MN North Takes NCR 18s Title, Earns National Bid With MVA
Tickets are punched from the North Country Region. With competition at Hastings High School this past Sunday, bids were earned by five clubs that include MN North 18-1 and Minnesota Volleyball Academy 18 Elite earning a National bid while Vital…
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Continue ReadingTickets are punched from the North Country Region. With competition at Hastings High School this past Sunday, bids were earned by five clubs that include MN North 18-1 and Minnesota Volleyball Academy 18 Elite earning a National bid while Vital 18-1 Gold, Mizuno M1 18-2, and Impact 18-Black earning an American bid. Nationals will be in Dallas the weekend of April 26-28.
For many of their teams they are nearing the end of their swan song. These athletes have been playing with or against each other their whole volleyball careers, they will be having plenty of final moments of their high school careers which includes club volleyball. For some, they will be playing at the collegiate level, others may find a rec league or be the stars of their intramural teams, but for all they will always have a place in the volleyball community.
“A lot of these teams have become friends playing against each other each year. This past weekend’s event shows how strong the volleyball community is and at this point for the 18s they want to win, but they are also enjoying playing with each other a few more times,” said Quang Vo, MVA Director and 18 Elite Coach.
The strength of the North Country Region and the level of volleyball is one of the best in the country. Besides the regional bids received this past weekend, MN Select 18-1 and Mizuno M1 18-1 have earned Open bids which is the highest level at the national tournament while MN Select 18-2 earned an American bid. There will be a strong contingent from Minnesota in Dallas come April.
As for the weekend, MN North 18-1 out of Duluth, came out on top defeating MVA in the finals. MN North has athletes from all over, literally. Duygu Yildirim or “D” as the team calls her is currently an exchange student from Turkey staying in Ashland, Wisconsin. She will be training with the Turkish National Team as a libero, but also has plans to come back to the states in 2020 with hopes of playing volleyball where she would be a high quality libero at a high D2/mid major D1 program.
MN North has plenty of athletes who will be playing at the next level. Hope Schjenken, a UMD commit is very physical, makes positive block touches, and can be very really terminal. Six rotation outside hitter, Caitlin Schneeweis is a U of Mary commit, and although playing a little under the weather this weekend, can do a little bit of everything for this MN North team from solid ball control to mixing in a variety of shots to score points.
MVA 18 Elite has a core group that has been playing together since they were 12. Angel Vo has been one of the leaders as a setter and libero for MVA and will be playing at Moorhead along with teammate Bridget Witzmann. Abbee Peterson is a 6’1, athletic middle who can really move from pin to pin just committed to Crookston. Selena Rodriguez was a standout at libero from North St. Paul High School, uncommitted and would be a really solid, late pick up. Another middle blocker, Sarah Johnson will be heading to Upper Iowa, which is a member of the NSIC. Lefty, Sydney Aber of Blaine will be heading to New Haven in Connecticut.
Click this link for full results from the North Country Region website: