Northern Lights Day 1

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of my favorite qualifiers when I coached club was the Northern Lights Qualifier. The buzz of downtown Minneapolis was always fun for the players and parents, with a ton of stuff to do after a big day of playing. The day 1 Wrap-up of the Northern Lights Qualifier saw Rockwood 17 Navy and 17 White advance from the day 1 pool. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rockwood 17 Navy</strong> came out of day one 2-1 in 17 USA with wins over 575 17 Danny 25-20, 25-19, Mizuno Northern Lights 17-2 25-19, 25-21, and the only loss from the day came in a three-set battle with FC Elite 17 Navy 19-25, 25-10, 9-15. Rockwood 17 Navy is led by one of the STL area's most underrated setters, in my opinion, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='207580' first='Audrey' last='Hackney']</strong>. The Eureka high product runs a quick-tempo offense with great accuracy, setting the pins and a solid defender. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='222578' first='Georgia' last='Hite']</strong> (John Burroughs) is a six-rotation outside, plays solid defense, gives the Navy an option out of the backcourt, and can hit on either pin. 6'0” opposite <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='229558' first='Maggie' last='Smith']</strong> (Marquette) gives Navy a significant blocking right pin who can also step in and take the second ball with the offense, not missing a beat. My favorite part of Maggie's game is turning her thumb down to smash the ball line. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='735635' first='Natalie' last='Frazier']</strong> (St. Dominic) is the other left pin. The high-flying outside uses her speed in her approach to unleash some thunderous attacks and is a top-notch defender. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='389497' first='Hannah' last='Patton']</strong> (Summit) keeps the ball off the floor, and the offense runs a three-option offense. She's a quicker defender who isn't afraid to get on the floor. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='261297' first='Emma' last='Keele']</strong> (St. Dominic) is another pin hitter for Navy with great height at 5'11” who provides a powerful attack and is a terrific passer and defender.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Day 2 for Rockwood 17 Navy started with a sweep of Iowa Rockets 17R 25-18, 25-21.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rockwood 17 White </strong>started the qualifier off with a sweep of Wisconsin Blaze 17 Black 25-23, 25-16 and then followed that up with a sweep of NWAJS 17-1 25-14, 25-15. White would finish 2nd in the pool after suffering a loss to Kairos 17 Beta 14-25, 21-25. Day 2 started with a tough loss to High Desert Elite 17 Elite – E 19-25, 25-20, 13-15. White replies on bruiser outside hitter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='245321' first='Cate' last='McCulloch']</strong> (IWA) for a ton of kills. The six-rotation outside can pass and play defense, but her bread and butter is her attacking. <strong>Emma Hlavsa</strong> (Oakville) gives Rockwood White a big blocking middle that can terminate out of the middle. She covers a lot of ground to close quickly to the pins, and 6'1” is a hard middle to stop. <strong>Rachel Breidenbach </strong>(Marquette) and <strong>Jenna Kraemer</strong> (Lafayette) keep the offense running.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='698098' first='573' last='[program_tooltip program_id='490801' first='Missouri' last='Juniors']'] 17 Dustin</strong> is playing in the 17 American Division and finished 2nd on the first day of pool play. They started with a 25-20, 25-17 win over Freeze 17-Blue and a 25-9, 25-22 victory over Team Colorado 17N1. The final pool play match would pit 573 against STVA 17 Red for the title. STVA 17 Red took the 25-16, 17-25, 6-15 win to finish first in the pool. Day 2 started with a 25-18, 14-25, 9-15 loss to GCVA 171 Coast. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='490112' first='Katie' last='Daehnick']</strong> (Capital City) runs the offense. The 5'10” lefty setter is a dangerous offensive threat. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='542257' first='Addison' last='Fulton']</strong> (Salem) gives 573 a big middle at 6'1” and adds in bouncy middle <strong>Sandra Ingram</strong>, and 573 has the potential to make noise all season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->