Adversity 17 Adidas Builds Momentum, Scores Upset Over Northern Lights To Sweet Sixteen
Sunday evening’s 17 Elite match between Northern Lights 17-1 and Adversity 17 Adidas started out as business as usual Northern Lights. The squad out of the Minneapolis metro area has the tradition, one of the top players in the country, and plenty of athletes heading to Power Five and Top 25 programs. Northern Lights already has a USAV 17 Open bid after winning the Northern Lights Qualifier two weeks ago and won a 17 Open USAV Championship in 2018.
The first set featured Northern Lights’ Kenndi Orr, one of the top setters in the country in the Class of 2021, heading to Nebraska and finding open matchups for her future SEC commits in Ava Moes out of the middle going to Tennessee and Erin Lamb on the pin heading to Kentucky. The domination and balance of Lights was demonstrated throughout set one which resulted in a 25-17 win.
However, with a hot start in set two and a much quicker tempo from Adversity , the tide turned quickly with an obvious burst in confidence from the club out of the Chicagoland. Belief and momentum was on their side that continued to carry throughout sets two and three.
“They bought into the game plan that we changed and we believed that we could play with them. Our girls played amazing,” said Coach Sean Ostrander.
A faster tempo indeed. Adversity used a two setter system while also a healthy dose of a middle attack featuring Georgiana Barr was extremely dynamic out of the middle scoring points as was Ann Maire Remmes who was connecting extremely well with setter Ava Tortorello who just had a real savvy sense of who was open and had the best chance to score.
Barr attacking.Left-handed, right-side hitter Esma Ajanovic was consistently finding the split in the block, attacking with aggressive and bringing a huge arm swing, consistently putting pressure on the Northern Light’s defense. With all positions scoring, balance was extremely key into the success of the comeback and third set win to clinch the match 15-7.
“Our team is built on balance. If it’s only one person we aren’t going to go very far. That was the most balanced we have been all tournament and hopefully, we can keep it going,” said Ostrander.
With the win, Adversity punched their ticket to the sweet sixteen which is no easy feat. Last year in the gold bracket of USAV 16 Open which is what this age group was apart of in 2019, Milwaukee Sting was the only club outside of Texas or California. In the sweet sixteen the Midwest will be represented by Adversity (Chicago), Milwaukee Sting, Nebraska Premier (Omaha), and AVC Cleveland.
Championship play will conclude with the elite eight Monday morning at 8:00 AM with the title match being at 1:00 PM CST.