GJNC 18 Liberty Preview: Missouri and KC Metro

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Play kicks off today in the Girls Junior National Championships in the 18s division. This is the conclusion of their club volleyball careers and each team hopes to end it with a bang. Here are the teams participating in the Liberty division.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Invasion 18 Black</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Invasion 18-1 will enter the tournament after earning a reallocated bid from in their region from MLK in January. They were in the top ten at MLK and followed that up with a 5th place finish at AVC. They have some hitters on their roster with [player_tooltip player_id='183944' first='Brooke' last='Boyer'], [player_tooltip player_id='124855' first='Lily' last='Vanbebber'], and Abigail Widhalm leading the way. [player_tooltip player_id='216454' first='Madison' last='Roney'] has been precise in her passing all season and will look to carry that through at nationals. They will begin play in Pool 8. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dynasty 18 Black</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dynasty also earned a reallocated bid from within the region as teams upgraded their bids throughout the season. Tournament play will start in Pool 7 when the afternoon wave kicks off. Dynasty was a team bit by early exit to college bug after being one of the dominant teams in the 17s division. Most of their qualifier play was in the open division which could benefit them heading into the weekend. They did return Heidi Devers in the back row. Fiona Van Dyke and [player_tooltip player_id='179749' first='Ava' last='Anderson'] are a couple of pins who have been strong for them this year. For their nationals run, they've also added a couple of youngsters to their roster in 2027 standouts Riley Riggs and Peyton Kubik. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>KC Challenge 18-1</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>KC Challenge was able to get a Northern Lights bid. They just missed an American bid in the opening qualifier, finishing runner-ups at MLK. They also have an 11th-place finish to their credit in the Liberty division in Salt Lake City. Pool 6 is where they will start their tournament. Setter Ellie Suber will look to connect with Carsen Richards in the middle for quick points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428797' first='Pursuit' last=''] 18 National</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[program_tooltip program_id='428797' first='Pursuit' last=''] 18 National took care of business at MEQ to qualify for the national tournament. Their play will begin in Pool 1 where they will look to build from MEQ and the 18U Under Armour tournament a couple of weeks ago. At Under Armour, they had a second-place finish in the classic division. They have multiple top-ten finishes in tournaments and could challenge for a deep run. [player_tooltip player_id='124849' first='Nadia' last='Wasilewski'] is a key player offensively and should be fed often by [player_tooltip player_id='170032' first='Ava' last='Penuel']. Charlee Koepp will work to keep balls off the ground. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->