Nebraska Bid Tracker: Premier 17 Gold Survives NLQ Gauntlet

What an early-season pressure test.   Premier Nebraska 17 Gold entered last weekend's Northern Lights Qualifier with plans to secure its GJNC plans immediately. This group had seen bid-clinching success at Kansas City's Show Me Qualifier, but Minneapolis offered an opportunity to finish the job earlier. 17 Gold did not disappoint.   Our Nebraska bid tracker gets another Open addition with Premier Nebraska surviving a roundabout journey in Minneapolis.     No Margin for Error   National qualifiers have a funny way of granting second chances while also being incredibly unforgiving. Premier Nebraska 17 Gold's NLQ bid path demonstrates this perfectly.   The opening day of pool play revealed 17 Gold's readiness to vie for an Open bid. Friday started with an emphatic win over Kokoro, but stiff resistance was looming in the morning's next contest.   Idaho Crush 17 Bower was next on the docket. This group was stacked with D1-bound talent around the dial and immediately dished out 17 Gold's first set loss in Minneapolis. Premier Nebraska returned the favor in Set 2, setting up a race to 15 in this elite battle. 17 Gold pulled away in the tiebreaker to complete the comeback and win one of NLQ's most compelling Friday bouts.   Day 1 concluded with another win over WD Nation, propelling 17 Gold to the next round with a 3-0 record. This set up three more pool matchups against CPA, NORCO, and No Name. Fortunately, we weren't about to see the same level of drama as the Idaho Crush duel.   Premier Nebraska rolled through Round 2 without dropping a set. The team's overall record swelled to 6-0, establishing it as a surefire bid contender heading into Gold pools.   However, NLQ's unusual format called for every Gold pool team to play the opening match of this round on the evening of Day 2, right after competing in the second-round morning pools. 17 Gold was slated to play the evening contest against Coast, a tough, physical squad from the Southern California Region. This is where Premier Nebraska faced its first significant adversity of the tournament after a nail-biting three-set loss.   So, even after two perfect rounds of pool play, 17 Gold had a lot of work to do on Championship Sunday. This path became even more difficult as Premier Nebraska dropped the opening set to AZ Storm. But this is also where 17 Gold's resilient attitude won the day.   Premier Nebraska stayed alive with a three-set comeback against AZ Storm. The result put all four teams in the Gold pool at a 1-1 record. Head-to-head results would determine bid contenders, and the final two matches were must-wins for everyone.   Coast triumphed over AZ Storm to put itself in the hunt. This result put Premier Nebraska in a predicament. Even if 17 Gold won its pool finale over SCVC, another win in the third-place match was still necessary to lock up a bid. It's a lot of work for a squad that had only lost one match all weekend.   One match at a time. 17 Gold endured its third-consecutive three-set match in the winner-take-all struggle with SCVC. Premier Nebraska won it in dramatic 15-13 fashion, inching the Great Plains crew one step closer to a bid.  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Are you not entertained?<a href="https://twitter.com/premier17gold?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@premier17gold</a> comes through with a 15-13 third set. The third-place match beckons to decide the final bid. <a href="https://t.co/Gg9X5yfcoz">pic.twitter.com/Gg9X5yfcoz</a>— Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://twitter.com/KingsleyATK/status/1886133291570589849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2025</a></blockquote>  And who doesn't love a full-circle ending? Idaho Crush 17 Bower was back. An encore of the Day 1 classic ensued as 17 Bower claimed the first set. Premier Nebraska responded. Another wave of momentum lifted 17 Gold to a 15-6 win in the third set, completing the remarkable path to a 17 Open bid.  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">They did it!<a href="https://twitter.com/premier17gold?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@premier17gold</a> wins another three-set thriller to clinch a 17 Open bid! <a href="https://t.co/lD3fNUwoss">pic.twitter.com/lD3fNUwoss</a>— Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://twitter.com/KingsleyATK/status/1886168748312220136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2025</a></blockquote>    Balance, Efficiency, and Grit   NLQ was a colossal stepping stone in the development of Premier Nebraska 17 Gold's athletes.   Sure, we had seen this 17 Gold group win on the Open stage before. These are seasoned veterans with countless prep accolades. However, the sustained excellence and resilience we saw at NLQ marked a new peak for the team and its outstanding players.   [player_tooltip player_id='275935' first='Addison' last='West'] proved that her ceiling can keep rising--even as she remains entrenched as our No. 1 player in Nebraska's Class of 2026. Her development as an elite terminator and a backcourt asset has elevated her greatness, and she put that together to produce perhaps the best weekend of her club career. West could go over the top of blockers to produce indefensible shots against the tournament's best defenses.  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Set 1: <a href="https://twitter.com/premier17gold?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@premier17gold</a>. [player_tooltip player_id='275901' first='Hayden' last='Booth'] lays out in the right-back area, allowing [player_tooltip player_id='275935' first='Addison' last='West'] to finish in transition. <a href="https://t.co/W0JbkdUqOy">pic.twitter.com/W0JbkdUqOy</a>— Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://twitter.com/KingsleyATK/status/1885829835538272277?