Triple Crown NIT Coverage – 14U Division Coming In Hotttt
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One of the most anticipated tournaments at the beginning of each club season is the Triple Crown NIT because of all of the talent that will be under one roof. It is being held in Kansas City, MO on February 17-19th. It brings together the toughest competition from all over the country. There are many storylines coming out of day one and we were front and center for two of them.
Can Madfrog Complete Back to Back Championships?
Madfrog 14 National Green is the defending Champion from last season and they are looking to go back to back this year. They have been steamrolling the competition so far on day one. I was able to be present for the match against Tstreet 14 Tara.
With stud outside hitter Maya Ogbogu's golden right arm, it looks like they are right on track. Her ability to get off of the ground with ease is something to marvel at. What I love about her is that although she plays at such an elite level, her attitude is always team centered and she stays humble. Her arm speed is top notch when she swings from all locations. I love how she is able to control and contort her upper body to swing around the block while she is in mid-air. Madfrog 's roster is littered with talent across the board. Middle Grace White is one of the best blockers in the age group. I love how she patrols the net with fast footwork to close the block with her pin blockers. She keeps her hands high throughout the entire movement, which allows her to keep fast timing on the press of the block. The best aspect about her is how she drives her feet hard toward her setter with both precision and intent to score on quick sets. With pin attackers like Katherine Clegg, Olivia Kitur Olivia Kitur 6'0" | OH Allen | 2028 State TX and Ella McNeal on the attack, this squad is dangerous from any location at any time in the match. Setters Chloe Kim and Aleyna Bramschreiber Aleyna Bramschreiber 5'6" | S Lovejoy | 2028 State TX have this team undefeated on the year for a reason. They both can thread the needle. I love how Aleyna plays defense out of the right back zone. She looks like a libero back there and not much falls to the floor near her zone. In the match I just watched, this team was absolutely dominant. The outcome was never in doubt and they look like they could compete against older competition right now! They finished the day perfect at 3-0 and look very strong. If I were a betting man, my money would be on them to be in the running on day three. Check them out and you will see what I saw today.
Battle of Undefeated Squads in Power Pool A
High Performance 14 Royal came into their last match of the day at 2-0 after defeating Tribe and Tstreet, both in straight sets. They looked extremely hungry during their warm up and I sat down to watch with high anticipation. They have some solid options to score on their squad. Outside hitters Adelyn Buttrum and Ries Schnuck might be a little smaller in height but they can both rise up quickly and unleash some amazing power with their talented right arms. Right side Sarah Albers has the height and power to slow down any attack coming her way. Libero Carina Buttrum was amazing covering ground so quickly and being right behind her attackers at the net while they swing is a huge plus. Middle Gillian Pfieffer is playing well moving laterally along the net to block everything that comes her way.
A5 14-1 Helen was also undefeated so far in pool play on day one. The power that this entire team possesses is amazing to say the least. There is no doubt that the outside hitting of Leah Stickney is one of their biggest weapons. It doesn't matter whether she is in the front row or the back row as she was born to play the game of volleyball. While in the front row, she has shots for days. I loved how she was able to swing hard when given the opportunity but yet she also used some awesome court vision to throw in a few off-speed shots to open areas of the court. Libero Bethany Benjamin was super fast all over the court and saved her team from many volleyballs hitting the floor. The way she covered the entire length of the floor from sideline to sideline in the back row was astounding. Middle Kennedy Davis has immense power in her upper body and let it show both offensively and defensively at the net. She was like a brick wall blocking at the net. Setter Chelsea Torrance did a fantastic job of communicating routes to her hitters and delivering pinpoint accurate sets.
Set number one started off strong with both teams trading bombs back and forth. The entire set was super close until the very end with A5 pulling away 20-25. Set two started off a little different with High Performance coming out blazing to a 8-1 lead by some amazing ball control and supreme defense. A5 made a few too many attacking errors to lose the momentum they had from the set one victory. After a quick timeout from their head coach, A5 got their confidence back with some key blocks. They battled back to an 11-10 lead when HPSTL took their first timeout. It seemed as this set was going to be anyone's game. That is until A5 flexed it's muscles quite strongly and pushed to a 15-10 lead. A5 had too much firepower for High Performance to handle in the middle of the second set. But hey were not going anywhere and came back to tie it at 21 all. This match showed just how much both teams wanted to win as neither would succumb to the pressure. In order to win this, someone had to take control. Leah Stickney was all too ready to handle that role. She went on a run of amazing attacks from the left side to give her team the lead at 24-22. She then rotated to the back row and served with confidence on match point to win it for her squad 25-23. A5 14-1 Helen ended day one undefeated at 3-0 and is looking like one of the teams to beat in the age group. Stay tuned for more coverage of volleyball throughout the weekend.
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