5 Things The Scores Didn’t Tell You From NLQ Weekend 1
Weekend one of Northern Lights Qualifier is in the books. A little bit of a different feel this year with the first weekend being broken down into the 13s-15s being this past weekend and the 16s, 17s, and younger divisions this upcoming weekend to close out the qualifier season. Less courts, less teams, less noise, and whole lot more room to move around. This past weekend featured some of the top teams in the nation and a balanced field brought up some of the top moments of the season. Here are five things the results online didn’t tell you from NLQ Weekend One.
Coach Jeff Van Lannen addressing his FC Elite 15 Navy team.Massive Improvement From The Beginning Of The Season
Through watching teams develop over the course of the past few club seasons, I believe the biggest growth is made from 15s to 16s. However, within a 15s season athletes are transforming and their game is evolving. The slides are being executed, outside hitters are using the block, blockers are focusing on hand positioning, and the rallies are just plain longer. FC Elite out of Appleton, WI had Karissa Kaminski on the pin where now she is the libero, a position she will be looking to play at Dayton where she verbally committed earlier this season. CIS out of Des Moines has battled some adversity with athletes having an ACL tear, wrist injury, and other tweaks throughout the season, but through the tough moments it has allowed various athletes to rise to the occasion. Even Iowa Rockets 15R, a team I first saw at the Windy City Power League in February looks different with athletes just elevating their game. Playing against top competition week in and week out will do that by the end of qualifier season.
Players Making Big Calls
For the most part I haven’t seen too many parent/fan horror stories this season in terms of officiating. There will always be someone constantly yelling “SCORE” just like in basketball there is always that fan yelling “THREE SECONDS”. When there are 20, 30, and some venues even 50 to 100 courts there is a lot of officiating and scorekeeping being done by the athletes who are in their downtime from playing. I couldn’t help but think if athletes would have to be a base umpire in a softball game in their off time or help with clock/score in other events. In events with national qualifying implications on the line. That’s just part of volleyball, and for some of these athletes who are standing on the corner of the baseline they often times can be involved in very intense situations. Props to Abby Staun of CIS, a defensive specialist who made a huge call in the Nebraska Elite vs. MN Select match where Nebraska Elite would go on to win 20-18 in the third set. There was a play with a hard blast that initially looked like it would be in, but ultimately was out. Staun at first called the ball in, and then quickly and confidently called the ball out. She could have froze, she could have said she didn’t see it, but again with confidence she made a big call, the right call. So many times players at getting yelled at on the line or on the scoreboard, but here are three cheers to great officiating in an intense situation.
More Than What The Record Indicates
MN Select 15-1 and Vital 15-1 may have been the teams that finished 8th and 9th from this weekend’s 15 Open competition, but that doesn’t show how competitive they were over the course of the weekend. Both teams are extremely scrappy with Vital having some athletes playing up from the Class of 2023. Even when they weren’t playing, they had athletes on the off courts working on their game, the foundation is there. MN Select had four matches that went three sets, one was a 20-18 third set loss to Nebraska Elite who was a couple points shy of beating Northern Lights 15-1 and another three set loss to Coast 15-1 Luis who is always one of the top clubs out of Southern California. The margin of error with these teams is so small. For Vital and MN Select, playing open was a difficult challenge, but they are walking out of the weekend with plenty to build off of for future tournaments.
Chloe Largent and Hayden Kubik of CISThe Case For The At-Large
Northern Lights 15-1 was able to grab the bid for 15 Open with a win against Coast in one of the final matches of the tournament Sunday. Rockwood Thunder out the suburban St. Louis area blazed the competition, however dropped a set to Iowa Rockets on Sunday. This leaves a few teams in the running for an “At-Large” chance for a bid to USAV 15 Open Nationals. Coast out of San Diego and CIS will be in the running, even Iowa Rockets 15R has some quality wins to be in conversation for it. This past weekend everyone just kind of beat up on each other. CIS beat Coast to start the weekend, FC Elite beat CIS, Nebraska Elite swept FC Elite, and Northern Lights won two huge three set matches against FC Elite (won 16-14 in third set) and Nebraska Elite (won 20-18 in 3rd set). If those two matches go differently, that makes for an interesting turn of events for the weekend.
Welcome Prep Dig Missouri!
Missouri is Prep Dig’s newest state for coverage. This weekend, teams from Missouri made a statement with Rockwood Thunder claiming the 15 Open title and Invasion out of the Kansas City area won the 15 American title, qualifying for Nationals. Throughout the week, we will be doing recaps of all of our states which will include a 15 Open All Tournament Team as well as other players that are popping up on the radar in all divisions.