Two Top-Five Finishes in 16 National for Kansas City Teams

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We often shared, many teams in the National division play heavy Open schedules. These teams often miss out on qualifying in the Open division and end up winning their region's bid(s) for the National division. We knew there were a handful of teams who had a real shot at winning a national title in this division and [program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']'] 16 Black and [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 16 Black both were teams high on that list. While they didn't win the whole thing, both teams competed well and left Illinois with top 5 finishes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']'] 16 Black</strong> completed their tournament 8-2 and was one win away from playing for a national title and ended their tournament tied for 3rd place. They were tested early and often on day one as both matches went three sets but in both, they left the court victorious. Things didn't change on day two, opening the day with another three-set win before finally getting a sweep over Sportime 16 Gold. The first loss of the tournament would come in the final match of Pool play, dropping a three-setter to ARVC. With three teams sharing a 4-1 record, [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] would finish the pool in 3rd, good enough to stay in Group 1 play heading into day 3. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] would leave no chance in their new pool, winning both matches to win the pool and advance to crossover play. They would take care of 1st Alliance 16 Silver to move on the Gold bracket on the final day. The opening draw in the group of eight would pit the two Kansas City programs against each other, ending one teams shot at winning it all. [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] jumped out fast and took control of the opening set, running away -16. They would then carry that momentum into the second and capture the win -21 to move on to the semifinals. Here their run would fall short and they would lose in straight sets to AJV 16 Adidas. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pin [player_tooltip player_id='222099' first='Ella' last='Stowell'] and setter [player_tooltip player_id='173372' first='Lily' last='Wedman'] earned spots on the All-Tournament teams.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 16 Black</strong> finished the championships tied for 5th, going 6-3 in their nine matches. Like [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''], they opened their tournament with back-to-back three-set matches, splitting the two. The second day saw them go 2-1, good for a 3rd place pool showing. The third day was strong for [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] as they won all three matches, two in pool play including the only win over natinoal champion Colorado Juniors. Their crossover match was another big win, getting revenge over a [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] team that they loss to in opening pool play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We mentioned above how they would be matched against and lose to [program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']'] in the Gold bracket semifinals. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='173381' first='Hadley' last='Porter'] and middle [player_tooltip player_id='153938' first='Saida' last='Jacobs'] were named to the All-Tournament squads. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] 16 Elite</strong> were strong out the gate, winning their pool going 5-0 with a win over [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 16 Black. They split their day 3 pool play action, losing to [program_tooltip program_id='430218' first='Six' last='Pack'] 16 and beating Adrenaline 16 Doug, another Iowa team. Their crossover match was highlighted above, a loss to [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 16. The tournamen would in with a Silver bracket defeat to 1st Alliance. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->