NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami Claims NIT Elite Title

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was supposed to be a weekend of seeing where this team is at in their first big event of the young club season. This was a team that finished 2nd in this same event last year as a 16s team, which included some key absences to their roster due to injury at the time. After finishing 5th at nationals in 2022 in the 16 Open division, there certainly are high expectations in place for this squad. With only about six weeks of training behind them this season leading to the Triple Crown NIT, NKYVC had a plan to arrive, get after it, and learn about their identity and needs for the bulk of the club season ahead of them. With a spot among the power pool teams in the 17U division, NKYVC opened the weekend with a 2-1 record that set them up for some key showdowns in the latter stages of the tournament through which they won outright through days two and three.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Saturday, they defeated MadFrog's top team before defeating their second opponent from Texas in as many matches in Dallas Skyline. Facing a familiar foe in Rockwood to close out the first day, NKYVC came up just short losing 2-1. This set up their crossover action to start day two where they took on a very determined and scrappy MadFrog second 17's team, earning a very close 2-1 win to solidify their opportunities in the Elite bracket among the best teams in the country the rest of the way. In the round of 32, Coast's 17s battled well taking NKYVC to another 2-1 outcome. On to the final 16, next up for NKYVC was one of the top-ranked teams in the country in A5, a team that has already earned their open-level bid to the upcoming USA GJNC event this summer. NKYVC closed out day two with some of their best effort all weekend, defeating A5 2-0 (25-22, 25-19) and a place in the Elite 8 of the event. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With an early morning contest with Premier Nebraska, another team that has already qualified for nationals, NKYVC's service pressure minimized Premier's ability to use the big strength in their offense, which is their middles. It was a close match with NKYVC prevailing 2-0 by identical 25-23 scores. The semifinal round proved to be the most challenging match of the weekend as AZ Sky had built a great tournament resume with their success and signature tough serving, great defense, and low error offense. After AZ Sky won a grind of a set one 29-27, NKYVC took set two 25-19. Set three was a barn burner as neither team was able to create separation until the very end as a broken play on match point for NKYVC led to a huge match-ending termination by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139273' first='Lilly' last='Gillespie']</strong> (Depaul) to send NKYVC to the finals. Gillespie was huge all weekend as her all-around skill set was on display through her offense and with her terrific efficiency in her ball control and defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With an afternoon date in the championship finals, NKYVC faced OT T Aaron on the main court, streaming on ESPN, and with a goal to take that final step to improve on their 2022 finish. It was a complete team effort as NKYVC battled in set one to overcome losing a big lead to shore up their game late to win set one 27-25. They were on fire in all aspects of set two, winning 25-20 to claim the 17 Elite crown with a 2-0 victory. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As all athletes contributed, here are some individual notes:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139272' first='Abby' last='Yoder']</strong> (Uncommitted) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='107418' first='Macy' last='Lentz'] </strong>(Uncommitted) shared the setting role and found their groove early on day two in regards to consistent location and developing great balance in NKYVC's offense. They are quickly become a critical cog for this squad as they are showing more and more improvement in delivering an up-tempo offense when in system, and making good decisions in out-of-system situations.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='107423' first='Alivia' last='Skidmore']</strong> (Western Kentucky) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='114565' first='Sydney' last='Barrett'] </strong>(Denver) were two key offensive threats as they saw a lot of opportunities to swing primarily from the left side of the court, which resulted in some very respectable numbers. Skidmore had 78 kills on the weekend for a 3.6 k/s average while hitting .304. Her athleticism and attacking pace provided several memorable terminations. Barrett saw the most volume and handled it well as she averaged a team high 4.3 k/s on 94 total kills for a .232 hitting efficiency. She also supplied a ton of service pressure, including back-to-back aces late in set one of the finals to secure the 1-0 advantage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='107399' first='Julia' last='Hunt']</strong> (Washington) was dynamite throughout the final two days as she was formidable at the net defensively while also earning 79 total kills for a .389 efficiency. After a slow day one of continuing to get her more comfortable with this early season club schedule (while also helping her high school basketball team find late season success), Hunt eventually showed why she is considered one of the best middles in the country. She averaged 3.6 k/s on the weekend, which included an .810 efficiency as of result of 18 kills on 21 swings with only one error in NKYVC's semifinal win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='107434' first='Lilly' last='Hamburg'] </strong>(Uncommitted) raised her stock well this weekend as she found great success offensively with added opportunities from her setters, while also helping lead the defense with her big presence at the net. She brings incredible energy for this team and that helped ignite them all weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the back row, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139275' first='Kaleigh' last='Frietch'] </strong>(Cincinnati) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='107422' first='Elizabeth' last='Tabeling'] </strong>(Ball State) were solid in their combined effort defensively to make some big-time plays, and through their consistent serve receive and service pressure to ace or take opponents out of system.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>NKYVC next heads to Louisville for back-to-back weekends. Up first is the Pioneer Region bid event this Saturday followed by the two-day Bluegrass tournament the next weekend. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->