Day 8 - Only Metro 17 and Metro 16 Survive to Play in Gold

The Junior Nationals include a long four day process for determining a national champion. The first three days are a journey to find the final eight in the gold bracket. Each step you take in this journey your degree of difficulty grows stronger as the teams prove better. When you reach the gold you play the best of the best in single elimination three set matches. Many of these sets prove arduous with the results decided by just two points making every play critical to your team's success. Metro 17 and Metro 16 were the only teams to survive this journey so far. Virginia Juniors 17 and 16, Virginia Elite and Columbia Academy all found themselves eliminated today from their ultimate journey. Perhaps next year.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Two Metro Teams Playing for Gold</h2>   Metro 17 pulled a big upset when they beat the sixth seed and undefeated First Alliance. in the challenge round. The winner of the match advanced to gold while the loser dropped to Silver. Metro came into the match with two losses, the first to TAV on the first day and the second to Wave during the third day of pool play. 1st Alliance had yet to lose, though they played one three set match in which the third set 1st Alliance pulled it off 16-14.   The first set remained close at 14-14 until the 6'4" Carolyn Tarrow showed she could do more than just block. She served four aces during a six point serving spree before sending her seventh serve in the net. 1st Alliance went on to win the opener 25-17.   1st Alliance jumped out to an early lead and kept it through the first half of play of the second set. Metro tied it briefly at 13-13 but1st Alliance juiced the lead up to two again after back to back kills. Down 20-18 [player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson'] juiced a kill and [player_tooltip player_id='227251' first='Morgan' last='Williams'] finessed a tip over the block to tie the score at 20-20. A [player_tooltip player_id='301696' first='Nadiya' last='Johnson']/[player_tooltip player_id='238341' first='Teodora' last='Stamenkovic'] combo block scored one point while [player_tooltip player_id='227251' first='Morgan' last='Williams'] redirected an overpass to the floor to give Metro their first lead of the set. A hitting error increased the 1st Alliance deficit to three at 20-23.   A down ball hit into the deep corner ended the five point run. Unfortunately for 1st Alliance their serve after the side out went deep. Metro returned the favor with a serve in the net. The set ended when [player_tooltip player_id='238341' first='Teodora' last='Stamenkovic'] blocked a middle hit for a 25-22 win.   In the third set a [player_tooltip player_id='555602' first='Bryah' last='Breaux'] block gave Metro a 6-5 lead. It was a lead they would never relinquish. It all finally ended with a [player_tooltip player_id='303701' first='Caydence' last='Doolan'] kill off the block. When she finds the blocks the ball usually travels out.   Last year had been a rough year for this group. They went to Las Vegas last year loaded with talent. It took three lost matches on the first day to eliminate them from gold. They finished 33rd out of 36 teams. This year their journey finds an appearance in the gold bracket as they search for a National Championship.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/03/Jasmin-Tucker.jpg?w=683" alt="" class="wp-image-336094" style="width:298px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='437457' first='Jasmin' last='Tucker'] </figcaption></figure>   The Metro 16 team is playing in the National Division. They fell short of earning an Open bid in the three qualifiers they played in. Their best finish was a ninth in the Northeast Qualifier. This team is built differently than Metro. It sacrifices height for athleticism.   In pool play Metro swept through their first four opponents. Their last match came against 1st Alliance to see which team would finish first in their pool. 1st Alliance was the first seed in the pool and the fifth seed in the Open Division. 1st Alliance swept past Metro 25-15, 25-18.   After that loss Metro competed in a three pool bracket taking a second seed. Their first match came against a scrappy Honolulu team. They took the first set rather easily 25-17. [player_tooltip player_id='437441' first='Hunter' last='Ross'] appeared to be too much for the smaller blockers popping down four quick tempo sets in the early going. [player_tooltip player_id='290176' first='Kieran' last='Rhoton'] finished the set off with a kill.   