GJNC 17s Recap

We end our recap of Girls Junior Nationals with our 17s age group. This is one of those bittersweet recaps as we know some players will end their juniors career at this age group due to the number of players who now transition to their respective colleges at semester. We congratulate them on a tremendous club career that can span close to ten years for some athletes. Any hoot, here are how the teams from the state of Kansas did in Indianapolis.   Mavs KC 17-1: Open   Mavs was the highest finisher out of the Kansas teams in the open division, with a 9th place finish and a 7-3 record. In their ten matches, they went three sets in six of those contests. Pool play saw them go 4-1, losing only to Circle City. On day 3 they went 1-1 in pool play before losing to the eventual national champion 1st Alliance in crossover play. This loss placed them in the silver bracket where they won both matches to end in 9th. Elizabeth Goodenow was great from the right side. Aisha Aiona was a presence in the middle both offensively and defensively.   [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 17 Black: Open   [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] finished third in their pool with a 3-2 record after the first two days of competition. Those 3 victories would be all they would manage as they ended 3-6 in Indy. They would drop both pool matches, including one to local foe [program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']']. Ashley Mullen, who will head to UCLA early per her social media finished her junior career with a strong 4 days. Calissa Minatee also had a good four days.   [program_tooltip program_id='430200' first='KC' last='[program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']'] 17-1: Open   [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] also went 3-6 in Indiana, with two of those coming in pool play as they went on to a 4th place finish. After pools were reshuffled, they split their matches beating the previously mentioned [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] and losing to Minnesota Select. Their crossover match was against another team they were familiar with in Nebraska Premier. The Omaha team took down [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] in straight sets. [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last='']'s tournament ended with a loss in the silver bracket to their crosstown rival Mavs. Ella Swindle, Reagan Fox, and recent Cal commit [player_tooltip player_id='120010' first='Sawyer' last='Thomsen'] all played well.   [program_tooltip program_id='428892' first='PVA' last=''] 17 Elite: National   [program_tooltip program_id='428892' first='PVA' last=''] finished with a 13th place finish in the national division. They kicked off play winning four straight before dropping their final match in pool play. Day 3 started with two more victories as they won their pool in straight sweeps. Their crossover match saw them face off with Union 17-1. Both teams won a set before Union took control of the 3rd in commanding fashion, 15-6. The final match ended up being a sliver bracket defeat at the hands of Excel to end 7-3. Makya Clayton was good defensively. [player_tooltip player_id='150075' first='Jaya' last='Johnson'] continues to get better and better.   Topeka Impact 17-1: National   Topeka Impact went 8-2 but ended their tournament with a 17th-place finish. One loss came in pool play where they fell to the Iowa Rockets. Their second loss came in their next pool to Milwaukee Sting. This defeat put them in a crossover match that would send them to bronze or flight for bracket play. They took care of business beating Miami Elite in 3 and then winning both bronze matches. Kentucky-bound [player_tooltip player_id='120008' first='Brooklyn' last='DeLeye'] was her typical self. Other players looking good over the four days were [player_tooltip player_id='120044' first='Taylor' last='Russell'], [player_tooltip player_id='152179' first='Mila' last='Seaton'], and Lauren Tyler.   Mavs KC 17-2: USA   A tough opening two days put Mavs behind the 8 ball, falling out of title contention with a 1-4 pool play. They didn't hang their heads and came back to go 2-1 in their next pool grouping. They finished their run in flight 2, losing in three. Their final record was 3-6.   Pohaku 17-1: American   Pohaku finished tied for 19th place in the American division. They had a tremendous start to the championships going 5-2 in pool action. They would go on to fall in a tough three-set crossover match to be sent to bronze. The second-year program took care of business winning their first match in three, a 19-17 back and forth. Unfortunately, they would drop the last match to Adrenaline in straight sets. Kira Cherry and Jocelyn Renfro were two of many players who played well.   Mavs KC 17-3: American   Mavs had a 5th place finish in their pool going 4-3. Two of those losses came in third-set extra point situations including a 19-17 closer. They would go on to win their crossover match and opening flight match before losing in another third set marathon, this time 20-18 to finish 6-4 and in 34th place.   Air Capital Aces 17-1   ACA had a tough go at it in pool play going winless. It was good to see them bounce back to grab a couple of victories with a win in a crossover and flight. Their tournament would finish with a 2-8 record.

We end our recap of Girls Junior Nationals with our 17s age group. This is one of those bittersweet recaps as we know some players will end their juniors career at this age group due to the number of players who now transition to their respective colleges at semester. We congratulate them on a tremendous club career that can span close to ten years for some athletes. Any hoot, here are how the teams from the state of Kansas did in Indianapolis.