NORCECA 18U Championships
Lindsay Krause, a 2021 graduate from Skutt Catholic and member of the Premier Nebraska 15 Gold team, just returned home from the experience of a lifetime competing in the 2018 NORCECA Girls’ U18 Continental Championships in Honduras. The 12-player roster…
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Continue ReadingLindsay Krause, a 2021 graduate from Skutt Catholic and member of the Premier Nebraska 15 Gold team, just returned home from the experience of a lifetime competing in the 2018 NORCECA Girls’ U18 Continental Championships in Honduras.
The 12-player roster was announced August 2nd after 24 training session where 20 of the top youth players from across the country gathered in Colorado Springs for an opportunity to represent USA at the NORCECA Championships. After 13 days of training and competition, that roster was cut to 12, Krause, dealing with a thumb injury at the time, was picked as one of the few selected to compete in Honduras. “Being chosen for the training team roster was extremely humbling; an accomplishment that I couldn’t even put into words,” states Krause.
The Girls’ Youth National Team (GYNT) was led by head coach, Jim Stone (former women’s Ohio State head coach), who has been involved with the GYNT program for over a decade. Alongside him were assistant coaches: Nicki Holmes (women’s associate head coach at George Washington University) and Kelly Surrency (USA Volleyball coach).
Krause traveled with the team to Tegucigalpa, Honduras and opened competition August 27th, defeating Nicaragua, Barbados, and Honduras in pool play and capping off the tournament with a win over the Dominican Republic in the semi-finals and a championship victory over Canada in three sets (25-13, 25-2, 25-23) to win the USA’s 8th Women’s NORCECA U18 Championship.
Krause’s favorite moment of the trip was the semi-final victory over the Dominican Republic. “Our USA Youth team has lost to them (Dominican Republic) the past two championships of this tournament in both 2014 and 2016. We prepared very well for the game with a fantastic scouting report and a clear vision on what we wanted to accomplish.”
Final Standings of the NORCECA Event:
1) United States
2) Canada
3) Cuba
4) Dominican Republic
5) Costa Rica
6) Honduras
7) Nicaragua
8) Barbados
Both the USA and Canada teams qualified for the 16th Annual FIVB World Championships 18U to be held in Egypt in 2019 where 20 teams are expected to compete. Like NORCECA, members of the USA team will have to undergo an intense training process to be selected for the FIVB squad.
Repping #17, Krause reflects on the trip, “It was a great experience. The experience enhanced the drive to want to be better, because you know that everybody around you is just as good or maybe better than you so you have to give it your 110%. It was just so much fun getting to play with and against some of the best volleyball players.”
The 6’3” University of Nebraska commit states, “I think this experience will really improve my game. It’s something to push for, knowing that just when you think you might be good enough, someone somewhere is getting better than you, and you can never stop improving.”