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2025</a></blockquote>  On the other end of the dial, the emergence of outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='253919' first='Hayden' last='Liebsack'] has given 17 Gold another incredible weapon. The Bennington attacker produced some of NLQ's most clutch swings, especially during the marathon of three-set Sunday matches. Liebsack also wielded her jump-spin serve to give opposing passers a challenge seldom seen on club courts. 17 Gold had a clear identity with West starting each set in left-front and Liebsack kicking things off with her wicked serve.   Every successful team needs offense balance, and that doesn't end with the left-side hitters. Premier Nebraska deployed the combo of [player_tooltip player_id='253907' first='Avery' last='White'] and [player_tooltip player_id='276202' first='Ashley' last='Beethe'] at the opposite position in the 6-2. Beethe was an offseason addition to the team and has already become a record-setting scorer at Johnson County Central. Her physicality on the right side provided an imposing wall for opposing left sides to confront.   White made her mark as a dominant scoring force on the right side. Like West, White logged one of her best weekends in a Premier Nebraska uniform. The Wofford commit can terminate on traditional right-side swings, but she was frequently used on the 2-tempo ball in the middle.  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">17 Gold overcomes an early deficit to run away with Set 1. [player_tooltip player_id='253907' first='Avery' last='White'] crushes down the line for <a href="https://twitter.com/premier17gold?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@premier17gold</a>. Transition offense has been phenomenal. <a href="https://t.co/4A3lc0gzCt">pic.twitter.com/4A3lc0gzCt</a>— Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://twitter.com/KingsleyATK/status/1885766160131543494?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2025</a></blockquote>  These crossing patterns, or 'X' plays, became a hallmark of 17 Gold's offense. Even with two opposites constantly rotating into the frontcourt, Premier Nebraska found ways to shuffle players around and vary routes. This was especially beneficial for middle blocker [player_tooltip player_id='275936' first='Paighton' last='Erb'], who weaponized one of the best slide attacks in the 17 Open division. Erb's dominance off of one foot proves that middle blockers can still thrive behind the setter in 6-2 systems.  <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">[player_tooltip player_id='275936' first='Paighton' last='Erb'] continues an exceptional day by putting a lid on the net.<a href="https://twitter.com/premier17gold?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@premier17gold</a> off to another quick start. <a href="https://t.co/41vEWVoRHt">pic.twitter.com/41vEWVoRHt</a>— Austin Kingsley (@KingsleyATK) <a href="https://twitter.com/KingsleyATK/status/1885827190597566497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2025</a></blockquote>  [player_tooltip player_id='349416' first='Maddie' last='Larsen'] has climbed the ladder at Premier Nebraska to earn another one of 17 Gold's starting middle blocker spots. Her personal growth has led to opportunities on club volleyball's biggest stage, and Larsen took advantage with several floor-denting kills in front of the setter. 17 Gold bolsters its middle depth further by bringing in [player_tooltip player_id='253934' first='Scotlyn' last='Erwin'], another player who has represented several different Premier Nebraska teams throughout her prep career. Erwin has never been deterred by this whirlwind journey, and she looks right at home with 17 Gold. The team was willing to set her anywhere along the net.   Speaking of setting, we have to give a nod to the setter duo locking down 17 Gold's second contacts. [player_tooltip player_id='275937' first='Ella' last='Eymann'] occupied the front of the 6-2 with White, and this dynamic junior keeps building on last fall's championship effort with Papio South. Not only did Eymann distribute the ball well, but she defended the right-back area as effectively as any setter in NLQ's top 17s division.   [player_tooltip player_id='275901' first='Hayden' last='Booth'] entered the fray on the other side of the rotation. She just finished up an exceptional junior campaign with Elkhorn North, setting the stage for more breakthroughs on the club side. Even in a 6-2, Booth is not afraid to get aggressive and rack up kills, too.   That leaves us with the defensive duo of [player_tooltip player_id='275896' first='Kami' last='Dyrstad'] and [player_tooltip player_id='349404' first='Lily' last='Zimmerman']. Dyrstad is still the team's communicative and emotional leader, and that hasn't changed since we first began watching these athletes as 15s. The Rutgers commit backs up that leadership with fearless defense and extraordinary setting on out-of-system plays.   Zimmerman, like many of her 17 Gold teammates, has played for various Premier Nebraska groups throughout her club career. Her ascent to 17 Gold gives the team an exceptional middle-back defender who wasn't afraid to absorb serve-receive volume in Minneapolis. Collectively embracing these challenges led to improbable victories when the pressure was greatest.     The Tracker     18 Open   [program_tooltip program_id='428743' first='VCNebraska' last=''] 18 Elite - KC MLK     17 Open   Premier Nebraska 17 Gold - NLQ

What an early-season pressure test.