NIT Triple Crown Power Pool Participants

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The highly anticipated NIT Triple Crown tournament is set to embark on Title Town...I mean Kansas City this weekend! This is one of the most hyped tournaments due to the number of quality teams traveling from all over the country. You will find your USAV, AAU, and JVA teams all in one spot, which rarely happens. The other highlight of the tournament is the [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] Pools to kick off the tournament. This places the top teams in pools to face off immediately on day one. The outcome of the [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] Pool doesn't affect these teams' ability to stay in the elite side of the tournament, while other teams are in smaller pools attempting to play their way into the elite tournament. Today, I want to discuss the teams placed in [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] Pools to start the show.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>18s</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']'] </strong>will start in the top pool when things get going on Saturday, in pool A. [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] has double qualified already in the young qualifier season, winning MLK and Northern Lights. Their most recent trip to Salt Lake City saw a 2-1 day two be good enough for a third-place finish and just missing playing for another top-three finish. The team is deep with attackers but gets good defense and timely serving from [player_tooltip player_id='152832' first='Felicia' last='Wu']. Their tournament will start with TAV 18 Black, Madfrog 18s N Green, and Coast 18-1, teams already qualified in 18 Open. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] 18 Elite</strong> picks up a spot in pool B. They are also qualified for open with a strong showing at MLK in Kansas City. They will look for similar success in the building they competed in last month. Thunder decided to head to South for Florida Fest, where they would double qualify after finishing third. The setter duo of [player_tooltip player_id='124225' first='Sammi' last='Bergjans'] and [player_tooltip player_id='124219' first='Alyssa' last='Nelson'] has been steady in their final club season. The St. Louis team will take on Dallas Skyline, SCVC, and A5. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>17s</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three teams we cover were awarded places in the 17s [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] Pools. Two of these teams will be in the same pool and oddly play each other on day one. One of the goals has typically been to have teams face off from different parts of the country. Pool B will feature both <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 17 Black</strong> and HPSTL 17 Royal. [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] features [player_tooltip player_id='153930' first='Abigail' last='Mullen'] and [player_tooltip player_id='154039' first='Reese' last='Messer']. They had a 5th place showing at Northern Lights weeks back. [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] will get MIElite, HPSTL, and Legacy on Saturday afternoon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Speaking of <strong>HPSTL 17 Royal</strong>, they haven't played in the early season qualifiers but competed well in the Gateway League. They are a team that found success in 2023 and hopes to carry that over in 2024. They have a team of strong players and are led up front by Tera Greenberry and [player_tooltip player_id='170046' first='Lainey' last='Waser']. Besides [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''], they will also play Houston Jrs. and Excel.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] Pool D will feature <strong>Mavs 17-1</strong> as they prepare to take on two Nebraska teams in VC Nebraska and Nebraska One. They will close out with A4 Volley. After a second-place output in the HOA [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] League Qualifier, they went 5-0 on the first plate date a couple of weekends ago. [player_tooltip player_id='173374' first='Maegan' last='Mills'], who had a great high school season, is a centerpiece on this team with all-everything [player_tooltip player_id='154041' first='Logan' last='Parks']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>16s</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pohaku 16-1</strong> is the lone team we follow in the [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] Pool in C. They are back after a strong 15s season and turned some heads and frustrated some teams in the 18 USA division at MLK, where they finished second. [player_tooltip player_id='154038' first='Ella' last='Florez'], [player_tooltip player_id='222089' first='Grace' last='Martin'], and [player_tooltip player_id='222092' first='Willow' last='Weninger'] are a few of the strong players on this team. They will get Team Pineapple, Milwaukee Sting, and Vision 16 Gold starting at 8:30 am on Saturday. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15s</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HPSTL 15 Royal</strong> and <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']'] 15 Black</strong> join the [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] Pools in C. [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] journeyed to the Northern Lights qualifier and just missed getting an early bid with a third-place finish. HPSTL played up in the 16-18 division in the Gateway League and went 8-3. <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428892' first='PVA' last=''] 15 Elite</strong> will start play in pool D. They also went to Northern Lights and went 5-3, solid for 5th place. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->