Club Ignit Select’s Triple Crown Title – It’s Kind of a Big Deal
“Oh that’s nice, you won a volleyball tournament.”
Yes, Club Ignit Select 16 Blue which is based out of the West Des Moines area won the NIT Triple Crown 16 Elite Division in Kansas City and its a big deal. No, it’s a REALLY big deal.
Scrolling through social media the night of a final day of a tournament, there are plenty of team pictures holding up trophies and comments saying, “Champions”. Even I have a hard time going through seeing what they were champions of in regards to various divisions depending on the tournament with Open, Elite, Club, American, National, USA – but wait, there’s more. Within those divisions, there are various brackets from Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Copper. So what makes this tournament win for this Central Iowa team different?
The Triple Crown NIT Tournament is the top national tournament in the country. This is comparable and in some opinions, better than a national tournament because out of the top 100 clubs in the country, over 80% are represented at this tournament. Clubs have to be invited to compete. Yes, this is essentially a national championship in the middle of February where there were close to 500 college coaches, the first weekend where Division 1 college coaches can get out and recruit. The coaches you see on ESPN and Big Ten Network are among the common folk and yes, all of the Division 1 schools in Iowa were proudly represented there as well.
So who did Club Ignit Select beat this weekend to win the championship?
Jordan Middleton of AZ Storm ‘ last=”].
I’ll save you the fancy names of these teams and just focus on where these clubs are from: San Diego, two teams from Dallas/Ft. Worth, two from Chicago, Kansas City, and Phoenix. In this resume of wins, one was a national champion while the team out of Phoenix was a national runner-up last year.
Winning any match in this tournament is hard. Every team has future Division 1 players on it. Arizona Storm ‘ last=”] 16 Thunder who Club Ignit beat in the finals may have one of the top Sophomores in the nation in Jordan Middleton who makes dunking a basketball look easy. UCLA, Oregon, Arizona State, and Hawaii were consistently on her court throughout the weekend.
How did they win?
They won in the most Iowa way possible. Hard work, focusing on the controllables, staying focused on “our side”, and playing for each other. As Iowans, we love to be the underdog, we love to be underestimated, and we love to show others from outside of Iowa what we’re about and we like to surprise you. Throughout matches Coach Tina Carter who also is the head coach at Grand View University would say, “Our side”. In volleyball that means worrying about what you can do on your side of the net. Focus on playing great defense, making smart shots, and playing as one team. They are gritty, scrappy, and there isn’t an ounce of self promotion in these girls. Unselfish play and smart play just wore teams down. Again, being the underdog, but not in a way where there is a bitter chip on their shoulder. Last year this group finished second at this tournament as a Cinderella story, but Cinderella is long gone and these athletes are on top.
So who is on this team, where do they come from?
Well, most are out of the West Des Moines area, but then there are athletes from mini-metros like Webster City with Alayna Finucan and Pella in Jasmine Namminga. And let’s not forget Chloe Largent out of Guthrie County and ACGC High School (Adair-Casey-Guthrie Center) – I did make a stop at their fundraiser at a farm (with a goat) for their girls basketball and volleyball teams on RAGBRAI.
Hayden Kubik and Ava Reynolds being interviewed by @TCVolleyballNIT after WINNING THE 16 ELITE TITLE 🏆🏆 @clubignitselect 16 Blue! pic.twitter.com/KZlZM4qOaX
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) February 17, 2020
Hayden Kubik of West Des Moines Valley High School is definitely a big time, go to athlete who brings a lot to the table with her booming kills. Kubik is the top prospect out of the Class of 2022 in Iowa and is on the radar of plenty of college coaches. You see various coaches on courts all throughout the weekend, but on their court, multiple times was Nebraska, Illinois, and Wisconsin (as well as plenty others) – NCAA recruiting rules prevent Division 1 coaches to talk to athletes until June 15 after their Sophomore year. Teams who are at the top of the Big Ten, as well as some of the best programs in the country. Her older sister Madi, who starred at Valley as well was most recently named NCAA Freshman of the Year this past season playing for Nebraska. For as great of an athlete as Kubik is, she plays with the body language where she gets more excited for her teammates than herself when they score. When talking to media she always defers to her teammates and how it’s about everyone on the team.
Carter and Kubik 2020 – like the sound of that (and until 2022) @clubignitselect up early in their crossover pic.twitter.com/17u8G8AyCl
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) February 16, 2020
Lauren Carter, the daughter of Coach Tina Carter is the setter and is much like a coach on the court. Volleyball is her sport. However, she also plays basketball, runs track, and plays softball at Winterset High School. She carries herself with more poise and maturity than most others I know. She is just steady, a quiet confidence, and finds a way to make her teammates better. She has already committed to Denver to play college volleyball. Denver? Yes, Denver, a mid major power who is consistently in the NCAA Tournament and has other top Iowa players such as Ellie Anderson (Linn-Mar), Lauren McManus (Waterloo Columbus), and Ari Winters (Ankeny Centennial).
I still don’t get it, explain this to me in basketball terms?
Carter, Kubik, and Alayna Finucan with Coach Tina Carter in the background.
This year in Iowa, there are prized recruits coming out of high school programs and are among some of the best in the country. Caitlin Clark of Dowling is one of the top girls basketball recruits in the country and is committed to Iowa while on the boys side, Xavier Foster of Oskaloosa will be heading to Iowa State. Go back a few years (quite a few years) and I think of Nick Collison of Iowa Falls and Kirk Hinrich of SIoux City West heading to Kansas or Jeff Horner (Mason City) and Greg Brunner (Charles City) going to Iowa. Oh and there’s Harrison Barnes (Ames) and Marcus Paige (Linn-Mar) who went on to star at North Carolina. Hayden Kubik is that type of athlete who will have a recruiting process similar to these athletes of Iowa glory with some of the top collegiate programs knocking on her door.
You even head to Eastern Iowa and Iowa Rockets (volleyball club based out of the Iowa City area) has a team that is right at the level of Club Ignit Select in the same age group. They recently finished 3rd in an extremely tough tournament this past weekend in St. Louis with their only loss coming to Circle City, one of the top clubs in the nation out of Indianapolis.
The two could possibly meet at the Iowa Regionals at the Knapp Center on the campus of Drake University March 14-15.
Yes, Iowa has some of the top volleyball players in the country. They win the Iowa way, with hard work, unselfish play, and sticking together. And yes, this is a big deal, a REALLY big deal for not only these athletes, but for Iowa volleyball.