Mavs 816 Earns USAV National Title

Photo: Twitter

Vernon Birmingham July 10, 2024 @ 06:00 PM

Mavs 816 16-1 returned to Missouri as national champions after winning the competitive National division in Las Vegas. In my preview, I said, "They played a heavy Open qualifier schedule and will also be in the hunt on the last day." Well, being in the hunt was the understatement of the week.   The Mavs went 9-2 throughout the four-day tournament. In a very tough pool, Mavs went 3-2 which proved good enough for a second-place finish after two days. If you noticed their pool record, you know they wouldn't lose again over the final two days. On the third day they were repooled and it started bleak for the Kansas City team as they dropped the first set 19-25. They bounced back to dominate set two 25-14 to force a third and deciding set. They got out early creating too much distance for Paramount to mount a comeback, winning 15-10. 816 would sweep Northern Lights to win the pool and move into a crossover match versus MVA. The champs weren't pressed much and won the match in straight sets to advance to the gold bracket.   As expected, it wasn't easy going in the gold bracket but the Mavs didn't drop a set along the way even though they played extra points in some of them. They needed 27 points in the first match to clip Circle City before beating them 25-22 in set two. The semi-final match would be against LAV 16 National Black. In this contest 816 decided they wanted a new match point total and delivered with a 29-27 slugfest. Big plays were made by both teams all over the court and it was an entertaining and electric set. The following set was not a letdown as both teams continued to throw haymakers but the Mavs escaped 25-23. This win would give the local team a chance to compete for a national title and nothing was going to stop them now that they came this far. They would knock off TVC -20, and -23 and rush the court as national champions.   We highlighted [player_tooltip player_id='220462' first='Madilynn' last='Benne'] in our preview. The libero was named tournament MVP and was reported to be lights out all week. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Leah Robinson and Catlin Shao.   Members of the team not listed: Annalyse Cisneros, [player_tooltip player_id='542170' first='Brielle' last='Gengelbach'], [player_tooltip player_id='222074' first='Parker' last='Kimball'], [player_tooltip player_id='357571' first='Chesnie' last='King'], Paige Lattimer, [player_tooltip player_id='219763' first='Peyton' last='Liming'], Carlie Pandjaris, Leilah Perry.   Head Coach: Alex Ratzlaff

Mavs 816 16-1 returned to Missouri as national champions after winning the competitive National division in Las Vegas. In my preview, I said, "They played a heavy Open qualifier schedule and will also be in the hunt on the last day." Well, being in the hunt was the understatement of the week.