Five Nebraska Teams Finish in Top 10 at AAU Nationals
ORLANDO, FL – Five teams from Nebraska took top-10 finishes as the first cycle of competition came to an end today at the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships in Orlando.
In the 18 Open division, Nebraska Juniors 181 Black had its magical run come to an end with a 6th-place finish after starting competition as the #19 seed. Nebraska Juniors opened play today with a 25-14, 25-14 win over Lexington United to advance to the consolation final for fifth place. In that match, Nebraska Juniors rallied from a 17-20 deficit in the second set against Illini Elite to force a third set, but ultimately fell 25-20, 23-25, 15-11.
“It’s important to us and the girls to represent Nebraska well, not just Nebraska Juniors,” Ryan Gray, Club Director for Nebraska Juniors, said. “We talk about it before every match.”
In the 18 Premier division, River City Juniors won its championship semifinal match this morning 25-18, 25-16 to reach the championship against Mizuno Sports Performance 18 Red. While both teams entered the match undefeated, it was Sports Performance that took a 25-19, 25-17 victory.
In the 15 Club division, VCNebraska Elite took an 11-match winning streak into its championship quarterfinal match but dropped a 19-25, 27-25, 15-11 decision to Volisur to finish in a tie for 5th place.
In the 14 Premier division, Nebraska ONE Titanium fell 25-16, 19-25, 15-8 to Asics Louisiana in the championship quarterfinal to finish in a tie for 5th place. Asics Louisiana went on to win the title and Nebraska ONE was one of only three teams to take a set from them in the tournament.
In 14 Club, Nebraska Elite Nexus lost a 25-12, 16-25, 15-6 decision to Minnesota Crossfire in the championship quarterfinals to finish in a tie for 5th place.
Today also marked the start of competition in the 18 Club and 18 Classic divisions in Orlando.
In 18 Club, River City Juniors 182 stayed in championship contention by going 2-1. River City defeated NUF 18 Black 25-12, 25-11 and Chicago Juniors 25-20, 25-19 before dropping a 25-19, 25-23 decision to Top Select Elite – the #1-overall seed in the division.
5-Star Volleyball Club of Omaha went 0-3 on the first day in the 18 Club division and has been eliminated from title contention. 5-Star lost 25-16, 25-12 to Wave 18 Orange, 23-25, 25-19, 15-13 to Attack 18U Kevin and 26-24, 21-25, 15-11 to The Edge 18 Black.
In the 18 Classic division, VCNebraska 18 Elite went 2-1 with wins over Jellys 18s (25-14, 25-9) and truSports 18 Blue (25-17, 25-22) before falling to Mizuno Sports Performance 18 Mizuno (25-21, 27-25). With that performance, VCNebraska is still in title contention.
Also in 18 Classic, MVP 18 Rick of Sioux City, Iowa, rolled to a 3-0 day with wins over Pentagon 18 ROX (25-9, 25-8), C229 (25-9, 25-7) and OVA 18 National Red (25-15, 25-20). The MVP team features the North Platte duo of Allison Kuenle and Josie Cox and Kearney Catholic’s Morgan Stute.
Competition in the 17s age division begins Saturday while competition in the 16s division begins Tuesday.