The Madness Continues With The JVA World Challenge
There’s a lot going on in the Midwest this weekend with the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship being held in Minneapolis and for the volleynerds, we have the JVA World Challenge in Louisville, Kentucky. The Kentucky Expo Center will be the host…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThere’s a lot going on in the Midwest this weekend with the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship being held in Minneapolis and for the volleynerds, we have the JVA World Challenge in Louisville, Kentucky. The Kentucky Expo Center will be the host of 111 courts and 861 teams for 3 days of competitive play with 3 divisions from ages 12-18’s. There will be the big dogs and the underdogs and plenty of great matches along the way. Here are 4 big dogs you will want to see in action this weekend.
The Big Dogs:
Circle City 18 Purple
This powerhouse is full of Division 1 commits and currently has the #4 spot on the AES National rankings. Circle City will be fun to watch with multiple hitters who can hammer and a future Big Ten libero in Purdue commit Ava Torrence. In February they won the 18 Open division in the Nike President’s Day Tournament in Missouri. This squad is already set to compete in Texas at the end of the month in the USAV Girls 18s Junior National Championship, but winning the JVA World Challenge would give them a free entry to the AAU Championships. It’s fair to say this team is a favorite to win since they are led by Caitlin Baird (Outside Hitter – Committed to Stanford) and Holly Eastridge (Right Side – Committed to South Carolina) on the pins. If you can find their court (#68 on Friday morning), you will get to see some top talent for sure.
[player_tooltip player_id="56004" first="Kaley" last="Blake"]Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold
Friday afternoon you can find this fun Sting team competing on court #68. This squad is composed, physical, and has a roster with some great college commits. This Sting team can compete with some of the best, and last month they took 2nd in the 17 Open Division at the Ultra Ankle Bluegrass Tournament. Elise Goetzinger Elise Goetzinger 6'4" | MB Mount Horeb | 2020 State WI (2020 – Committed to Kentucky) will be a key player as one of the most physical middles in the Class of 2020. Setters Kaley Blake Kaley Blake 5'8" | S Burlington | 2020 State WI (2020 – Committed to UW-Milwaukee) and Alyse Drifka Alyse Drifka 5'8" | S Slinger | 2020 State WI (2020 – Committed to Southern Illinois University) can set and swing on the right side as really strong all-around players, but they also have solid counterparts in Elise Schneider Elise Schneider 6'0" | RS Arrowhead | 2020 State WI (2020 – Committed to Wofford) and Kelsey Carrington Kelsey Carrington 6'2" | OH Racine St. Catherine's | 2020 State WI (2020 – 6’3 – St. Catherine’s) who present a huge mismatch for most opposing outsides with a huge block and a lethal swing on the right side.
Munciana 16 Ninjas
Munciana 16 Ninjas out of Indiana is a favorite in the 16 Open field. The Ninjas have had a couple strong finishes, including a 3rd place finish in the 16 Open Division at the Ultra Ankle Bluegrass Tournament last month. There are currently three Indiana University, Bloomington commits, including Kenzie Daffinee (2021 – Defensive Specialist/Outside Hitter), Camryn Haworth (2021 – Setter), and Carly Mills (2021 – Defensive Specialist/Libero). It may be safe to say they might have a little pipeline going there. Ninjas will be a strong contender in the 16 Open division this weekend. You can find this squad competing on court #55 on Friday morning.
TAV 18 Black
On Friday morning, make your way over to court #64 to see this TAV squad show you how it’s done. TAV is another team full of big commits, including two solid setters in Madi Whitmire (Committed to UConn) and McKenzie Nichols (Committed to TCU), and a “go to” middle blocker in Mykayla Myers (Committed to Washington State). A couple weeks ago they won the 18 Open division at the Under Armour Northeast Qualifier in Baltimore. TAV will be hungry for some strong competition and could potentially play Asics KIVA 18 Red for a 3rd time this season.