Champions and Bids at Show Me Qualifier: 17 Open
Another incredible qualifier weekend is complete! The Show Me Qualifier in Kansas City gave us high-level volleyball, new and familiar matchups, and a bunch of talented teams to be added to the Nationals field this summer. I’ve got a lot…
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Continue ReadingAnother incredible qualifier weekend is complete!
The Show Me Qualifier in Kansas City gave us high-level volleyball, new and familiar matchups, and a bunch of talented teams to be added to the Nationals field this summer. I’ve got a lot to chatter about after flying around and covering 15 Open, 16 Open, and 17 Open throughout the weekend, so we’re going to get right into it.
Let’s start with a wholesale summary of Show Me’s Open champions and bid winners, beginning with 17 Open. Keep in mind that I’ll be going into even more depth on some of my favorite storylines and standout players throughout the week. There’s a lot to cover there, too.
Okay, let’s see how the 17 Open Gold pools turned out and talk about who we can expect to see in Indianapolis this year.
Championship Monday
Gold Pool 1 of 17 Open featured NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami, Premier Nebraska 17 Gold, Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite, and Iowa Rockets 17R.
Monday opened with a key victory for Rockwood Thunder over NKYVC. With both teams in this matchup still seeking a Nationals bid, the intensity was elevated right away on the event’s final day.
Next was a cross-state contest between Premier Nebraska and Iowa Rockets. Premier came into this match having not dropped a set all weekend, and that reign continued in Monday’s opener.
Even if Premier 17 Gold were to continue its run of dominance into Monday, teams knew that every other matchup here was important — especially with 17 Gold having already secured a bid at NLQ. NKYVC took a three-set thriller over Iowa Rockets before Premier Nebraska took a big step to 2-0 with a win over Rockwood Thunder.
Earned it!@MNSelect 17-1 wins 30-28 in the second set to lock up a 3-0 record in Gold pools and advance to the 17 Open championship.
Nationals bound! pic.twitter.com/IsuPorW6Dd
— Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) April 11, 2022
As Gold pools often go, every team in this pool had a moment in the spotlight. Iowa Rockets bounced back from an 0-2 Monday start to defeat Rockwood Thunder in another deuce third set. The biggest spotlight belonged to Premier Nebraska, though, as 17 Gold swept through Monday pools with another 2-0 win over NKYVC to advance to the 17 Open title match.
On to the other side. 17 Open’s other Gold pool had Mintonette m.71, MN Select 17-1, MAVS KC 17-1, and Dynasty 17 Black.
Mintonette and MAVS KC kicked things off in Monday’s action. A pair of deuce sets went to the local Kansas City team, which already carried a Nationals bid into this event. That match was followed by a three-set slugfest that went in favor of MN Select over Dynasty.
The pool picture started to take shape in the next block of matches. Mintonette quickly bounced back from the opening loss with a 2-0 win against Dynasty. Then, in a matchup that would ultimately decide a pool winner, MN Select surged ahead in a third set to take a massive win over MAVS KC.
That was the turning point. After MAVS KC polished off a 2-1 Monday record, MN Select sealed the deal against Mintonette to claim a spot in the championship match.
Earned it!@MNSelect 17-1 wins 30-28 in the second set to lock up a 3-0 record in Gold pools and advance to the 17 Open championship.
Nationals bound! pic.twitter.com/IsuPorW6Dd
— Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) April 11, 2022
An old NLQ Gold pool match was rekindled between Premier Nebraska and MN Select. One team came into this match seeking tournament-wide perfection, and that perfection was attained. Premier Nebraska 17 Gold took a 2-0 victory in the title match to complete a Show Me Qualifier championship run without a single set loss.
The Bids
Three Nationals bids were up for grabs here, in this is the one Open division that required an extra match to determine a bid.
I mentioned that 17 Open champion Premier Nebraska already has a bid in hand, but this was the first breakthrough for MN Select. One bid goes to the runner-up, and you could see how much it meant to this team.
We then scan down to the second-place finishers in each pool: Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite and MAVS KC 17-1. It’s another split here: with Rockwood Thunder picking up a bid and MAVS KC already having one.
One more left. It would be determined by a fifth-place contest between Mintonette and Iowa Rockets, each of which placed third in Gold pools. In the end, the Ohio squad rose up to claim the event’s final bid and send Mintonette to Nationals once again.
The final Open bid of the Show Me Qualifier goes to @MintonetteSport m.71!
A win in the fifth-place match sends Mintonette to Nationals in 17 Open. pic.twitter.com/liXMUB0xqO
— Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) April 11, 2022