Kokoro Ends Season With High Finishes At AAU Nationals

<p><span style="font-weight: 400">The North St. Paul will have some hardware coming home as Kokoro is coming away from the AAU National Championships with high finishes in multiple age divisions.  With some of the top players out of the Twin Cities metro area and Western Wisconsin, Kokoro is a club on the rise. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">To begin the tournament the 14-1 and 15-1s came in with championship aspirations on their mind.  14-1 finished with an 11-1 overall record, steamrolling the competition to drop only one set before bracket play.  In the semifinals, MPV out of Florida in the semifinals to finish third overall. <strong>Haley Graetz</strong> and <strong>Danielle Lien</strong> were named AAU All Americans for the 14 Club level.  This team does not have a player who has entered high school yet (Class of 2022, two on the roster are from 2023), but already are gaining attention of college coaches.  </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Kokoro 15-1 is highlighted by <strong>Anna Wolf</strong> of River Falls, WI - a 6’3 middle blocker who can also play on the pin as well.  However, for a team to make it this far at the national level it takes more than one player. <strong>Keely Kurschner</strong>, a Hill-Murray High School prep earned 15 Club All American honors, leading her team to a third place overall finish defeating the likes of Lions 15 Blue out of the Chicago area and Milwaukee Sting 15 White in the quarterfinals before dropping a tough three set loss to Chicago Elite in the semifinal match. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Kokoro 16-1 competed in 16 Open (Open is the highest division to play) and came toe to toe with some of the top clubs in the nation.  After dropping their first match to VC Nebraska, Kokoro went on a roll to win their next four before dropping their next three to Legacy (MI</span></p> [caption id="attachment_18021" align="alignright" width="334"] Kokoro 16-2 finished second in 16 Classic at AAU Nationals.[/caption] <p><span style="font-weight: 400">), Circle City (IN), and KIVA (KY) before winning a crucial match against Michigan Elite which sent them to the Consolation Bracket and a chance to finish in the top 15.  In the quarterfinals, Kokoro won 15-11 in the third to Wisconsin Juniors, one of the top clubs out of Wisconsin which was a battle between middle blockers of Illinois commit, Maddie Whittington (Stillwater Area) verses Katrina Leber of Wisconsin Juniors who is committed to Colorado State. Next up in the semifinals was crosstown club rival, Northern Lights 16-1 which resulted in a two set sweep with the second set going 34-32.  The finals of the consolation bracket was a three set victory with even more dramatics defeating Idaho Crush 19-17 in set three. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">14 matches in four days would be a lot for anyone, but to come out with 13 wins in those matches in a feat in itself.  The Kokoro 16-2 team took second in the 16 Classic Division behind Sports Performance 16 Blue. <strong>Madison Klimek</strong>, <strong>Kaitlyn Zignego</strong>, and <strong>Makenna Holman</strong> earned 16 Class AAU All American Honors. </span></p>