Arch Madness: 15s Take on MEQ in St. Louis
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The second weekend of the Nike Mideast Qualifier went down last weekend in St. Louis with teams either staying home or traveling a much shorter distance than normal to play in a qualifier. Here are the teams who had top…
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Continue ReadingThe second weekend of the Nike Mideast Qualifier went down last weekend in St. Louis with teams either staying home or traveling a much shorter distance than normal to play in a qualifier. Here are the teams who had top ten showings.
15 Open
HPSTL 15 Royal and KC Power 15 Black both went 5-3 and finished in 9th place. 15 Royal featuring Madelyn Minnebach and Gabby Schwoeppe started hot, winning their first five matches but couldn’t keep the momentum, losing their final three. They didn’t go down easy, with all of those matches going three sets.
KC Power 15 Black, which features Missouri standout Tori Massengill Tori Massengill 6'0" | OH Lees Summit West | 2027 MO experienced the same fate, winning five and then losing three. Their day two record of 2-1 was good enough to get them in the Power Pools but the final two losses kept them short of the bid.
I know I stated we would focus on top ten finishes but I think I’ll add, that Rockwood Thunder 15 Elite also went 5-3 but finished in 13th. The two losses on day two sealed their fate, delegating them to the Silver Bracket, which they would win. They are a team that continues to make strides and features another Witherspoon making it through the ranks in Shaye Witherspoon Shaye Witherspoon 6'3" | RS Lafayette | 2027 MO .
15 Liberty
Mineral Area 15 Elite was the top dog in the 15 Liberty division and earned a bid. They redeemed their second loss in the tournament in the championship to finish the tournament 9-2 and champion. They had many players contribute to the title. Ally Boyd, Ella Pierce, and Olivia Stewart are a few of the players on the team.
417 Juniors 15 Elite had a strong weekend, going 7-3 and finishing with 3rd place medals around their neck. Anna Essick and crew had to battle along the way, dropping matches in both days of pool play before winning the all-important crossover match to get a spot in the Gold Bracket. After a close first set in the first match, they would have three dominant sets to close out the first match and win the second. They would then lose a nail-biter in three to eventual champion Mineral Area 15 Elite.
Missouri Juniors 15 Blue only dropped one match over the weekend, it just occurred at the wrong time and it gave them a 5th place showing at 8-1. The three-set loss in the quarterfinal round put them short of earning a bid. The team features sisters Addyson Scherr and Alyssa Scherr, along with Kaya Dercher Kaya Dercher 5'9" | OH Rock Bridge | 2027 MO and Haylee Hoffman.
15 American
Hadley Clevenger of Raymore Peculiar, Dakota Fraase Dakota Fraase 5'11" | RS Lee's Summit West | 2027 MO representing Lee’s Summit West, and Oak Grove’s Paisley Hudson are some of the Missouri-based players that helped KC Power 15 Red capture the title in the American division. 127 teams and they took home the Gold Ball after going 11-0 and dropping only two sets along the way.