18's Post-Season Preview!

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Washington's Top Teams at the 18's Level Post-Season Plans</h2>   From one point of view, the 18U club season has grown increasingly short; another may be that it has managed to stay a reasonable length rather than stretching into the first week of July. Proms, Graduations, Senior class trips, and other events are clustered in the spring of an athlete's senior year, complicating travel and tournaments that stretch the entire school year. Here, we look into post-season plans for excellent squads across the state. If we miss an 18's post-season tournament you have upcoming that you want us to know about, drop a line to jesseetter12@gmail.com; we are always happy to hear from the volleyball community.     Eastern and Central Washington. In an interesting post-season year, many Eastern and Central Washington 18's teams passed on USAV bid opportunities and other late-season tournaments. It's been a long haul for the class of 2024, with a less than smooth start to their high school careers in 2020. Clubs did a great job in many cases of finding a way to play while school ball was suspended, then a late spring school season suddenly started and led right into the club again. Understandably, many athletes and parents are ready to move to the next stage.   CPA 18 Nicole: Emerald City Classic.   CPA captured the Evergreen Region title in a three-set battle over RVC 18 Kari. The Renovator's team handled CPA in three previous matchups, including the first tournament of both teams' season in Arizona. The cliche is true- you take a plane trip to play a team from your region at least once every tournament. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='251542' first='Makayla' last='Hickman'] was at the top of her game in the final, and the passing and defensive work of [player_tooltip player_id='230149' first='Payton' last='Davis'] and [player_tooltip player_id='251539' first='Ellie' last='DeAndre'] allowed CPA to score effectively. CPA will play in the 18 Open at the Emerald City Classic in Seattle over Memorial Day.   RVC 18 Kari: ERVA Regionals.   The team, as currently comprised, ended their season at the ERVA Regional tournament. Senior setter Kylie Munday from Post Falls, Idaho, finished her high school and club career as arguably one of the best all-time from the Gem State. She will be at the University of San Diego next season. The team has four talented underclassmen who could extend their seasons playing with the RVC 17U team.   Shockwave 18: ERVA Regionals.   Shockwave fell in the semi-finals to RVC, playing them extremely tough in a 22-25, 19-25 defeat. The match differed entirely from the clash between the two squads at INK a week earlier. Shockwave played hard on the road and relied on an experienced group of players who have been together for years to nearly pull off an upset, with setter [player_tooltip player_id='250019' first='Rylie' last='Dolven'], OH [player_tooltip player_id='250020' first='Peyton' last='Arland'], and RS [player_tooltip player_id='250025' first='Paige' last='Sturing'] shining in their final club tournament.   RVC 18 Shawn: ERVA Regionals.   The team with terrific senior players from Spokane played smartly and rarely if ever, beat themselves. Senior libero [player_tooltip player_id='249350' first='Olivia' last='Paul'] from Mead is a dig machine, and DS [player_tooltip player_id='360031' first='Kenedie' last='Witherow'] from Gonzaga Prep was matching her in the semi-final against CPA 18 Nicole. Three more seniors, setter [player_tooltip player_id='249351' first='Brielle' last='Wilson'], OH [player_tooltip player_id='252593' first='Jillian' last='Davis'], and OH [player_tooltip player_id='251541' first='Kennedy' last='Smith'], capped off tremendous club careers with solid performances at Regionals.     South Western Washington   Aspire NW 18 Empire: USAV 18's GJNC-American Division.   This team is very talented and has multiple standouts from Washington on the roster. Setter Macey McCoy is the quarterback for the offense, and she has excellent defenders and passers feeding her passes in serve receive. The team went on a huge run of wins at two tournaments in February. An 8-1 record at the Salt Lake City Showdown was backed up by a 10-0 (WOW!) record at the SEQ Qualifier two weeks later.   Athena 18 Gold: USAV 18's GJNC- USA Division.   Stanford-bound and nationally-ranked middle Lizzy Andrew from Ridgefield will lead the Athena 18 Gold team into the postseason. The senior Spudder is Washington's top-ranked prospect in the class of 2024.   NPJ 18 Forefront: USAV GJNC- Open Division.   