Arch Madness: 15s Take on MEQ in St. Louis

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second weekend of the Nike Mideast Qualifier went down last weekend in St. Louis with teams either staying home or traveling a much shorter distance than normal to play in a qualifier. Here are the teams who had top ten showings.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 Open</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HPSTL 15 Royal</strong> and <strong>KC [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] 15 Black</strong> both went 5-3 and finished in 9th place. 15 Royal featuring Madelyn Minnebach and [player_tooltip player_id='544669' first='Gabby' last='Schwoeppe'] started hot, winning their first five matches but couldn't keep the momentum, losing their final three. They didn't go down easy, with all of those matches going three sets.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>KC [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] 15 Black, which features Missouri standout [player_tooltip player_id='446328' first='Tori' last='Massengill'] experienced the same fate, winning five and then losing three. Their day two record of 2-1 was good enough to get them in the [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] Pools but the final two losses kept them short of the bid. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I know I stated we would focus on top ten finishes but I think I'll add, that <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] 15 Elite</strong> also went 5-3 but finished in 13th. The two losses on day two sealed their fate, delegating them to the Silver Bracket, which they would win. They are a team that continues to make strides and features another Witherspoon making it through the ranks in [player_tooltip player_id='475339' first='Shaye' last='Witherspoon']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 Liberty</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mineral Area 15 Elite</strong> was the top dog in the 15 Liberty division and earned a bid. They redeemed their second loss in the tournament in the championship to finish the tournament 9-2 and champion. They had many players contribute to the title. Ally Boyd, [player_tooltip player_id='544680' first='Ella' last='Pierce'], and Olivia Stewart are a few of the players on the team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>417 Juniors 15 Elite</strong> had a strong weekend, going 7-3 and finishing with 3rd place medals around their neck. Anna Essick and crew had to battle along the way, dropping matches in both days of pool play before winning the all-important crossover match to get a spot in the Gold Bracket. After a close first set in the first match, they would have three dominant sets to close out the first match and win the second. They would then lose a nail-biter in three to eventual champion Mineral Area 15 Elite.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='490801' first='Missouri' last='Juniors'] 15 Blue </strong>only dropped one match over the weekend, it just occurred at the wrong time and it gave them a 5th place showing at 8-1. The three-set loss in the quarterfinal round put them short of earning a bid. The team features sisters Addyson Scherr and Alyssa Scherr, along with [player_tooltip player_id='526576' first='Kaya' last='Dercher'] and Haylee Hoffman. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15 American</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='544703' first='Hadley' last='Clevenger'] of Raymore Peculiar, [player_tooltip player_id='525973' first='Dakota' last='Fraase'] representing Lee's Summit West, and Oak Grove's Paisley Hudson are some of the Missouri-based players that helped <strong>KC [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] 15 Red </strong>capture the title in the American division. 127 teams and they took home the Gold Ball after going 11-0 and dropping only two sets along the way. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->