USAV Nationals Preview: 15 Liberty and Freedom

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Day three of our championship previews is here as we count down to first serve tomorrow in Indianapolis. Today, we take a look at the teams competing in the Liberty and Freedom divisions. Liberty bids are earned through the national qualifier circuit, while Freedom bids are awarded through the regional bid process.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Liberty</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The highest-seeded team from the Gateway and Heart of America regions is <strong>FVA 15-1</strong>, which enters the tournament as the No. 4 overall seed and will open play in Pool 4. FVA stayed busy throughout the spring, competing in a mix of USA and Liberty events before earning its bid with a third-place finish at Windy City in early April. Libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='775340' first='Mackenzie' last='Carevic']</strong> is a joy to watch, tracking down balls all over the court and extending rallies. In the middle, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='775966' first='Erin' last='Donald']</strong> gets off the floor quickly and thrives in the quick attack.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Joining FVA in Pool 4 is <strong>573 15 Premier</strong> <strong>C</strong>, the tournament's No. 15 seed. The team punched its ticket to Indianapolis with a third-place finish out of 72 teams at Show Me, extending an impressive season. This is an athletic group led by setter <strong>Addisyn Williams</strong>, who does an excellent job distributing the offense. One of her top targets is high-flying outside hitter <strong>Chloe Chiteri</strong>, who provides plenty of firepower.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 15 Blue</strong> opens competition in Pool 3 as the No. 22 seed. [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] earned its bid by finishing just ahead of 573 at Show Me after spending much of the season competing against strong USA Division fields.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Freedom</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The highest-seeded team among those we cover in the Freedom Division is Gateway's <strong>HPSTL 15 Orange</strong>, which enters as the No. 33 seed and opens play in Pool 1. HPSTL wrapped up its qualifier season with a seventh-place finish in the Premier Division at the UA Players Championships in late May.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Heart of America region will be represented by <strong>913 Athletics 15 National</strong> and <strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 15 Gold</strong>. 913 will begin play in Pool 5, while [program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] opens in Pool 3.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>913 spent much of the qualifier season competing in the American Division, putting together several top-10 finishes in deep tournament fields. Setter <strong>Addison Adkins</strong> runs a balanced 5-1 offense with poise, has soft hands, and isn't afraid to be aggressive on second-ball opportunities.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='428889' first='Dynasty' last=''] 15 Gold</strong> enters as the No. 62 seed and will look to make noise out of Pool 3. The team secured its bid with a strong performance at regionals. Middle <strong>Sylvie Stewart</strong> brings length to the net and consistently finds ways to score by locating open spots on the floor.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->