Iowa PowerPlex Punches Early Ticket To USAV Open Nationals
Ticket punched! Iowa PowerPlex 18 Elite Black survived a loaded field of some of the top teams in the country at the Northern Lights 18s Qualifier in Omaha to be one of the first teams to earn an Open bid (The Highest Division) to the USAV National 18s Championships to be held in Dallas April 26-28.
The “Farewell Tour” for this group who has been together the past year consists of some of the top talent throughout central Iowa. With some new players to this roster, to earn a bid this early in the season allows the team to go into future qualifiers with the mindset to develop team chemistry, improve their seeding, and make sure they are playing at their best at the end of April.
How did they earn their bid? Friday started out with three matches of pool play where the final match of the day was to MN Select without two major players in Kenna Sauer (Ankeny Centennial/Missouri) and Emily Holterhaus (Pella/UNI) who were with their high school basketball teams. With both teams guaranteed a spot in the winning pools for Saturday, it was still important to get the win with seeding for Saturday. After being down most of the first set, Plex Storm ed back to win 31-29, then dropping the second set 23-25, and coming out on top in set three at 15-6. On Saturday, they defeated KC Power and Northern Lights 18-2 securing a spot in the gold pool for Sunday before dropping their last match to Northern Lights 18-1, the 2017 USA 17 Open Champions which featured Kyndra Hansen and Blythe Reints who will be heading to Iowa, Kennedi Orr going to Nebraska, Mari Hinkle a libero heading to UCLA, and Ellie Huseman and Rachel Kilkelly who will be heading to Minnesota.
The final pool consisted of Arizona Storm Elite 18 Thunder, one of the top clubs out of the West, Northern Lights 18-1, and MN Select 18-1. After losing to Arizona Storm and Northern Lights it was a winner take all for the final bid of the day between MN Select and PowerPlex.
MN Select has a team full of future Division 1 and top tier Division 2 players with Izzy Ashburn heading to Wisconsin, Emma Schmidt to UNI, and Kaitlyn Weimerskirch to Illinois State. All three of these athletes were on the Champlin Park High School team who won the Minnesota Class AAA (largest class) title last November.
With set one being very similar to Friday with a Powerplex win 32-30, it was the set two 25-20 victory that sealed the deal, earning this team a bid to Dallas.
So, how did it get done?
Kenna Sauer came into Saturday on a mission. Sauer can not only score points, but she is so solid defending at the net and in the backrow. At the 18 Open level, athletes are competing against other big time recruits, its like watching a high level division 1 college volleyball game. Their performances are legit, there’s no argument in that. Sauer was able to score points from the pin with her heavy swing, but also a roll shot to the campfire that is so hard to stop. Defensively she is depended upon to stop the slide against some of the top middle blockers in the country and she was found sending the ball back with a block before the middle was even done jumping. Sauer’s energy is contagious and her work with fellow high school teammate Devyn Robinson blocking together is impeccable.
????????????@iowapowerplex on a roll, defeating KC Power 25-18 in set one. pic.twitter.com/sUGh5Czhxh
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) January 12, 2019
Megan Renner (Linn-Mar/Purdue) is a new addition to this group and she displays all the intangibles a big time setter would have. A weapon offensively as well as a solid blocker in the front, Renner was a game changer, a consistent force throughout the whole game. She just doesn’t get rattle and is always talking and communicating her teammates.
Savannah Perry (Ames/Colorado) was digging some hitters who will be heading to the Big Ten, Pac 12, and other top conferences around the country. Perry anticipates extremely well, even in serve receive she just knows where the ball is going to land and is in the spot before the hitter even makes contact. Not only is she playing solid defense she is always talking to her hitters looking through the net telling them whats open (and her hitters trust her too. You can just see it). And I know to some people they may think nothing of this, but every time someone passes her the ball to serve whether its a fan, referee, teammate, or the team from a court over she says “Thank You”. Every…time… it’s just an example of focusing on the small things which leads to big results.
Devyn Robinson (Ankeny Centennial/Wisconsin) has the energy and body language that everyone would love to play with. Barking on the sideline, flashing a smile, and celebration with the best of them, Robinson is only a Junior with an extremely high motor. Seeing her work from pin to pin to close the block, or approach on a slide is a thing of beauty. Her athleticism is second to none and is just a joy to sit back and watch.
Ari Winters (Ankeny Centennial/Denver), Haley Bush (Waukee/Drake), and Aimee Adams (Carroll Kuemper/South Dakota) all rotated playing on the pin and on the right side. These athletes are creative, they use the block, the make shots, and find ways to score. Winters is a threat in the front in backrow and was key during some close moments with her serve receive and middle back defense.
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???? https://t.co/5HsmtBvAN6 pic.twitter.com/mRykybgoOh— Prep Dig Events (@PrepDigEvents) January 13, 2019