Northern Lights Qualifier 18s: Kansas and Missouri Teams
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Teams are ready to trek north for the Northern Lights Qualifier in Minneapolis this weekend. The tournament will run Friday through Sunday and feature the 18s, for their second qualifier of the year and the first cracks at bids for…
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Continue ReadingTeams are ready to trek north for the Northern Lights Qualifier in Minneapolis this weekend. The tournament will run Friday through Sunday and feature the 18s, for their second qualifier of the year and the first cracks at bids for 17s and 15s. Today we will highlight some teams expected to be in the mix come Sunday in the 18s division.
18 Open – 3 Bids
The top seed, Power ‘] 18 Black already owns a bid so the trickle-down could be in effect early in the season for teams. The team got strong play from their pins at MLK with Alea Goolsby Alea Goolsby 5'11" | OH St. Thomas Aquinas | 2025 State #36 Nation KS and Rachel Van Gorp Rachel Van Gorp 5'9" | OH Heritage Christian | 2024 State #94 Nation KS carrying the offensive load and Mya Bolton Mya Bolton 5'3" | DS/L St. James Academy | 2024 State #134 Nation KS playing strong defensively. Pohaku 18-1 will take their second crack at an open bid after a 7th place showing in Kansas City. Look for them to attempt to get their middles established early in the tournament with Jada Ingram Jada Ingram 5'11" | MB Washburn Rural | 2024 State #61 Nation KS and Alexis Alexander to get their pins one-on-one matchups.
18 USA – 2 Bids
Mizuno Club North Ang was just outside of capturing a bid in the Liberty division at Asics MLK with a third-place finish and will take a stab in the USA division this weekend. Lauren Wright Lauren Wright 5'8" | S Liberty North | 2024 State MO was effective all weekend from the setter position and the team got good play from Ryanne Wattree Ryanne Wattree 5'10" | RS Lees Summit West | 2024 State MO .
18 Liberty – 2 Bids
The sole team we cover in the 18 Liberty division will be PVA 18 Elite. They are doing the opposite of what Club North did and going from USA to Liberty for this qualifier. They went 3-4 at MLK, good for a tie for ninth. When pool play opens on Friday they will be at the top of the fourth grouping.
18 American – 1 Bid
One bid will be in play, which is the norm for the American division. A couple of teams we think could be in the hunt are Dynasty 18 Blue and Club North 18 Riley. Dynasty went 7-1 at MLK and finished in a tie for fifth, with their loss coming in gold bracket play. They only dropped three sets the whole tournament and will look to build on their play. Club North also advanced to the gold bracket in the American division in Kansas City and was dropped in their opening match. They had a 5-2 record, good for a ninth-place showing. Tatiana Murray had some bright moments in their tournament run.