Northwest Qualifier – 18s Preview

<p>Club volleyball teams from the state of Washington will have their best opportunity to qualify for this year’s USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship in the next two weekends, when the Spokane area hosts the Pacific Northwest Qualifier.</p> <p>The event will be played across four venues in the region and will reunite teams competing in 28 different divisions in eight age groups. In the days leading up to the first weekend of competition, we’ll preview each age group from 15s to 18s, highlighting the teams of Washington that will compete in the tournament.</p> <p>All four 18s divisions will be on the court from March 26-28 and 36 different teams will be representing the Evergreen State on them.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>18 American (12)</strong></p> <p>There are some solid teams in the division, starting with<strong> NPJ Seattle 18 National</strong>, which has middle blocker<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="97141" first="Kiauna" last="Mack"]</strong>, outside hitter<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="97196" first="Delaney" last="Speer"] </strong>and right side<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="97206" first="Anuhea" last="Lopez"] </strong>on the roster. <strong>NW Jrs. 18 UA Black </strong>also has a strong core with outside hitter <strong>Riley Westby</strong>, setter <strong>Zoe Smith</strong> and libero <strong>Amyah Brown</strong>, but <strong>Oly Reign 18 Gold </strong>is certainly not behind with their trio of<strong> Langley Griffin </strong>(outside hitter), <strong>Bella Grant </strong>(middle blocker) and <strong>Kate Johnson </strong>(right side).</p> <p><strong>Apex NW U18 Summit, Aspire NW 18-2 Royal, Dakine Warriors 18 Lokahi, Excel NW 18-2 Gold, Extreme 18-2, PJVBC 18 Nicole, SEVC 18-1, Spokane Sky 18 Pink </strong>and <strong>Strike Force 18 Black </strong>are the other teams from Washington entered in the division.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><strong>18 Liberty (7)</strong></p> <p><strong>PJVBC 18 National </strong>is the club’s top team and has plenty of talent in <strong>Danielle Faamausili</strong> (setter), <strong>Alofagia Woods</strong> (middle blocker) and <strong>Grace Peterson</strong> (outside hitters). So do <strong>Rainier U18 Summit – Brooks </strong>with setter <strong>Marissa Dahl</strong>, middle blocker <strong>Allie Edwards</strong> and outside hitter <strong>Carmen Perez</strong> and <strong>SIVBC 18 Heat </strong>with their trio of <strong>Lily Remington, Dylan Turner</strong> (outside hitters) and <strong>Gabrielle Lombard</strong> (middle blocker).</p> <p>The three teams are joined by <strong>CC Fusion 18-1 Black,</strong> <strong>Club Gold 18-2 Black,</strong> <strong>Ignite 18-1 </strong>and <strong>Renovators 18 – Karrie </strong>in the division.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>18 Open (4)</strong></p> <p>Washington is set to be well-represented in the most prestigious division with four of its top teams entered to compete. <strong>Club Gold 18-1 Blue </strong>had a solid core with outside hitter <strong>Autumn Larson</strong>, middle blocker <strong>Kenzie Nealon </strong>and right side <strong>Hannah Williamson</strong>. There’s also some serious talent in <strong>Excel NW 18-1 Rox’s </strong>roster as the team features the likes of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97213" first="Rylie" last="Reeves"]</strong> (outside hitter), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97217" first="Emily" last="Vossenkuhl"]</strong> (middle blocker) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97304" first="Paige" last="Stepaniuk"]</strong> (libero).</p> <p><strong> </strong><strong>Renovators 18 – Allen </strong>relies on stellar players such as outside hitter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97160" first="Teila" last="Allen"]</strong> and middle blockers <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97164" first="Emily" last="Hutchinson"]</strong> and <strong>Danikah Jonhson</strong> to do well while <strong>SIVBC 18 Tsunami </strong>places their trust in right side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97136" first="Alana" last="Castaneda"], </strong>middle blocker <strong>Diya Mishra </strong>and libero <strong>Maiya Gonzalez</strong>.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><strong>18 USA (13)</strong></p> <p>The division with the most Washington teams has some of the best of them, starting with<strong> Dakine Warriors 18 Surf, </strong>which has stellar talent such as middle blocker <strong>Krisee Copeland, </strong>setter <strong>Kate Piasecki </strong>and libero <strong>Hannah Couch. </strong>Neighbors<strong> PS U18 Navy </strong>also have some serious talent in setter <strong>Roslyn Zentz</strong>, outside hitter <strong>Tara Hutchinson </strong>and middle blocker <strong>Amanda Bussard.</strong></p> <p><strong>Seattle Jrs 18’s </strong>trio of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97075" first="Emily" last="Mekelburg"], Lauren Riffe</strong> (outside hitters) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97074" first="Taylor" last="Pederson"]</strong> (setter) has game-changing potential.  <strong>SNVF 18 Waves </strong>has a younger team with the potential of doing well with the likes of outside hitter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97238" first="Haedyn" last="Bambolo"]</strong>, setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97223" first="Aaliyah" last="Lutali"] </strong>and right side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97251" first="Arden" last="Caley"]</strong>.</p> <p>Don’t sleep on <strong>CRU 18 Baden </strong>with their ‘Big Three’ of outside hitter <strong>Kennedy Webb, </strong>setter <strong>Taylor Kieser </strong>and middle blocker<strong> Zoey Crimin</strong> or on <strong>SIVA 18 Blue, </strong>who has a great collection of talent in Northwest Washington with outside hitter <strong>Finnley Clayes, </strong>libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="178581" first="Avery" last="Neal"]</strong> and defensive specialist<strong> Sofia Rader </strong>on their squad.</p> <p><strong>Aspire NW 18-1 Empire, Blue Royals 18-A, Extreme 18’s, ITVC 18 Baden, NCWVBC U-18 Black, NCWVBC U-18 Gold </strong>and <strong>Shockwave 18 National </strong>will also try to qualify for the National Championship this weekend.</p>