Northern Lights 17-1 Last Team Standing at NLQ 17 Open

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Northern Lights 17-1 team was the last one standing in the 2018 Northern Lights Qualifier held at the Minneapolis Convention Center Sunday afternoon after a hard fought victory over AVC (Cleveland) to claim the title.  To reach the pinnacle of this tournament was an absolute grind with nine teams already claiming a bid to USA Volleyball 17 Open. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before reaching the finals Sunday afternoon there was plenty dramatics over the weekend.  Northern Lights went 9-0, but of those nine victories, four of them came in three sets with their Saturday match against Rockwood (St. Louis) going 18-16 in the third.  In order to get to the final four, Lights held off MAVS (Kansas City) winning the third set 15-11. With a tournament this deep in talent, the margin for error is very little. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For Northern Lights, their balanced attack and solid defense was key throughout.  Their first contact starts with libero, <strong>Mari Hinkle</strong>, a UCLA commit that at one point was playing with kleenex up her nose in Gold pool play Sunday morning.  <strong>Kennedi Orr</strong>, the “Freshman Phenom” from the Class of 2021 playing up two age levels is what keeps the defense on their toes. She can score on the second contact, shoot a set to the pin, run a quick tempo to the middle or a slide behind her.  The Nebraska commit makes the game look easy, so smooth, and completely composed. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><b>Kyndra Hansen,</b> University of Iowa commit on the outside proved why she is one of the top five recruits in the Class of 2019 in Minnesota. A powerful cross court short, a roll over the block or heater down the line.  She was scoring points at will. The right side for Lights, <strong style="font-weight: 400;">Peyton Seuss</strong>, a Wake Forest commit has quite the skill set being able to play all six rotations and is incredibly lethal attacking off one foot. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This division was loaded with future Big Ten talent.  In the final four with Northern Lights, Houston Juniors, AVC (Cleveland), and Iowa Power Plex there were commits heading to Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Penn State, and Ohio State to name a few.  Iowa Power Plex has <strong>Madi Kubick</strong>, a 6’1 outside hitter heading to Nebraska in the Class of 2019, <strong>Devyn Robinson</strong> a 6’1 middle that is a defensive force at the net heading to the Wisconsin in the Class of 2020, and <strong>Kenna Sauer</strong>, a six rotation outside that has a full toolbox of shots and is a gritty defender heading to Missouri.  </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With the trickle down of bids, there were three available, but in order to receive a bid the club had to finish in the top eight.  Circle City out of Indianapolis, one of the top clubs in the Mideast received a bid as well as OT (Orlando/Tampa). Michio Chicago and Dallas Premier were at a tie for ninth just missing out on the third bid.  With this being one of the last qualifiers these teams will be keeping their fingers crossed as an “At-Large” bid for USAV Nationals in Detroit to be held late June/early July. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Check Prep Dig for more articles on top players from Minnesota over the weekend, high flyers, and a full gallery of pictures on the Prep Dig Wisconsin Facebook Page.  </span></p>