GJNC Gateway Teams Ready For Play in 17s.

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we saw in working on the Heart of America national preview, Gateway is also deep in the 17s age group. We will start off with the teams set to play in the Open, National, USA, and Liberty groupings. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Open</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] 17 Elite</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What is not a surprise to us is seeing Rockwood in the Open division. It took them a little longer than they probably would have liked, but they got it done at Windy City. At Windy City, they fell just short of the title going 8-2 falling to 1st Alliance and Houston Juniors. I saw this team in action last weekend from the R1 position and I think they are ready to give it a strong run when the tournament gets going. I really like their setters and the flow of the offense with [player_tooltip player_id='124219' first='Alyssa' last='Nelson'] and Morgan Dumm. [player_tooltip player_id='153933' first='Jordan' last='Smith'] provides good size from the right side. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">National</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HPSTL 17 Royal</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The region's National bid went to HPSTL 17 Royal after a strong bid event series and missing out on an Open bid. They were close in Florida, coming out in 5th place. Playing a heavy Open schedule should benefit them once the first serve comes and they should be able to get a top-three finish if they play their best ball. The steady [player_tooltip player_id='150037' first='Grace' last='Killion'] will be all over the court. [player_tooltip player_id='124225' first='Sammi' last='Bergjans'] will run the offense and look for [player_tooltip player_id='150035' first='Audrey' last='Small'] to continue to make defensive plays. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">USA</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] 17 Navy</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Out the gate, Rockwood took care of business snatching at a bid at Northern Lights back in January. They ended their qualifier season back in the USA division with a couple of top-fifteen showings. Addison Normille is very good defensively. Emma Hoing will be productive on the pin and look for them to feed the middles to hold the defense with [player_tooltip player_id='150039' first='Claire' last='Fulton'] being one of those options. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Liberty</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HP South 17 Premier</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South 17 modeled Rockwood above by getting their bid early at Northern Lights. The 6-3 weekend was good enough to finish runner-up and punch a ticket to Nationals. They should be able to compete well after showing they can be consistent in this division after multiple top-ten finishes. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->