Prep Dig Gauntlet: Iowa Clubs Take Home 16s and 17/18s Titles
Heading into the weekend of the Prep Dig Gauntlet, there were multiple teams with a real shot to come home champions in the 16s as well as the 17/18s divisions. However, the top seeds in both divisions were knocked out during Gold bracket play which opened the door for two teams from Iowa with Iowa Rockets 15R taking home the title in the 16s Division and Central Iowa Select 17M in the 17/18s.
16s Division
FC Elite 16 Navy was firing on all cylinders heading into bracket play. Multiple offensive weapons and a solid backrow led by 2023 Wisconsin Badger recruit in Saige Damrow, Elite was going to be tough to stop from the start. They also welcomed the addition of Illinois commit Brooke Mosher and one of the top prospects out of the middle from the Class of 2021 in Hattie Bray who both competed with the FC Elite 18s throughout the year. Nebraska Juniors 16 Black had other plans come the semifinals. Having lost to FC Elite in power pool play on Saturday morning and Iowa Rockets Sunday morning in a power pool crossover, Juniors had nothing to lose facing FC Elite once again for a berth in the finals. Behind the play on the pin of Hannah Kepler and a solid first and second contact with Molly Ramsey and setter Ava Legrand, Juniors was able to come back after dropping the first set 25-14 to win set two 25-15 and a tight third set by the score of 17-15 to secure a spot in the finals.
Championship match of 16s – @IowaRockets 15R vs. @NEBJRSVB1 pic.twitter.com/RnQERyBnyP
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) June 2, 2019
Iowa Rockets 15R, which came into the tournament as the St. Louis Nike Presidents Day Champions, Iowa Region Runner Ups, and a top eight finish at MEQ looked to find its way on top against older competition. With two Division 1 commits in Macy Daufeldt (Drake) and Alexis Moses (South Dakota) along with setter Kora Ruff, who is one of the top Class of 2022 setters in Iowa, it was the play of right side Calia Clubb and middle Ella Ramsay who were on fire throughout the weekend. Clubb was a major presence offensively and defensively owning the right side with Ramsay getting from pin to pin to block and was connecting extremely well with Ruff in the middle and on the slide. Rockets would only drop one set the whole weekend and would defeat Nebraska Juniors in championship 25-20, 25-16.
Congratulations @IowaRockets 15R – from seeing them at the Windy City Power League in February and now in June…wow. So much growth. #PDGauntlet 16s champions pic.twitter.com/JpeqBIyNwN
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) June 2, 2019
Congratulations to the @NEBJRSVB1 16 Black team. Plenty of hard fought matches, extremely gritty. #PDGauntlet pic.twitter.com/O04YxvaKAH
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) June 2, 2019
17/18s Division
The balance of this field was incredible with some of the top teams out of Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin set to do battle. Nebraska Juniors 17 Black came into the tournament with a top three finish at the JVA Midwest Challenge in Des Moines, FC Elite 17 Navy had tournament wins at the JVA Jamboree in Milwaukee along with a Badger Region title, while Central Iowa Select (CIS) 17M had a third place finish in the Iowa Regional and a bid locked up for the National Division in Indy.
Nebraska Juniors 17 Black was looking like a machine on Saturday and would enter Sunday as the heavy favorite. That is until the Iowa Rockets 16R had other plans, winning the opening set in their quarterfinal with NEJRS 17 Black taking set two, setting up a set three winner take all. With a back and forth battle it was Iowa Rockets 16R with the upset heading into the semifinals where they would have another three set victory against FC Elite 17 Navy to set up a championship match with a club they are all too familiar with in Central Iowa Select out of Des Moines. Elyse Winter for Iowa Rockets was extremely dominant on the pin along with solid play from libero, Addie Schmierer.
Come championship time, CIS was strong from the start. All three of their matches on Saturday were three set battles against V-Hawk Xtreme 18 National, FC Elite 17 Navy, and RVA 17 Navy, this after having a month off since the Northern Lights Qualifier. Sunday was a day of dominance not dropping a set enroute to a championship defeating Iowa Rockets 16R 26-24, 25-20. Most of these athletes on the CIS 17M squad are high school teammates or are from the same conference. Setter Olivia Curry (Omaha commit) and Jacey Spann out of the middle play for West Des Moines Valley who will be a top returning high school team in Iowa this fall along with Kate Nelson who is a starting outside for Waukee High School, another state tournament team from 2018 and just down the road from Valley High School.
17/18s Champions from Des Moines – @CISvolleyball #PDGauntlet Champions pic.twitter.com/gc0UpLnqs9
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) June 2, 2019
@IowaRockets 16R with huge wins today to finish 2nd in the 17/18s division pic.twitter.com/BsUQWav7KZ
— Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) June 2, 2019