Tournament Preview: Kentucky 18s at Music City Qualifier
Qualifier Season has begun for the 18s hoping to earn a bid to the 2020 Junior Nationals in Reno, Nevada. The Music City Qualifier, in Nashville, TN, is among the first opportunities this season. Play begins on Saturday, January 18th…
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Continue ReadingQualifier Season has begun for the 18s hoping to earn a bid to the 2020 Junior Nationals in Reno, Nevada. The Music City Qualifier, in Nashville, TN, is among the first opportunities this season. Play begins on Saturday, January 18th and continues through Monday, January 20th.
Four Kentucky teams are making the short trip down to Tennessee in an effort to qualify: SKEVA 18 Blue, Union ASICS 18, NKYVC 18 Tsunami, and NKYVC 18 Tide.
Southern Kentucky Elite Volleyball Academy will be competing in the 18 American Division along with 47 other teams. SKEVA 18 Blue comes into the tournament seeded at 26. SKEVA will face a challenging day 1; they are scheduled to play 501 Volley 18 National (4th seed), Panther Black 18 1 (20th seed), and OVA 18 Blue (45th seed) in their first pool. They will rely on Kentucky Natives Anna Law (MH) and Erin Nerland (OH) to execute offensively. Both Law and Nerland are committed to playing at the next level; to Queens University and Transylvania University respectively.
NKYVC 18 Tide will be competing in the 18 USA division. They come into the tournament seeded 21/40 teams. Tide is scheduled to play Aspire 18 Rox (2nd seed), Club Steel 18 Navy (19th seed), and BoCo VAC 18 Blue (39th seed). Setter Hannah Lukey, along with Libero Mia Pagliarini (University of New Hampshire), will provide a strong core of knowledge and control to lead their team into the weekend.
Northern Kentucky Volleyball Club is the only club to have two teams in the contest. NKYVC 18 Tsunami will be battling it out in the 18 Open division. Tsunami comes into the tournament with the 18th seed of 36 teams. They will face the number one seed, Mintonette Sports m81, as well as Xceleration 18-1 (19th seed) and Instinct Lions 18 Wild Gold (36th seed). 18 Tsunami will entrust Torie Houston (S), Zoe Epplen OH/OPP, and Casey Dunn (OH/DS) to create plays on the court and help them achieve a bid to Nationals. Houston and Epplen are both committed to Northern Kentucky University.
Union 18 ASICS will also be competing in the 18 Open Division. This team returns as one of the top club teams in KY, with 5 D1 commits. Union 18 ASICS is looking to make a splash as the number 6th seed in the tournament. They will face NRG VBC 18 AMPD Navy (13th seed), Forza1 18 UA (11th seed), and AZ REV 18 Adidas (24th seed). Cecilia Rush (University of Louisville) and Anna Lococo (Bellarmine University) will lead the backcourt while Macie Garrison (Jacksonville State University) will direct the offense as they fight their way to the podium.