Libero [player_tooltip player_id='217363' first='Alyss' last='Kelly'] will compete with this talented group of players from Oregon, Idaho, and Washington for her last shot at an Open Division medal before heading to Kansas State next season.   OJVA 18 Gold: USAV GJNC- Open Division.   Two juniors from Washington, [player_tooltip player_id='249444' first='Sydney' last='Dreves'] and [player_tooltip player_id='249445' first='Kendall' last='Mairs'], help lead the attack from either pin for OJVA 18 Gold. The team earned their Open bid at the Sierra Qualifier in March.     Western Washington   Dakine Warriors 18 Surf: USAV GJNC- National Division   Dakine will tee it up in Baltimore, earning the national bid at the PSR bid tournament. The National Division can be extremely tough, as teams from California, Florida, Texas, etc, all have region-awarded bids. The Warriors will lean on the tall and talented front line of [player_tooltip player_id='230155' first='Danielle' last='Brown'], [player_tooltip player_id='246357' first='Tea' last='Bosnac'], and [player_tooltip player_id='179383' first='Sophie' last='Danielson'] to slow down opposing attackers.   SNVF 18 Secret: USAV GJNC- USA Division   This team has been in the flow all year and will look to keep it rolling at USAV Nationals and Emerald City. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='226455' first='Grace' last='Jones'] has been on point, consistently feeding big-hitter [player_tooltip player_id='250046' first='Madyn' last='Cervellera'] for booming kills. An outstanding run at PNQ earned Space Needle the USA Bid to the Nationals.   PSVBA 18 Legacy: USAV GJNC- USA Division   Legacy has worked hard in multiple large tournaments this season. Seniors [player_tooltip player_id='192532' first='Rylie' last='Hangca'], [player_tooltip player_id='493175' first='Leilah' last='Alaisea Lemalu'], and [player_tooltip player_id='259049' first='Keira' last='Leingang'] must be at the top of their games to make a deep run in the American Division at the GJNC.   SIVBC 18 Tsunami: USAV GJNC- American Division   American Division bid winners SIVBC 18 come after teams with 12 talented seniors. MB [player_tooltip player_id='250049' first='Krista' last='Kostoff'] recently committed to playing for Gonzaga University in Spokane next season. She will add height and excellent athleticism to the middle group for the Bulldogs.   NW Jrs. 18 UA Blue: USAV GJNC- Freedom Division   NW Juniors will look to secure wins in the Freedom Division in Baltimore. [player_tooltip player_id='485758' first='Alyssa' last='Dittoe'], [player_tooltip player_id='254819' first='Ashley' last='McMaster'] and [player_tooltip player_id='363051' first='Rebekah' last='Carter'] help lead the attack from the pins, and the team has successfully won matches when the games were tight.   WVBA 18 Adidas: AAU National Championships- 18 Open Division   WVBA has been tremendous and will keep playing deep into the summer. The team features many underclassmen, so it makes sense to stretch to Nationals in Orlando and compete against the best-quality teams in front of a large contingent of college coaches. The team will participate in Emerald City and the Emperor's Cup in Las Vegas.   NPJ Seattle 18 National: Emperor's Cup   NPJ Seattle will also be at the ECC, and have the players to compete for the title. Seniors [player_tooltip player_id='254818' first='Kayleigh-Shay' last='Chang'], [player_tooltip player_id='222799' first='Quincy' last='Moran'], and [player_tooltip player_id='249345' first='Simone' last='Grieser'] lead the way. NPJ has been through a grueling schedule, playing in the Triple Crown NIT and the JVA Under Armour 18 National Championships in Kentucky.     <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Emerald City Classic- 18 Open Overview</h2>   The tournament held on the campus of the University of Washington is a tradition and often the end point of the season for teams of all ages from the Pacific Northwest. Teams have a chance to capture one last tournament title, players can earn individual all-tournament team awards, and it's one last chance at bragging rights over regional rivals. The 18 Open is always attractive as 17's teams at the top of their game jump into the mix, and players battle it out in the Alaska Airlines Arena.   Teams currently scheduled to play in the 18 Open include CPA 18 Nicole, NPJ Seattle 18 National, WVBA 18 Adidas, SNVF 18 Secret, PSVBA 18 Legacy and NW Jrs. 18 UA Blue. When you add talented 17's teams from OJVA, Athena, Puyallup Juniors, SVA, Aspire, SIVBC, and NPJ Seattle, the Open should feature quality play and intense competition.