Missouri and Nike Mideast Qualifier
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Qualifier season is nearing an end for the 18s and close to the midway stretch for the 15s-17s. The Nike MEQ took place last weekend for some of the age groups. Here is how some of the Missouri teams fared…
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Continue ReadingQualifier season is nearing an end for the 18s and close to the midway stretch for the 15s-17s. The Nike MEQ took place last weekend for some of the age groups. Here is how some of the Missouri teams fared in Indianapolis.
18s
We will start with the USA division where a couple of teams had good showings in Club North 18 Ang and Missouri Jrs. 18-Blue. Club North entered holding a Liberty bid and went 8-1 on the weekend, losing in the quarterfinal round before bouncing back to win a bid-bracket match to close the tournament. They only dropped three sets along the way behind solid defensive play from Claire Mosh Claire Mosh 5'6" | DS/L St. Pius X | 2024 State MO and pin-action from Kendall Johnson Kendall Johnson 5'10" | MB Platte County | 2024 State MO and Ryanne Wattree Ryanne Wattree 5'10" | RS Lees Summit West | 2024 State MO .
Missouri Jrs. had a 5-3 weekend making their way to the gold bracket and keeping themselves in bid contention. They were able to collect a win in their first match of bracket play before dropping a tough three-setter that included their 30-28 first-set win. They have a stacked roster with Autumn Bax Autumn Bax 5'11" | RS Blair Oaks | 2024 State #188 Nation MO , Isabella Herrbold, and Hannah Vogt Hannah Vogt 5'7" | S Jefferson City | 2024 State MO to name a few.
Jumping to the Liberty division, Pursuit 18 National ran through the division with a perfect 10-0 record to claim the title. The squad out of Southeast Missouri features household names we’ve come to know like Ava Penuel Ava Penuel 5'9" | S Fredericktown | 2024 State MO and Nadia Wasilewski Nadia Wasilewski 6'1" | OH Jackson | 2024 State MO had a couple of three-set battles but beyond that didn’t get threatened much over the three days.
17s
17 Liberty saw Missouri Jrs. 17 Elite make a deep run that fell short in the gold bracket. They won their first five matches of the tournament before dropping a match and ended the weekend 7-2. Chloe Judd Chloe Judd 6'1" | MB Nixa | 2025 State MO and Raylee Stenzel Raylee Stenzel 5'11" | OH Mountain Grove | 2025 State MO are just a couple of players continuing their strong high school play into the spring.
16s
Ginnie Normile Ginnie Normile 5'7" | DS/L Cor Jesu Academy | 2026 State MO , Ava Blankenship Ava Blankenship 5'10" | MB Sullivan | 2026 State MO , Kathryn Berthold, and company fought their way to a third-place finish in the 16 Liberty division. HPSTL 16 Orange went 8-1 in the tournament suffering their lone defeat in the gold bracket to Mavs KC 16-2 in three sets. It was an exciting and intense weekend for the St. Louis-based team with five three-set battles along the way.
Finishing up our journey in the American, 417 Juniors 16 National Black took third going 8-2. Mollie McRoberts and Melanie Rice Melanie Rice 5'7" | OH Galena | 2026 State MO were just a couple of players who had a busy weekend of good volleyball on the court.