February Rewind

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last month I started the monthly rewind. This is a space to focus on teams and players who don't get the press due to not playing in power leagues, qualifiers, or other major events. We may not know many of the players on these teams, but it's still cool to see their team highlighted every so often.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Boys Regionals</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We don't talk about boys often, primarily due to our target market. However, at least where I live there is a growth in boy's volleyball, especially at the high school level with Missouri now allowing volleyball to be a sanctioned sport this spring. Earlier this month, the Heart of America region held their regional competition. In the combined 18s division, <strong>Mavs KC 17-1 </strong>walked away as the champion after an undefeated weekend. It wasn't easy with five of eight matches going three sets. <strong>Ohana 16-1 </strong>from Iowa took home the title in the combined 16s division. I saw them play a few times and they had a lot of energy and were solid in all facets of the game. Their final match, which I witnessed ended in 32-20, 29-27 wins. The 14 combined group saw <strong>Mavs KC 14-1</strong> have little trouble on the way to a 7-0 weekend. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kansas Rise</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kansas Rise 18-1</strong> took home the title earlier this month at the APEX VB Classic in the combined 18 division. They bounced back from a tough pool to go on a winning streak in the playoffs to secure the title. The final match was an instant classic, defeating Missouri Jrs. 18-2 in extra, 26-24 and 27-25. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Shell Price Tournament</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The annual Shell Price tournament occurred across Kansas City for teams in the select division. The two-day tournament features three sections of pool play before ending in brackets. <strong>Hype 18-1 </strong>was victorious in the 18s division going 10-0-1. All ten wins were in two sets. Oklahoma was represented well by <strong>Oklahoma Charge 17-1</strong>. They were a very talented team who surprised many by being in the select vision but they had a couple of set ties along the way in pool play. They didn't lose a match and won the title in straight sets. Your 15 Select champions come from the North, in the <strong>Iowa Heart 16 Select </strong>team. It didn't come easy as they went three sets in the semifinal and final. The final division we cover, the 15s was won by <strong>Iowa Heart 15 Select</strong>. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Keeper of the Plains</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wichita area hosts the Keeper of the Plains tournament each year. <strong>KC Challenge 18-2</strong> made the journey down I-35 and returned with a title in the 18s, defeating <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428899' first='Wichita' last='Legacy'] 18-1</strong> in a spirited three-set contest that ended 15-13. Jumping to 16s, <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428900' first='Kansas' last='Volleyball Club'] 16-1</strong> was victorious, having only one close set on the way to a perfect record. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->