18U CEVA Bid Tournament

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The USAV National Bid tournament for the CEVA region was this past weekend, so high-level volleyball 12U through 18U took place all over Oregon. Due to the size of the CEVA region, the 18U age division was allotted three bids: a National Bid to the 1st place team, an American Bid to the 2nd place team, and a Freedom Bid to the 3rd place team. With eight teams vying for three bids, the competition was tough, but three teams prevailed and will be heading to the 2023 Girls Junior National Championship in Columbus, OH.   </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The following teams from the CEVA region competed in the 18U Bid Tournament:&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Aspire NW 18-1 Empire</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Athena VB 18-1 Gold </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Athena VB 18-2 Black</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>NPJ 18 Forefront </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>NPJ Salem 18 National </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>OJVA 18-1 Gold </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Rise MFR 18 National </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Webfoot 18-Elite </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And the teams headed to Chicago are:&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NATIONAL BID</strong> – NPJ 18 Forefront</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The incredibly stacked NPJ 18 Forefront team dominated at the Bid tournament, walking away with the National bid. Though after competing and doing very well in the NIT Power Pools earlier this year, the group has their sights set on an Open bid, knowing they can battle with the best of the best. Running a 5-1 primarily with Washington commit [player_tooltip player_id='126024' first='Alexis' last='Haury'], she ran a fast offense and fed the dominant pins. On the outside, two complete six-rotation hitters, Alexandra Acevedo (Oregon commit) and [player_tooltip player_id='97249' first='Kyleene' last='Filimaua'] (Florida State commit), proved hard to stop. On the right side, [player_tooltip player_id='91314' first='Naima' last='Foster'] (Seattle University commit) has bounced back impressively from an ankle injury. Also, in the right side rotation, depending on the match, leftie [player_tooltip player_id='143666' first='Bridget' last='Gould'] (Oregon commit). Leading the teams back row as their libero, [player_tooltip player_id='91311' first='Kennedy' last='Cheung'], who recently committed to the University of Chicago. Also seeing some court time across the back row, Boise State commit [player_tooltip player_id='91326' first='Kayleigh' last='Carpenter'], an outside hitter turned defensive specialist. In the middle, Arizona State commit [player_tooltip player_id='244416' first='Lauryn' last='Johnson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='126161' first='Chloe' last='Leluge'], who has shown an insane amount of improvement over this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>AMERICAN BID</strong> – OJVA 18-1 Gold&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The OJVA 18-1 team had an impressive showing at the Bid tournament, sweeping the competition until falling to NPJ 18 Forefront in a close two-set championship match. With an incredibly talented batch of athletes on this team, they have proved competitive at both the regional and national levels. [player_tooltip player_id='91309' first='Mia' last='Starr'], UC Davis commit, executed a 5-1 offense all day. On the outside primarily, [player_tooltip player_id='201023' first='Lauren' last='Dreves'], Auburn commit, and [player_tooltip player_id='91306' first='Sophie' last='Gregoire-Salagean'], Oregon commit, were commanding, utilized in both the front and back row. Also in the rotation as pin hitters [player_tooltip player_id='91327' first='Kalista' last='Lukovich'] (Eastern Washington commit) and [player_tooltip player_id='91316' first='Isabel' last='Patterson'] (Oregon commit). Anchoring the teams back row as the libero, University of Pennsylvania commit, [player_tooltip player_id='91335' first='Elsa' last='Mcdermott'] was steady and reliable. Utilized as a defensive specialist, [player_tooltip player_id='91349' first='Sidney' last='Knowles'], an Eckerd College commit, played right back defense predominantly. In the middle, Notre Dame commit [player_tooltip player_id='91319' first='Olivia' last='Maulding'] proved a powerful force. [player_tooltip player_id='91330' first='Grace' last='Wollmuth'], setter turned middle, and [player_tooltip player_id='91357' first='Mia' last='Fedota'], University of Puget Sound commit, also saw time in the middle. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>FREEDOM BID</strong> – Athena VB 18-1 Gold&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After a tough loss against OJVA 18-1 to reach the finals, Athena 18-1 was able to bounce back and defeat Rise 18-1 to secure the Freedom bid. [player_tooltip player_id='91318' first='Makenna' last='Wiepert'] (University of Texas, San Antonio commit) ran a 5-1 predominantly for the team. On the outside, [player_tooltip player_id='91348' first='Ceanna' last='O'Loughlin'] (Colorado State, Pueblo commit) and [player_tooltip player_id='246303' first='Natalie' last='Andrew'] (US Naval Academy commit) shouldered an offensive load receiving a bulk of the sets. On the right side, a recent Georgia State commit, leftie [player_tooltip player_id='97307' first='Presley' last='Nippert']. [player_tooltip player_id='91343' first='Lauren' last='Patterson'] (Lloyal Marymount commit) led the teams back row as their libero. [player_tooltip player_id='236027' first='Zoë' last='Szczesniak'] was utilized as a defensive specialist throughout the day. Bouncing back from an injury, [player_tooltip player_id='91359' first='Tatum' last='Chase'] (Seattle University commit) played in the middle. Also in the middle rotation, [player_tooltip player_id='91383' first='Morgan' last='Olsen'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->