Missouri Teams Fare Well at Nationals

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last week, the Girls Junior National Championships wrapped up in Las Vegas. A handful of teams from Missouri finished in the Top Ten in their respective divisions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">17 Open</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 17 Black</strong> wrapped up their year with a 9th-place finish in the Open division. They went 7-3 and were a crossover win away from making the gold bracket. Depending on early enrollment, this could have been the last GJNC run for [player_tooltip player_id='153930' first='Abigail' last='Mullen'], the top-ranked player in Missouri. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">17 National</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']'] 17 Black</strong> had a 5th-place showing in the National division. The Kansas City area team went 7-2, dropping their quarterfinal match to A5 17-1. Two [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] players, OH [player_tooltip player_id='222099' first='Ella' last='Stowell'] and Libero [player_tooltip player_id='185632' first='Alex' last='Klukvin'], made the all-tournament team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">17 American</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Louis-based<strong> [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] 17 Navy</strong> had a good tournament run, ending in a tie for 5th. Pool play was a juggernaut as four teams finished with 3-4 records, which typically puts you in a tough place to advance. Rockwood was one of those teams; when the smoke cleared, they earned 3rd place. They would follow that up by winning two huge crossover challenge matches to get to the gold bracket. [player_tooltip player_id='207296' first='Sophia' last='Hurst'] was named to the all-tournament team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">16 Open</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We stated in our preview that <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='515466' first='Pohaku' last=''] 16-1</strong> would be in the running on the final day and they were a win away from the championship match. It wasn't an easy road as they went 5-5 over the four days. They grabbed the 4th spot in pool play, which kept them in the running for a title. They went 1-1 in their next pool action before winning the all-important crossover match to get. to the gold pools. They knocked off favorite TAV 16 Black in three sets before being dropped by SCVC 16 Roxy in the semifinal. [program_tooltip program_id='515466' first='Pohaku' last=''] would finish tied for 3rd. OH [player_tooltip player_id='222089' first='Grace' last='Martin'] and Setter [player_tooltip player_id='154038' first='Ella' last='Florez'] earned all-tournament spots. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">16 USA</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] 16 Elite</strong> was two wins away from being crowned national champion but still finished with a top 3 finish. They went 4-1 in opening pool play before splitting matches in their second pool. Elite would drop [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']Plex out of Iowa in the crossover to earn a spot in gold. [player_tooltip player_id='220349' first='Teagan' last='Pocius'] and [player_tooltip player_id='222076' first='Abigail' last='Schoene'] were named to the all-tournament team after their play in the bracket round. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">16 Freedom</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HPSTL 16 Orange</strong> took care of business in over four days and finished tied for 3rd. High Performance would rack up seven wins to only three losses. The team was paced in the gold bracket by all-tournament selectees [player_tooltip player_id='490238' first='Kathryn' last='Teepe'] and [player_tooltip player_id='222071' first='Ginnie' last='Normile']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->