Premier 17 Gold Wins NIT Round of 16 Thriller over 1st Alliance
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I had a feeling these two teams would produce a classic.
Premier Nebraska 17 Gold and 1st Alliance 17 Gold met in the Elite bracket at Triple Crown NIT Sunday night with a spot in Monday’s Round of 8 on the line. It wasn’t the first time these two squads competed in the same venue, as they both reached the final Gold pools of the Northern Lights Qualifier. Unfortunately, we were denied a direct meeting between the two squads at that event.
But NIT fixed that as Premier Nebraska and 1st Alliance finally crossed paths. What ensued in this winner-take-all meeting can only be described as an emotional rollercoaster.
Premier’s First Push
Early control of the opening set went to Premier Nebraska.
Many familiar wrinkles in the Premier offense were working to perfection early in this match. In particular, the up-tempo ‘go’ set to South Dakota commit Lauren Medeck Lauren Medeck 5'10" | OH Papillion-La Vista South | 2024 State #31 Nation NE on the outside was nearly unstoppable. Another future Coyote, Morgan Bode Morgan Bode 6'1" | MB Papillion-La Vista South | 2024 State NE , chipped in with a few big swings to start the match. It was the ideal start.
We knew that 1st Alliance would forge a response, and that answer came soon after Premier Nebraska seized a small lead. Grace Nelson, a future Kansas Jayhawk, showed the same fast arm and quickness off the floor that we had seen in early-season qualifiers. She was joined on the pin by Ellie White, a Michigan commit who contributes as a six-rotation left-side hitter in addition to her background as a setter.
Both sides exchanged scoring runs before Premier Nebraska expanded its lead late in Set 1. Aowyn Schrader started to tee off on the left side across from Medeck, and Oregon middle blocker commit Mia Tvrdy Mia Tvrdy 6'0" | MB Papillion-La Vista | 2024 State #35 Nation NE opened up favorable scoring opportunities even when she wasn’t the one getting swings. Premier held off another strong 1st Alliance to win 25-23 in the opener.
The Response
You had to figure 1st Alliance would battle back.
Set 2 offered a reverse script of the first, with 1st Alliance building a steady lead and having to fend off multiple pushes from Premier. Calli Kenny proved herself to be a formidable force on either pin, though her native position is probably on the right side.
But perhaps the biggest factor in 1st Alliance’s resurgence was its backcourt defense. This unit is anchored by libero Ava Falduto, a Penn State commit who is a new addition to the 17 Gold lineup this year. Falduto’s impact with her new club has been immediate and profound, and she also helps talented defenders like Samantha Falk shine in their own roles. Better yet, middle blockers Ellery Rees and Elise Sterling produced several quality block touches that made defending the end line a little easier.
In the end, it was a wacky cover-off-the-face play from Kenny that secured a 26-24 win for 1st Alliance in the second. It’s only fair that the first two frames were decided by two points.
The Tiebreaker
Like Set 1, the deciding third stanza started with a big Premier Nebraska advantage.
In fact, Premier’s lead in the race to 15 ballooned to as many as seven, including a 4-0 run to start it off. North Dakota State-bound opposite Tanith Roush remained an incredible blocking force, and she backed that up with some clutch swings, too. Her counterpart on the right pin, Josie Cleveringa Josie Cleveringa 5'10" | OH North Bend Central | 2024 State NE , followed suit on the other side of Premier’s two-setter offense.
Let’s talk about those setters. Even in the tense environment of the third set, Reagan Hickey Reagan Hickey 5'8" | S Papillion-La Vista | 2024 State NE and Northern Iowa commit Reese Booth Reese Booth 5'7" | S Elkhorn North | 2024 State NE showed that they were more than willing to take risks and make difficult plays. That yielded some split blocks throughout the match, and that was evident again in Set 3.
But 1st Alliance came roaring back, as they had for the entire match. Falduto did what liberos (under American rules) should do–serve tough. She pulled her team to within one as Premier expended both of its timeouts.
However, Premier never relinquished the lead it had claimed from the first point of the tiebreaker. Schrader put away match point as Premier Nebraska secured its place in the Monday bracket. A quarterfinal contest with NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami awaits.