USAV 18s Nationals Reminds Us How Good Centennial Conference Is
It might only be the final day of April, but I’m in the mood for talking high school volleyball – although we’re still a solid 3 1/4-4 months away from the official start of the season. But, really, summer camps…
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Continue ReadingIt might only be the final day of April, but I’m in the mood for talking high school volleyball – although we’re still a solid 3 1/4-4 months away from the official start of the season.
But, really, summer camps start gearing up in about six weeks or so, so the high school season isn’t as far away as it might seem.
During the USAV Girls Junior National Championships the past weekend in Dallas, while following the pursuits of VCNebraska 18 Elite and Nebraska ONE 18 Titanium.I was reminded of just how good (and how much talent there is) in the Centennial Conference.
The Centennial Conference – which is all small private schools – comprised half of the Class C-1 state tournament field this past fall as. Lincoln Lutheran – the eventual runner-up, Bishop Neumann (which finished 4th), Columbus Scotus and Grand Island Central Catholic each made the tournament.
Another Centennial Conference team – Hastings St. Cecilia – made the Class C-2 state tournament and Archbishop Bergan won the Class D-1 state title. That’s a total of six teams from the same conference making the state tournament.
So, maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise when you look at the rosters of the two teams that competed in the USAV 18s National Championships, they are loaded with Centennial Conference players.
VCNebraska 18 Elite – which finished in a tie for 5th place in the National division (the second-toughest division there is) – has a pair of Centennial Conference players from the same team. Bishop Neumann setter Alyssa Rezac – headed to Northwest Missouri State – and outside hitter Kelsie Cada – headed to Wayne State – were two huge contributors for the team that wound up among the best in the nation.
Rezac is going to have great success at Northwest Missouri State in time, while Cada is destined for great things at Wayne. She is already touching almost 9’9 and probably steps right into a significant role for the Wildcats.
Meanwhile, Nebraska ONE 18 Titanium finished tied for third in the American Division in Dallas (which is the fourth toughest of the five divisions) and had a whopping seven Centennial Conference players on its team.
Marriah Buss, Hope Leimbach and Erin Williams all hail from Lincoln Lutheran while Lexie Langley is from Archbishop Bergan and Kamryn Willman, Lauryn Willman and Megan Woods were all teammates at Grand Island Central Catholic.
That’s a total of nine players from the same conference playing for two of the top teams in the state, region, and, heck, nation. And that’s just the two teams that competed this past weekend. How about the other Centennial Conference players on other club teams that are really successful – like Omaha Concordia’s Sami Clarkson and Taylor Pribyl on Premier 18 Gold. Also at Premier is Elise Volk of Concordia – who is heading to UNK and David City Aquinas’ Micaiah Vrbka, who will be going to Chadron State.
I just rattled off 13 players from the Centennial Conference playing on 18s teams this year that are having a huge impact. In some ways, it was harder to be an All-Centennial Conference player than it was to be an All-State player. Geeeesh.
Will 2019 be another dominating year for the Centennial Conference? History seems to indicate that it will be, and this weekend was a good reminder that when you think about the best conference in Nebraska when it comes to volleyball, the Centennial Conference is clearly the best from top to bottom.