Midwest Power League #1 Results Roundup
What a way to kick things off at the Midwest Power League. Nebraska Elite hosted a full weekend of volleyball action for 2023’s first iteration of the Midwest Power League, and we have a lot of results to discuss. This…
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Continue ReadingWhat a way to kick things off at the Midwest Power League.
Nebraska Elite hosted a full weekend of volleyball action for 2023’s first iteration of the Midwest Power League, and we have a lot of results to discuss. This event was a season debut for some teams, while others continued to hone their skills in preparation for some upcoming qualifiers. Whatever the case, we saw some quality volleyball at the UBT Sports Complex.
Here’s the breakdown of ages 15-18 and their respective divisions. Be on the lookout for some player features in the coming days!
15 Club
We had several clubs represented in the upper echelons of 15 Club.
The Gold bracket in this division featured teams from Nebraska ONE , MVP United , VCNebraska 15 Black, and Premier Nebraska. MVP United deserves a lot of credit for how it performed in this group against some big-name teams, and I’ll have their 15 Red squad on my radar for future events. In the end, 15 Red fell just short in the championship match to Nebraska ONE 15 Black, which won in a three-set thriller. Premier 15 Silver and VCN 15 Black shared top-three placements in the Gold group.
We’ll also give a shoutout here to River City Jrs 15 Red, which pulled through in Sunday afternoon’s Silver bracket. That breakthrough included a back-and-forth tiebreaker battle with Premier 15 Red in the final round.
15 Open
Hello, VCNebraska .
15 Open didn’t have the sheer amount of teams that 15 Club did, but the competition was still intense. After the opening round, however, this pool belonged to VCNebraska ‘s 15 Elite and 14 Elite entries. Both squads won their respective pools and met each other for the Gold crown. 15 Elite eventually swiped the championship, but we’ll clearly have to keep tabs on 14 Elite when they step into our age jurisdiction. Stay tuned.
16 Club
Nebraska Elite got one of its “home defenders” in the top group here.
Nebraska Elite 16 Koa won both of its 16 Club pool matches in dominant fashion to advance to the Gold playoffs, where 16 Koa promptly posted another two-set victory against River City Jrs 16 Navy. On the other side of the 16 Club docket, Nebraska ONE 16 Black narrowly defeated MVP United 16 Red in the playoff round after both swiped first in their pools.
Clear winners emerged from this division, and we have more teams to keep an eye on heading into the qualifier gauntlet.
17/18 Club (#1 and #2)
This division had two separate groups, so we’ll cover both.
Division 1 was won by a visitor: Club Ignit Select 18 Blue. I’ve been fortunate enough to cover several of the athletes on this squad at past qualifiers, and it’s no surprise to see the team thriving once again as 18s.
Nebraska ONE 17 Black finished a very respectable runner-up in Division 1 and battled toe-to-toe with Ignit in the championship. Other top-performing teams down the playoff brackets include VCNebraska 17 Black, Club Legacy 17 Alpha, and River City Jrs 18 Navy.
Like VCNebraska in 15 Open, Premier Nebraska took many of the top spots in Division 2 of 17/18 Club. Premier Nebraska 16 Black defeated two 17s teams in its opening pool to reach the Gold playoffs. Then, this upstart team defeated Nebraska Elite 17 Flame to reach a championship matchup with Premier Nebraska 15 Gold, which had an opening-round by in this playoff bracket. 16 Black was clearly in a rhythm at this point and took down 15 Gold to win the division. VCNebraska 16 Elite won the Silver playoffs, while Club Legacy 17 Bravo prevailed in the Bronze bracket.
17/18 Open
What a group.
17/18 Open featured a “power pool” and three additional pools. The power pool didn’t necessarily work like other power pools we’re used to seeing; rather, it separated some of the top 18s teams from many of the other competitors in this group. Many of those other teams were 16s and 17s.
Nebraska teams managed to hold the line in the power pool against Illinois visitors Sports Performance 18 Elite and 18 Kahl. Perhaps the most intense match in this group was the three-set thriller between Nebraska Elite 18 VC Elite and SPVB 18 Elite. Premier Nebraska 18 Gold swept both of its matchups.
The other three pools featured champions from three different clubs. How fitting. Pool 1 belonged to Premier Nebraska 17 Gold, which set the tone by winning a three-set opening struggle against Nebraska ONE 16 Synergy. This was our first glimpse at the 2023 17 Gold roster, and I love the lineup possibilities with this group.
VCNebraska 17 Elite forged ahead in Pool 2. I was particularly impressed with how 17 Elite came out against Premier Nebraska 16 Gold, and VCN carried that momentum through its tiebreaker win against Premier Nebraska 18 Black.
Finally, Nebraska ONE 18 Black emerged as the representative in Pool 3. I think of this Nebraska ONE team as a prep all-star group, as the roster is packed with names who have made so many big plays on the high school stage. 18 Black is really coming together in early-season action.
One-off playoff matches were played to wrap up the day. Premier Nebraska 17 Gold won a nail-biter against VCN 17 Elite, and Premier Nebraska 18 Gold battled past Nebraska ONE 18 Black.