Badger Region Clubs Ready To Take On 17s-18s MEQ

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wisconsin clubs will be having a taste of March Madness - club volleyball style when they head to Louisville to compete in the MidEast Qualifier.  This event is traditionally held in Indianapolis, but with the March Madness Bubble going on in Indy, the event has been moved to Louisville.  This will be one of the top events in the country with the level of talent coming from teams across the country.  Florida, Atlanta, Chicago, Texas, and California clubs will all be there.  What Divisions are the Wisconsin clubs competing in and what is the outlook heading into the weekend! </span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Just a solid dig...that's all. <a href="https://x.com/BadgerVB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BadgerVB</a> commit 2023 Libero [player_tooltip player_id="82282" first="Saige" last="Damrow"] of <a href="https://x.com/FCEliteVB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FCEliteVB</a> <a href="https://t.co/2VBXrl6lZs">pic.x.com/2VBXrl6lZs</a></p> — Chris Fitzgerald (@PrepDigChris) <a href="https://x.com/PrepDigChris/status/1345758695578357761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p><strong>18 Open </strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">FC Elite 18 Elite and Milwaukee Sting 18 Gold have already clinched an 18 Open bid to USAV Nationals in Columbus at the end of April, but will have a weekend full of competition against athletes who will be playing on ESPN next fall for major college programs.  FC Elite is the 5th overall seed in the field and will be in an opening pool against Fusion 18 Red (Chicagoland), 417 Juniors, and REV out of Indy.  FC Elite and Fusion have already seen each other back in January and will be a key match in this pool.  Sting 18 Gold 8th overall seed and the top seed in their pool with 1st Alliance 18 Silver (Chicagoland), MN Select, and Team Pineapple (Ft. Wayne).  [program_tooltip program_id='431479' first='Wisconsin' last='Juniors'] 18-1 will also be competing in Open as a four seed in their pool going up against top national powers in OT (Florida), Houston Juniors, and KIVA (Louisville). </span></p> <p><strong>18 USA</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Impact 18 National out of the Appleton area  has already punched their ticket to 18 American and will be competing in a higher division this weekend.  They will have the number two seed in their pool, competing against clubs from St. Louis and Ohio.  Capital 18 Adidas will play in their first national qualifiers as many of these athletes out of the Madison area are pulling double duty while playing their high school season at this time as well.  Milwaukee Sting 18 Black as the top seed in their pool as the 16th seed overall, they claimed an American bid at the Badger Region Qualifier. FC Elite 18 Navy is the second seed in their pool and is playing with house money as they have claimed their National Division bid by winning the Badger Region Qualifier. Motion MVP has their ticket punched to Columbus from the Region and will be the 23rd overall seed in a three team pool with squads out of Indiana and Ohio. </span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img class=" wp-image-136018 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/03/DSC04120.jpg" alt="" width="525" height="350" /></p> <p><strong>18 American</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[program_tooltip program_id='431537' first='Midwest' last='Penguins'] 18 Black is the top overall seed in the American Division.  This team has competed against the top teams in the region and have been just outside of qualifying, but has shown that they can compete with top teams.  Capital 18 Navy will be in this division as well as the day one, three seed in their pool and Eau Claire Air 18 Blue will be the three seed in their pool with teams from Ohio and Indiana. </span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>17 Open </strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Milwaukee Sting will have their top two teams in the Open Division with the Gold team being the second overall seed in their pool with teams out of Atlanta, Ohio, and Chicago.  A5 out of Atlanta will be one of the favorites to win the whole thing this weekend.  Sting 17 Black won the Badger Region Qualifier and will see some top competition.  They will be an underdog, but this squad thrives in that position.  They will have Dynasty out of Kansas City, Team Indiana, and Elite out of Ohio in their pool. </span></p> [caption id="attachment_136022" align="aligncenter" width="488"]<img class="wp-image-136022" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/03/DSC06046.jpg" alt="" width="488" height="325" /> Burlington United vs. FC Elite[/caption] <p><strong>17 USA</strong></p> <p><strong>Team - Seed</strong></p> <p><strong>Burlington United 17 Orange (26)</strong></p> <p><strong>414 - 17 Elite (61) </strong></p> <p><strong>FC Elite 17 Navy (64)</strong></p> <p><strong>WI Juniors (102)</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Four squads from the Badger Region will be represented in the USA Division which has over 100 teams competing for three bids.  From the outside looking in, how do you seed over 100 teams from across the country for a tournament.  Well, its not quite like the NCAA committee, but AES is provided as a resource for seeding, but they will also seed based on head to head competition at various tournaments.  Burlington United 17 Orange is right on the heels of a bid to Vegas where the 17 and under divisions will be playing their USAV titles.  They finished fourth in the Badger Region Qualifier and have put themselves in a great spot for a trickle down bid.  414 and FC Elite will get a chance to prove themselves against teams from outside the region which will give them a chance to improve their seed for future events.  All it takes is one upset to propel teams to the next gold round and move up the ladder for MEQ and other events down the road. </span></p> <p><img class=" wp-image-136021 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/03/DSC06055.jpg" alt="" width="470" height="313" /></p> <p><strong>17 American</strong></p> <p><strong>Sting 17 White (2) </strong></p> <p><strong>[program_tooltip program_id='431537' first='Midwest' last='Penguins'] 17 Black (60)</strong></p> <p><strong>WI Juniors 17 Elite (119)</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are 32 pools of four teams each.  Do the math and that is 128 all competing for one bid, it's tough.  However, Milwaukee Sting 17 White has put themselves in a great position to grab that bid to Vegas.  They are the fourth ranked team in the Badger Region and coming into this event, they are ranked behind Sting Gold, Sting Black, and Burlington United in the Badger Region and is the number two overall seed behind A5 Chattanooga out of Tennessee.  For these teams, they need to stay in the top two of their pool and win those ever so important crossover and challenge matches to advance on to the next round.</span></p> <p><img class=" wp-image-134941 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/03/Dig3Events-300x187.jpg" alt="" width="707" height="441" /></p>