The Final 17U Gateway Teams Heading to GJNC

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We are rounding out our coverage of teams preparing to take on nationals with the final teams in the remaining divisions for the 17s. Here are those teams and how they got here.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">American</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HPSTL 17 Orange</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Orange earned the region's bid in the American division. They have multiple top-ten finishes in the Liberty division and should be competitive in the American. [player_tooltip player_id='195380' first='Morgan' last='Ribble'] and [player_tooltip player_id='150045' first='Riley' last='Kortkamp'] are mainstays in the middle and hope to affect the game on both offense and defense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HPSTL 17 White</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>17 White received a reallocated bid from the Bayou region and accepted it. They were on the doorstep at Windy City, walking away with a third-place finish after losing in the semifinal of the American division gold bracket. On their resume is also a third place in their bid weekend event. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Freedom</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HP Illinois 17 National</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Besides MEQ, this team was on the brink of grabbing the USA bid multiple times in April. This shows they finished the year playing some of their best volleyball. I had a chance to officiate them last weekend and walked away very impressed with their play. I talked last week about the play of Alayna Santel on the right side. Setter Allie Becker and the middles also had a good connection. Their bid came via reallocation</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HTH 17-1</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hometown Hitters out of Hannibal, Missouri will play in the Freedom Division after getting the region bid. This squad played in numerous local tournaments. One of their best qualifying showings was a 9th-place weekend at Windy City in Liberty, which was a big improvement from the 33rd the week prior in the USA division. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->