The Context of Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold’s NIT Triple Crown Title

“Champions” - What does that even mean anymore? 

For the Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold team, being “Champions” of the Triple Crown NIT is a huge deal.  

We all see it, we talk about it, screenshots are captured and sent to friends asking about other teams about being champions of this tournament or that (or am I the only person that receives those messages?).  My own social media feeds are full of teams holding up the number one where they were champions of various tournaments or different divisions of tournaments.  It's overwhelming.  

What isn't gray or left up for debate is the significance of the Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold title in Kansas City where they defeated 1st Alliance out of Chicagoland for the 17 Elite title.  They won the whole thing, champions of the most difficult tournament in the country. 

What is NIT Triple Crown? This is an invite only tournament where they truly bring the best teams from across the country with the slogan “Where the Elite Come To Compete”.  Milwaukee Sting and FC Elite out of Appleton are the only Wisconsin clubs in this event.  Out of the top 100 clubs in the country, more than 90% of them attend this event.  This is a completely different conversation, but when it comes to nationals, there are AAU Nationals and USAV Nationals.  There are multiple divisions at these nationals.  At this tournament, everyone is competing for the top spot.  There are over 115 teams in the 17s division and all of them have a chance to get the crown. 

How did Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold find their way on top?  

Day one on Saturday is pool play.  Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold was in a power pool with the top eight seeds in the tournament.  They played three matches against top teams in the country where they would automatically advance to a “Challenge Match”.  They went 1-2 with a win against Houston Skyline 17 Royal and two losses to Dallas Skyline 17 Royal and Arizona Storm 17 Thunder.  All of these teams have multiple D1 commits going to top 25 programs across the country.  Anytime a Midwest team competes against a Texas or West Coast team it's a little bit of Midwest vs. The World.  

Day two, the Milwaukee squad was up against Drive Nation 17 Red out of Dallas where they swept them in their “Challenge Match”.  The challenge match is when teams from the power pool play against a team who won a standard four team pool on day one.  This moves teams into the top 32.  Their next win was against MAVS KC who has one of the top setters in the country in Logan Parks.  The sweet sixteen match where the winner would advance to the day three gold bracket was against TAV 17 Black Jon.  TAV out of the Dallas Metro is traditionally one of the top programs in the country where their top teams are always in title contention. Sting would snag another sweep, guaranteeing a top eight finish. 

Day three started with a rematch against Arizona Storm who won the 16 Open USAV National title in 2023.  “Open” is the highest level division at USAV and AAU Nationals.  Arizona Storm is a legit national champion with the number one Prep Dig ranked player in the Class of 2025 in outside hitter Teraya Sigler who is committed to Nebraska.  This team also has commits to Utah, Oregon, and Iowa.  Sting would get revenge, sweeping AZ Storm where they would face Legacy out of Detroit in the semifinals.  Legacy is led by the top setter in the 2025 national rankings in Campbell Flynn, another Nebraska commit.  Another sweep for Sting and it's on to the championship. 

The championship is on a court with bleachers, there are cameras everywhere with the match being streamed on ESPN+.  It's a different feeling than the rest of the tournament.  Sting would face a familiar foe in 1st Alliance out of the Chicago area.  1st Alliance consistently produces double digit D1 recruits per year.  They are one of the top clubs in the country.  This 17s team has athletes committed to Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Louisville with more who will soon make their verbal.  They were the 16 Open USAV runner ups, they won Triple Crown NIT in 2022, they have the big studs and experience to win the big matches. 

How did Milwaukee Sting do it?  Seeing some of these teams, it can be physically intimidating.  6'0 tall at this level is “undersized”.  Most of these teams have multiple athletes who can jump and dunk a tennis ball.  Sting has those players too, but they win these matches in the most Midwest way possible.  This group has a special team chemistry where it is obvious they love celebrating each other.  They are extremely disciplined where they know where they need to be, they trust their teammates to make plays, and they can play aggressively with no fear.  They are scrappy, where everyone swarms to the ball.  There are times when I watch and think “How did they keep that going?”  They break teams down with those plays that just outlast.  Seeing this team in multiple settings the past few years, it is apparent the belief they have in each other and the joy they feel being part of this team.

At this point, Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold is ranked 1st via Advanced Event Systems (AES).  This is a system volleyball uses compiling results to determine seeding at events based on results.  For those familiar with RPI or KenPom rankings in basketball it's basically the same thing. 

Will they be national champions?  That's so far away.  The margin of error between these top teams is extremely small.  Are they the top team in the 17s age division for club volleyball right now?  Yes.