Nebraska Bid Tracker: VCNebraska 17 Black Survives Show Me Drama

Not all bid journeys are created equal.   Teams experience varying degrees of drama and adversity as they battle to the top of a qualifier leaderboard. Even the most successful teams on the USAV circuit have to scratch and claw to earn their spot in the GJNC field. VCNebraska 17 Black knows this well after last weekend's gauntlet in the 17 Liberty division.   Perhaps 17 Black felt additional pressure from the mounting pile of bids getting racked up across the VCNebraska landscape. Heck, VCN 17 Elite was busy working on quadruple Open qualification in Kansas City. This Lincoln club rallied around the 17 Black crew last weekend, and the reward was another talented group punching its ticket to Indianapolis.   The Nebraska Bid Tracker gains another entry for VCNebraska and the 17 Liberty division.     A Tale of Two Halves   You can essentially split VCNebraska 17 Black's Kansas City stay into two themes.   The first is defined by some outright dominant play through most of the first two rounds of pool play. 17 Black won its first five Show Me contests, and four of those came via emphatic sweeps. Pool play wasn't without blemishes, but 17 Black's lone loss came after the team had already secured a spot in the 17 Liberty Gold bracket.   Thus begins the second phase of the trek. Drama ensued. We got a full, complete Monday look at 17 Black as the team played three-set slugfests in each of its first three bracket contests. These weren't ordinary back-and-forth matches, either. 17 Black endured wild swings of momentum that culminated in some nail-biting deuce affairs.   17 Black kept its bid hopes alive with a 15-13 Set 3 win in Monday's opener against Tsunami. As if this wasn't enough, we were treated to another deuce struggle in the team's next match against MN Select. With three bids available in the division, this was a must-win to reach the semifinals and stay in the picture.   Once again, the Great Plains Region challengers rose to the challenge. 17 Black claimed a 16-14 win on the heels of a late rally in Set 3. One obstacle remained.   This wouldn't be 17 Black's last gut-check moment. VCNebraska fell in a wild three-set thriller against CMVBC, relegating 17 Black to the third-place match. This was the showdown for the final 17 Liberty bid.   Deuce drama arrived again as 17 Black claimed a 28-26 win in the opener. VCNebraska capitalized on this momentum to win the second set and swipe Show Me's third 17 Liberty berth.   VCN got another one.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/KingsleyATK/status/2043787001757913187?s=20 </div></figure>     The Right Combinations   <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/04/IMG_7791-edited.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-964373" style="aspect-ratio:1.5014834086448492;width:381px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sidlo</figcaption></figure>   17 Black's roster has a different look this year, but change hasn't slowed the team's upward climb.   Of course, there's still a fair amount of continuity among the team's top contributors. Outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='808153' first='Jackie' last='Eberspacher'] remains a centerpiece of 17 Black's success after she broke out with VCNebraska a year ago. The Seward junior has made the most of her stock-riser status after compiling nearly 300 kills with last fall's Bluejay squad.   The pins get even more firepower from [player_tooltip player_id='452566' first='Elaina' last='Roger'], a Crete standout who has played on both sides of the setter throughout her tenure with VCNebraska. The Show Me Qualifier offered a chance for Roger to expand her highlight tape on the left side, and this hard-hitting terminator delivered. She can handle the out-of-system scrambles and turn them into scoring opportunities.   We have no shortage of pin hitters to discuss here. [player_tooltip player_id='453482' first='McKenzie' last='Sidlo'] is new to the 17 Black fold and has seemingly played every position under the sun during her prep career. She has reassumed a familiar setter-opposite role that has defined most of Sidlo's experience on the club side. This hybrid position suits her well and makes 17 Black even more difficult to defend.   [player_tooltip player_id='828162' first='Aunalie' last='Scribner'] adds to the opposite depth on the other side of the dial. The Lincoln Northeast product boasts a similar skill set to Sidlo and can anchor the middle if needed. Her range on the right side stood out as 17 Black slugged through high-pressure matches in Kansas City.   And don't forget about [player_tooltip player_id='516370' first='Delaney' last='Vohland'], another Lincoln Northeast junior who can rack up numbers in every quadrant of the box score. She eclipsed three kills per set with the Rockets last fall, and Vohland remains a terminal threat with 17 Black. However, her precise first contacts have also emerged as game-changing elements of Vohland's game. Opposites are not normally expected to be ball control gems, but this 2027 athlete defies the norm.   <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepdig.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/11-Elaina-Roger.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-731212" style="aspect-ratio:1.0745053702656868;width:312px;height:auto" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Roger</figcaption></figure>   We have to credit a few of 17 Black's other ball control assets, too. [player_tooltip player_id='521233' first='Ella' last='Twarling'] returns to the team to carry almost any DS role imaginable across the back row. She has been willing to don the libero jersey or make an immediate impact off the bench for 17 Black. This adaptability paid dividends in Kansas City.   Twarling is accompanied by [player_tooltip player_id='458130' first='Haleah' last='Schuerman'], a new acquisition in the VCNebraska gym. Our ongoing discussion of multi-position versatility would not be complete without Schuerman, who has also been a setter and a hitter as a prep athlete. The Wilber-Clatonia star helped secure 17 Black's backcourt at Show Me, allowing the team's frontcourt cast to flourish.   [player_tooltip player_id='836630' first='Olive' last='Clark'] is another unsung hero of the end-line operation. The multi-sport athlete from Tri County High School has distinguished herself as an outside hitter on the prep stage, piling up 3.8 kills per set for the Trojans as a junior. Her wicked serve has also surfaced as one of her best assets in the 17 Black platoon.   We can keep the small-town theme alive with [player_tooltip player_id='809463' first='Taryn' last='Hinman'], the Fairbury gem whose setting and right-back defense make her a perfect fit for 17 Black's ever-changing system. We were taken aback by Hinman's growth at the 16s level, and she's eager to take the next step in 2026.   Now, we just need a few middles. Scribner has been a frequent standout in this area, but players like Sabrina Collier and [player_tooltip player_id='773374' first='Nasya' last='Anderson'] have also gained momentum in 2026. Collier and Anderson are proficient 'gap' hitters who can quickly pounce on open seams in the block. In-system balls were usually funneled through the middle in Kansas City.   And 17 Black didn't shy away from being in the middle of all the drama, either. It was worth it in the end.     18 Open   Premier Nebraska 18 Gold - KC MLK     17 Open   [program_tooltip program_id='428743' first='VCNebraska' last=''] 17 Elite - NLQ   [program_tooltip program_id='428717' first='Nebraska' last='ONE'] 17 Synergy - NEQ     17 USA   [program_tooltip program_id='428717' first='Nebraska' last='ONE'] 17 Black - NEQ     17 Liberty   Nebraska Juniors 17 Black - Lone Star   VCNebraska 17 Black - Show Me     16 Open   Premier Nebraska 16 Gold - MEQ   VCNebraska 16 Elite - Big South     16 Liberty   VCNebraska 16 Black - NLQ     16 American   Club Legacy 16 Alpha - NLQ   South Central NE 16 Black - Show Me     15 Open   Premier Nebraska 15 Gold - MEQ     15 USA   VCNebraska 15 Elite - Show Me

Not all bid journeys are created equal.