Highlights from Season-Opening 2023 Nebraska Elite Classic
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For many teams, Sunday’s Nebraska Elite Classic was the start of what should be a thrilling journey through the 2023 club season. What a way to kick things off. Of course, we’ll always caution against putting too much stock in…
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Continue ReadingFor many teams, Sunday’s Nebraska Elite Classic was the start of what should be a thrilling journey through the 2023 club season. What a way to kick things off.
Of course, we’ll always caution against putting too much stock in the results of these season-opening tournaments. There’s a lot of growth and development yet to come for these teams, and Sunday’s event was just the beginning. And, as we’ll discuss later, many teams at the Elite Classic used the tournament as an opportunity to experiment with unconventional lineups and see their players in different situations and positions.
Regardless, here are a few highlights and storylines from this 2023 season kickoff.
Tightly Contested 18s
One of the biggest early storylines at the Elite Classic was the exciting, back-and-forth action produced by the 18s teams.
An early example was the 8 a.m. meeting between Premier 18 Gold and Nebraska ONE 18 Black. Nebraska ONE came out firing in this one and eventually held off a late Premier comeback to swipe the first set. The two sides continued to feel each other out before Premier eventually forged a comeback and swiped Set 2 and Set 3. Results aside, you could see the level of play elevating as this match went on–a common thread with many scrimmage environments in early January.
We saw another fun opening 18s matchup on an adjacent court with Club Legacy 18 Alpha battling Premier 18 Black. Like the Premier-Nebraska ONE matchup, this contest went right down to the wire with Club Legacy winning the first set and Premier responding in Set 2. 18 Alpha looked particularly sharp as it clinched a victory in the tiebreaker, and this team is now firmly on my radar as we enjoy the rest of the 18s season.
It goes by quickly, so savor it!
Shuffling the Deck
As I alluded to in the introduction, this event was largely used as a venue to switch up lineups and work on team cohesion in various situations.
We saw just about everything, from players trading the libero jersey in between matches, outside hitters flipping sides of the rotation, and athletes going in and out of backcourt roles. This kind of lineup carousel is great for me, as it allows me to scout players in a variety of atypical circumstances and see how they respond. Way to elevate the intrigue, everyone.
New Faces, New Places
I made the Sunday morning visit to Nebraska Elite in hopes of getting my bearings on some personnel changes in the Nebraska club scene. This event helped a lot.
There are a variety of roster shuffles from this event that we’ll be discussing throughout the 2023 season. For example, we got to see Sierra Pokharel Sierra Pokharel 5'4" | DS/L Millard West | 2025 State NE suit up for Premier 16 Gold after she had competed with 16 Gold a year ago. After Pokharel spent most of her early prep days playing a year up, it will be fascinating to see how this 2025 libero meshes with her new 16s peers.
Nebraska ONE 16 Synergy is another group with some impactful new faces on the roster. Sierra Crist was a rock-solid passer who made an instant impact in the backcourt. Like many 16 Synergy athletes, she could probably make a splash in the frontcourt whenever needed.
Speaking of the frontcourt, the huge addition to the net for 16 Synergy this year is Fremont superstar Mattie Dalton Mattie Dalton 5'10" | OH Fremont | 2025 State NE . This high-flying outside hitter was among the most productive outside hitters in the state last fall, regardless of class. Better yet, Dalton’s all-around skills and fearless attacking style fit exactly into what 16 Synergy likes to do.
New combinations like these already have me excited for what’s to come.
Bring on the 15s
I’ve previously mentioned that we normally don’t get an extended look at players before they reach the 15s age group. Because of this, early-season competitions like this are incredibly valuable scouting opportunities for us.
It helps that we had quite a group of 15s teams present for the Elite Classic. Premier brought a trio with 15 Gold, 15 Black, and 15 Red, while Banzai joined the fray with their 15 Select squad. My objective with this pool was to simply get acquainted with the names, numbers, and positions of everyone involved. That way, we can deploy another update to our 2026 watch list before too long.