Strong Showing for Iowa Region teams at KC’s MLK Tournament

Sara Horn

January 22, 2019 @ 12:35 PM

Twenty-three teams from Iowa made the trip down to Kansas City this past weekend, with 18 open’s Powerplex and Adrenaline having strong showings, finishing 4th and 6th, respectively. Powerplex, which won an open bid last weekend in Omaha, finished the tournament 5-4, while placing 2nd in their opening pool, and then ending with a 4th place finish in the Gold Pool. Powerplex had strong play all weekend from rightside Aimee Adams and libero Savannah Perry. Adrenaline also finished the weekend 5-4, finishing 3rd in their pool, and then moving on to the Silver Bracket Championship. Adrenaline fought all the way to the bracket championship match, before falling to KC Power 18-1s, who they had beat 2 days prior. Adrenaline had strong offensive performances from Sommer Daniel, Akeela Jefferson, and Grace Tubbs. Mackenzie Murphy also had a strong weekend, stepping up while basketball games kept a few girls home. In 18 USA, CIA Black finished 5-2, placing 5th in the 27-team division. Halia Mahi, Morgan Weber, and Delaney McSweeney led the offense while Tricia Even controlled the backcourt. IPVA 18 Black finished strong, ending the last day with a perfect 3-0 record, opening bracket play with a win over Iowa’s Imagine 18-1s. 18 American had Flight 18U going a perfect 9-0 and coming out on top. Six Pack was right behind them, finishing 7-1 and placing 3rd. I-80 Blues also had a strong showing, going undefeated in pool play and placing 5th. Other Iowa teams included CIS 18M (17th), Westside Strikers (21st), Ohana 18 Regional (23rd), CR Surge (25th), and Rapid Spikers 18 Black (44th). In the 17s division, IPVA 17 Black had a strong showing, finishing 7-1, and placing 5th out of 56 teams. IPVA had strong offensive performances from Kara Peter, Anna Godfredsen, and Allena Shimon, while Kaci Behrens led the defensive effort. Powerplex 17 Red finished 5-3 and placed 31st and Ohana 17 National finished 3-4 and placed 35th. Ohana sent two 16s teams, with their 16 Regional team finishing 3-4 and placing 15th and their 16 National team finishing 5-4 and placing 19th. In the 15s division, Powerplex 15 Elite placed 19th, Ohana National placed 16th, Ohana Regional placed 27th, Powerplex 15 Red placed 41st, and DCVC National placed 48th.