18 Girls Junior Nationals Recap

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The season is complete for many of the 18s Girls Nationals participants. Some players moved up to join teams but for most, it's a wrap. We had a separate article focused on KC [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] 18 Black and 417 Juniors 18 Elite, who finished in the top three in their respective divisions. This article is to give a light recap on how the other teams we previewed finished in their final tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">18 Open</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] 18 Elite</strong> had a strong start to the tournament, winning their pool going 5-0. They were upended in their crossover match, where their chance for a national title would also die. They would finish their tournament 6-2, going 1-1 in the silver bracket. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pohaku 18-1</strong> and <strong>Mavs KC 18-1</strong> would finish right near each other with 27th and 29th place finishes. Both teams finished 5th place in their opening pools, which put them out of contention for a championship. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">18 National</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>KC [program_tooltip program_id='428794' first='Power' last=''] 18 Red</strong> was a win away from making it to the semifinals in the national division which would pit them against region team 417 Juniors. A third-place pool finish gave them a shot to keep playing for gold by advancing to the crossover matches. They got two wins to advance to the gold bracket but fell short in the first match to Arizona Sky. They finished 5th with a 5-3 record. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HPSTL 18 Royal </strong>finished 11th, going 5-4. They went 3-2 in pool play, which also got them to the crossover matches. They won the first one before falling short in the second. The St. Louis squad would finish their tournament in the silver bracket going 1-1. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">18 USA</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The highest-finishing team in the USA was <strong>Mavs KC 18-2</strong>, who went 4-4. They went 3-2 in pool play and dropped the crossover contest to finish their play in the bronze bracket. <strong>Mizuno Club North 18 Ang</strong> and <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] 18 Navy</strong> finished 27th and 30th respectively. Club North finished 4th in pool play with a 2-3 record. Rockwood was 1-4. <strong>PVA 18 Elite </strong>went 3-5, good for 35th place after the three days. They lost to [program_tooltip program_id='428799' first='Rockwood' last='Thunder'] in the crossover match and finished their tournament in Flight 2B, going 1-1. Rounding out the Missouri teams, <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428820' first='Team' last='Momentum'] 18 Navy</strong> finished their season 2-5, good for 43rd. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">18 Liberty</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two teams finished with top 8 finishes from Missouri in <strong>Invasion 18 Black</strong> and <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428797' first='Pursuit' last=''] 18 National</strong>. Invasion won both of their pools on the first two days. They just missed advancing to the four team gold bracket by losing a crossover match 25-18, 25-23. [program_tooltip program_id='428797' first='Pursuit' last=''] had a similar run, winning their first six matches and dropping the crossover match in a tough three-set match. <strong>Dynasty 18 Black </strong>finished their season 2-5 in tournament play, good for 26th and right behind them was <strong>KC Challenge 18-1</strong> at 27th. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">18 Freedom</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mizuno Club North 18 Riley</strong> had a 2-6 weekend in the Freedom division. They were able to get a win in pool action and picked up their second one in Flight bracket. <strong>HPSTL 18 Orange</strong> went 1-6, getting their win in a three-setter in pool play. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">18 American</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dynasty 18 Blue</strong> finished the tournament in the 39th position with a 3-4 record. They didn't get a win in their first day of pool play but bounced back on day two to win all three matches.<strong> HP South 18 Premier</strong> went 1-6 to finish their season, good for 54th. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->