Northern Lights Recap: Strong Weekend for Kansas City

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second qualifier for some 18s teams and the initial for 17s in Minneapolis over the weekend. We had many teams from the Kansas City area have good showings. Here is a quick recap of the business trip up north.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>18 Open</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two Kansas City teams secured bids in the 18 Open division. With the second-place team having already been qualified, the two local teams did not have to battle it out for the third bid and they both clinched berths to nationals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mavs 18 Elite went 7-1 over the weekend with their sole defeat coming in final-day Pool Play. A tough three-set loss in the final match forced them to miss the championship match due to a three-team tie in the pool. Logan Parks continued her stellar play. [player_tooltip player_id='540290' first='Janaya' last='Weitkemper'] and [player_tooltip player_id='219763' first='Peyton' last='Liming'] are a couple of players representing Missouri on their roster and found ways to contribute throughout the weekend. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second Kansas City team to celebrate a bid was PVA 18 Elite. They had a 5-3 record over three days. They fought their way to the Gold Pools and split their matches but finished second which delegated them to the third-place match they would end up not playing. After losing the first set in the final match by two, they came back fighting in the second winning by 9 points. The final stanza saw them pull away for a 15-11 win. [player_tooltip player_id='219755' first='Epi' last='Salamasina'] and [player_tooltip player_id='238212' first='Kayla' last='Gallagher'] from St. Michael's and Grain Valley were in action with PVA.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>18 Liberty</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>My colleague has already written about Club North and their bid in the Liberty division so I won't go into great detail. Club North is another Kansas City-based team featuring many players from the Missouri side of the state line. They went 6-2 and fell short to another Missouri Heart of America team, 417 Juniors. [player_tooltip player_id='219760' first='Megan' last='Bishton'] is a featured pin on this team who had a breakout season at Liberty this past fall. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>17 USA</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sticking with the Club North family, 17 Mike finished 5th, falling just short of one of the three allotted bids. Their 4-3 record catapulted them to the Gold Bracket where they dropped their first match. [player_tooltip player_id='485579' first='Mikayla' last='Fox'] of St. Pius had a good weekend along with Park Hill South's Claire Bingham. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>17 Liberty</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One bid was available after the second-place team declined their bid. PVA 17 Elite were defeated in a tight three-set match, losing the third 15-13 to fall shy of capturing their national bid. Lacey Zorn of Fort Osage is a member of this team and a presence on the front line. Pin [player_tooltip player_id='735562' first='Kaelyn' last='Kendrick'] of Blue Springs is another player who just be a factor in helping them secure a bid at some point this spring. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->