Washington Winners at PNQ!

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Washington players went all out to finish as winners this weekend at the PNQ in Spokane. Leaving the tournament on Monday with a win in the last match is a team accomplishment to be celebrated from the Gold Bracket to Flight 5 and everywhere in between. Here is a look at the teams that finished strong, and several of the athletes that contributed to the wins. Coverage of individual players from the 18U-16U Divisions at the PNQ will continue this week! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>18 BRACKET WINNERS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NPJ Forefront </strong>took home the big prize as the 18 Open champions in dominating fashion. The team punched their ticket with an Open bid and looked good doing it. Setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='126024' first='Alexis' last='Haury']</strong> fed her big hitters buttery sets, libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='91311' first='Kennedy' last='Cheung']</strong> dug up everything that came her way and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='97249' first='Kyleene' last='Filimaua']</strong> hit rockets as the team did not drop a set. The team has players from all over the PNW, an awesome representation of the volleyball talent in this part of the country.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>OJVA Gold 18 </strong>secured a bid to the open with a 3rd place finish, even down a few players. A three set victory over Mizuno Long Beach Rockstar sealed the deal. <strong>RVC Kosty 18</strong> took home the Flight 1 victory, securing a 7th-place overall finish in the Open. Setters/Attackers <strong>Kylie Munday</strong> from Post Falls, Idaho, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='97271' first='Leilani' last='Ama']</strong> led the way.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ITVC Baden 18</strong> snagged the coveted Gold Ball trophy and bid in the 18 American Division, finishing with a championship win over CC FORCE 181 Crossfire from Texas. ITVC sent out a tall and talented front line including <strong>AK Short</strong>, <strong>Emma Saffel</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='97251' first='Arden' last='Caley']</strong>, and <strong>Leila Obeidat</strong> that proved difficult for opponents to solve during the run to the title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>BRVBA 18</strong> snagged the Bronze Division and <strong>SIVA 18-2 South Blue</strong> finished first in Flight 1. In the 18 Liberty Division, two Spokane area teams finished Monday with wins. <strong>Club South 18</strong> won the Bronze with strong all-around efforts from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='251540' first='Lauren' last='York']</strong> and <strong>Joy Assonken</strong>, and the <strong>Extreme 18 Veronica</strong> squad secured the victory in Flight 4. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>17 BRACKET WINNERS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 17 teams had the most bracket winners for Washington, eight -along with a third-place finish that secured a bid. In the 17 Open, we are going to count <strong>OJVA 17's</strong> Flight 2 victory as Washington and Oregon win. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='249444' first='Sydney' last='Dreves']</strong> is a very talented 2025 prospect on the team from Columbia River. <strong>Dakine 17 Surf</strong> carried the day in Flight 3 and <strong>RVC 17 Trent</strong> from Spokane ended the tournament with a win in Flight 5. The two primary liberos for these teams are go getter's, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='249350' first='Olivia' last='Paul']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='251026' first='Kaitlyn' last='Nguyen']</strong> work extremely hard on the court.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 17 USA Silver bracket came down to a rematch between <strong>CPA 17 Drew</strong> and <strong>Shockwave 17</strong>. The two Eastern Washington teams had met the day before with Shockwave winning a thriller in three. The CPA team won the battle the second time around, and the two squads will hope to play anyone else when they both head to the Salt Lake City Showdown in early April! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Seattle Juniors 17 won the Flight 1 bracket solidly in two sets over RVC 17 Brenna. Setters <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='302550' first='Elise' last='Baier']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='446891' first='Aimee' last='Brester'] </strong>kept the offense flowing, [player_tooltip player_id='369424' first='Victoria' last='Plumb'] was all over the floor on defense, and lefty right-side <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='360583' first='Karisa' last='Martin'] </strong>delivered powerful kills. In the 17 American Division, two Western Washington teams earned bids. <strong>SNVF 17 White</strong> broke through with gritty play all weekend, only dropping one set along the way. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='180923' first='Mariyah' last='Young'] </strong>was crushing swings from the pipe, setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='226455' first='Grace' last='Jones']</strong> was on target and crafty, and middle <strong>Hannah Johnson</strong> showed her versatility and skilled defense at the net <em>and</em> from the service line. SNVF 17 takes the American bid, and <strong>Dakine 17-2</strong> secured another with a 3rd place win. <strong>Tanumalea Fuamatu</strong> is a skilled and smart setter, and <strong>Lemasiono Fuamatu</strong> brought the heat from the outside.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":359402,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/03/Swave2.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-359402" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:image {"id":359423,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/03/Swave3.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-359423" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:image {"id":359427,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/03/Swave1.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-359427" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 17 Liberty has two Flight winners from the same club, NW Juniors. The 17 UA Black squad took down the competition in Flight 3 and the NW UA Blue team finished with a victory in Flight 4. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>16 BRACKET WINNERS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 16 Open has been touted as the most competitive division across the nation this club season and the PNQ was no exception. <strong>NPJ Seattle 16 National</strong> finished in a 9th place tie, tops among Washington clubs. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='253254' first='Annika' last='Wright'] </strong>played with fire and grit all weekend. The 16 USA Division was a success, with <strong>CPA Drew 16</strong> taking the Silver bracket, <strong>CPA 16 Katie</strong> winning Bronze, and <strong>Excel NW 16 Lux</strong> champions of Flight 1. MB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='250411' first='Savannah' last='Gustaveson']</strong> has great vision offensively for CPA Drew, MB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='290227' first='Shaylee' last='Stephen']</strong> was an intimidating blocker for Excel NW, and setter <strong>Taylor Winey</strong> out of Idaho ran down passes all weekend to give her CPA Katie attackers a set they could hit. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A big shout out to PSVBA 16 Legacy who just missed the top three with a fourth place finish in 16 USA. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='250424' first='Maddie' last='Taitano']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='220494' first='Reese' last='Sheppard']</strong> are an excellent duo at setter, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='219491' first='Vanessa' last='Caoili'] </strong>played her usual excellent all around game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>16 American saw <strong>Apex NW 16 Summit </strong>take Flight 1, <strong>Dakine Surf 16-2</strong> handled Flight 2 and<strong> NPJ Seattle 16 Black</strong> conquered Flight 4. In 16 Liberty, <strong>SIVBC 16 Tornado</strong> continued their winning ways with a Flight 1 championship. The Tornado squad did not lose a match after day one, an initial pool that included the second and fifth-place Liberty finishers overall. This team is gelling, and we will cover them in a mid-season team feature in the coming weeks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The club season is roughly at the mid-point, April is packed with events and Prep Dig will be there to cover it! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->