The second set Honolulu took control of the set early jumping out to a 8-4 lead. Try as they might that four point lead proved insurmountable until a [player_tooltip player_id='437457' first='Jasmin' last='Tucker'] right side block followed by a [player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray']/[player_tooltip player_id='437441' first='Hunter' last='Ross'] combo block whittled the lead to two. [player_tooltip player_id='437443' first='Kaniyah' last='Ball'] served up an ace and a [player_tooltip player_id='385968' first='Macie' last='Murray'] kill tied the score. Metro appeared to take control.   A three point run by Honolulu changed that fortune presenting them with a 20-17 lead that Metro could never catch. A missed serve and a hitting error gave Honolulu the 25-21 win.   In set three a [player_tooltip player_id='437441' first='Hunter' last='Ross'] redirect block followed by an [player_tooltip player_id='377396' first='Alexa' last='Telly'] block gave Metro a 4-2 lead. They managed to keep that lead with a [player_tooltip player_id='437457' first='Jasmin' last='Tucker'] kill putting them up 14-11 and a Honolulu hitting error ending the match 15-11.   Metro would sweep past Iowa United and Idaho Crush to earn a spot in the gold bracket. Ironic that last year elimination for Metro from the Gold bracket came against the Iowa Rockets. A little bit of revenge by Metro against the state of Iowa.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Four Who Came Close</h2>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/Kate-Bickel.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-732523" style="width:631px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='472384' first='Kate' last='Bickel']</figcaption></figure>   Virginia Juniors 16 lost their first match to RVC Sparks after [player_tooltip player_id='206729' first='Megan' last='Phan'] sprained her ankle while leading 18-14 in the first set. They lost both sets 25-23. The trainers taped the ankle allowing Megan to return to setting and Virginia Juniors went on to win their next five matches. Their last match of pool play came against Front Range. The reality hit that a loss to Front Range followed by an RVC Sparks win would drop Juniors to fourth place and out of contention for gold. A win over Front Range would put them in first place.   Front Range controlled the first set 25-15 while Virginia Juniors dominated the second set 25-14. The third set started off poorly for Juniors with a 3-0 deficit. The closest they came after that was two points at 10-8. An ace serve ended the match 15-9. Once they learned of the RVC win that dropped them to silver [player_tooltip player_id='206729' first='Megan' last='Phan'] was done for the tournament.   [player_tooltip player_id='472384' first='Kate' last='Bickel'] and [player_tooltip player_id='587030' first='Faith' last='Smith'] set the challenge match. Virginia Juniors won 25-12, 25-18 to earn a spot in Flight 1.   Virginia Juniors 17 finished second in the three team bracket on the third day. All three matches went three sets. The third match they won 16-14 on a block by [player_tooltip player_id='739375' first='Jolene' last='Green Ewen']. She may have been the surprise player of the tournament with her middle play. The win gave them a challenge round group match where two wins would earn them a gold bracket appearance. After losing the first set 25-17 Juniors bounced back to win the second set 25-22 on a [player_tooltip player_id='739375' first='Jolene' last='Green Ewen'] kill. Unfortunately, they fell apart in the third set 15-4.   Virginia Elite lost both their matches in the three team power pool to eliminate them from gold bracket play. In both those matches they lost the first set, came back to win the second but lost the third set.   Columbia also lost both their matches in the three team pool. While I came away impressed with their two setters [player_tooltip player_id='698761' first='Imagine' last='Peltier'] and [player_tooltip player_id='849600' first='Jennifer' last='Hong'], the passing was horrible. Almost every pass resulted in an out of system set. That negated the very capable setting these two could offer. Peltier also impressed hitting right side. For her high school team, she set a 5/1 so I did not get an opportunity to see her hit.

The Junior Nationals include a long four day process for determining a national champion. The first three days are a journey to find the final eight in the gold bracket. Each step you take in this journey your degree of difficulty grows stronger as the teams prove better. When you reach the gold you play the best of the best in single elimination three set matches. Many of these sets prove arduous with the results decided by just two points making every play critical to your team's success. Metro 17 and Metro 16 were the only teams to survive this journey so far. Virginia Juniors 17 and 16, Virginia Elite and Columbia Academy all found themselves eliminated today from their ultimate journey. Perhaps next year.