A Wrap on 15s: USAV Junior National Championships

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What a tournament! The 15s wrapped up yesterday in Dallas with a strong week of performances from teams in the Missouri/Kansas City area. We had a few teams make it to the Top 8, and others who had a successful four days.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 Open</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the top division, we saw three teams from my coverage area take on the competition. [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 15 Black had another successful championship run. After winning the national title as 14s, they finished the season tied for 5th with a 6-3 record. They went 4-1 in pool play on the first two days, followed by going 1-1 and winning their crossover match to earn a spot in the gold bracket. [player_tooltip player_id='518360' first='Jensen' last='Kubik'] was named a member of the all-tournament team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HPSTL 15 Royal</strong> and <strong>Mavs 15 Elite</strong> also had good showings, finishing 4-6 and 3-6, respectively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 National</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this division, we mentioned a couple of teams who could be on the hunt on the final day, and it looked like we knew what we were talking about heading into day three with <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428892' first='PVA' last=''] 15 Elite</strong> and <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']'] 15 Mize</strong> both being 7-0 going into crossover matches. [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] was able to advance to the gold bracket after a three-set slugfest. [program_tooltip program_id='428892' first='PVA' last=''] had their title hopes fall short after suffering a tough loss. They were able to rebound to win their silver bracket. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the gold bracket, 15 Mize jumped all over their opponent from Kentucky, winning the first set 25-11 before finishing off the sweep. In the semifinal, they exchanged championship punches with eventual national champion Metro 15 Travel but suffered their first defeat of the tournament -22, -23. They would conclude their weekend tied for third. [program_tooltip program_id='428892' first='PVA' last=''] also would finish in the top 10 to represent Kansas City and the Heart of America region. From [program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']'] 15 Mize, [player_tooltip player_id='518345' first='Nyah' last='Harris'], and [player_tooltip player_id='518353' first='Mya' last='Lee'] played their way onto the all-tournament team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] 15 Elite </strong>played well overall and ended with a top 20 finish. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 USA</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 15 Blue </strong>and <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='515493' first='Club' last='North'] 15 Ang </strong>both completed their trip to nationals with top 20 finishes on their resume. I don't cover them often, being outside of the Kansas City area, but as part of Heart of America, shout out to the Topeka Saints and their third-place finish. They had a 7-3 record. [player_tooltip player_id='503124' first='Blakely' last='Walter'] and [player_tooltip player_id='513606' first='Hailey' last='Schmidtlein'] were selected for the all-tournament team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 Liberty</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Winners of the Silver Bracket, <strong>417 Missouri Jrs. 15 Elite </strong>concluded their national championships in 5th place, going 8-2. After splitting their first two matches, they went on to win five straight to put themselves in a good position. [player_tooltip player_id='729521' first='Blair' last='Bough'] was pinned all-tournament for 417. <strong>Invasion 15 Black</strong> finished the tournament 5-5.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 American</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] 15 Navy</strong> went 3-6 in their tournament run to finish in the top 25. Three other teams all picked up at least four wins in their four days of play, led by 6-3 <strong>573 Missouri Jrs. 15-1</strong>. <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='515493' first='Club' last='North'] Mizuno 15 Janell/IB </strong>and <strong>St. Joe Storm 15-1 </strong>both went 4-5 in the American Division. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 Freedom</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In Freedom, <strong>Mavs 15 Premier</strong> went 4-5. They had a tough go in Pool Play, going 1-4, but bounced back to finish the tournament 3-1. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->