Northern Lights: Mavs earn a bid in the 15s
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15s is the year I start following 15s generally and a quick way to get on the radar is going deep in qualifier play! Mavs KC 15-1 traveled to Minnesota and left celebrating a Chiefs AFC title and a second-place…
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Continue Reading15s is the year I start following 15s generally and a quick way to get on the radar is going deep in qualifier play! Mavs KC 15-1 traveled to Minnesota and left celebrating a Chiefs AFC title and a second-place finish in the Liberty division. They jumped out the gate with a dominant win over Iowa PowerPlex and looked strong in the second match with Summit. After a first-set win, they had difficulty sealing the deal in the second set and dropped it -22. The final set was a back-and-forth affair that ended with a Summit 16-14 win. The Kansas team did bounce back to win their final match of pool play to give them a second-place pool finish.
The second day started with a couple of wins, including one over local foe Dynasty 15 Blue. The final match of pool play was against St. Louis-based Rockwood Thunder 15 Navy in a crossover match. After grabbing the first set, Rockwood stormed back to win the next two and the match.
The loss sent Mavs to the gold bracket for a rematch with Dynasty 15 Blue. The result was the same with a sweep. Their next match was against in-region team 417 Juniors 15 Elite. Mavs would win the first set in a tightly contested match but would dominate the second set, -9 to earn a spot in the semifinals. With a win, a bid was guaranteed and it proved to be all the motivation they needed as they would win in straight sets, with a tight 26-24 second set to finish the match.
After clinching their bid, a championship was still at stake against another Iowa PowerPlex team. This Iowa team grabbed the first set 25-20 before the Kansas team took the second easily, -16. The third was even early but Iowa found a late run to grab the Northern Lights title. The Mavs roster consists of Emma Hager Emma Hager 5'6" | DS/L Blue Valley Northwest | 2026 State KS , Lainey Barrett, Avery Hemphill, Naomi Randall, Victoria Mudari, Becca Meyer, Riley Martin Riley Martin OH North Kansas City | 2027 MO , Leighton Benne Leighton Benne 5'8" | DS/L Lee's Summit North | 2027 MO , and Sophia Sturdy Sophia Sturdy 5'7" | OH Mill Valley | 2028 State KS .
Rockwood Navy 15 Thunder would end up finishing 3rd with a 7-1 record. Mavs KC 15-2 ended up fifth in the same division going 6-1 along the way. 417 Juniors 15 Elite had a strong showing also making the gold bracket and had a tie for fifth.