Weekend Recaps…Two Weekends Worth.
It’s been a minute! One problem you run into as a freelance writer is you run into a busy season with your full-time job and my busy season is April and May. Add in working on rankings updates and reviewing…
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Continue ReadingIt’s been a minute! One problem you run into as a freelance writer is you run into a busy season with your full-time job and my busy season is April and May. Add in working on rankings updates and reviewing some of the previous articles and work on the Kansas side, it’s been a whirlwind. I’ll be honest, I didn’t watch much of the play from the past two weekends in Colorado and Nebraska but I’m happy to share some of the news, which includes many teams earning bids to Nationals!
Northern Lights Qualifier
Working our way back to two weekends ago, in 15 America, Missouri Juniors 15-1 captured the championship and earned a bid going a perfect 10-0. The runner-up was KC Power 15-2. A few more Missouri/Kansas teams who had strong showings were KNVBC 15 Shazam with a 3rd place showing. Rockwood Thunder 15 Black and CNVBC Mizuno 15 Becca tied for 5th.
In the 15 Open division, Dynasty 15 Black and Rockwood Thunder 15 Elite continue to prove themselves as two of the top teams in the division qualifying again in open. Dynasty captured their second gold ball in consecutive weeks running the table in Omaha. Rockwood made the gold pools but went 1-2 for a 5th place finish.
Another bid was earned by Rockwood Thunder in the USA, with a 3rd place finish by 15 Navy. They defeated a scrappy Iowa Rockets team to secure their bid and trip to Las Vegas this summer. Club North 15 Sam just missed out with a 5th place ending to the weekend.
We look forward to seeing the 16s in action this weekend in Omaha!
Colorado Crossroads
In the 16 American Division, we’ve discussed numerous times the difficulty in earning the one sole bid available at qualifying tournaments. The American Division typically has the most teams and the need to navigate a gauntlet of a schedule to secure a bid. If you don’t win the whole tournament, chances are slim. Unless you run into a team in the championship who already has a bid and that’s exactly what PVA 16 National did last weekend in Colorado. With T-Street 16-Carson already qualifying, PVA just needed to make the championship and they did after an undefeated run through the previous rounds. A 10-1 weekend was just enough to clinch a spot at nationals. Club North 16 Brehon had a good tournament, going 8-1 and losing in the gold bracket to the eventual champion.
Dynasty 16 Blue handled their business in the USA division by earning a 3rd place finish and snatching up one of the available bids available. A strong 8-2 weekend was just enough after finishing 2nd on day 2 in pool play and winning a crucial challenge match in dominating fashion. They would knock their sister team, Dynasty 16 Gray out of contention in bracket play and Gray would finish tied for 5th.
Moving on to the 17s age group. Mavs KC 17-2 had the top finish in the American division, 5th place, and 7-1. The one loss came at the most crucial period, the quarterfinals of bracket play. In 17 USA, none of the teams entered were previously qualified, so a top 3 finish was necessary to earn one of the three allotted bids. Mavs KC 17-1 was perfect through day 1 and suffered their first defeat in pool play on the second day. The second-place finish was good enough to get them to bracket play where again they couldn’t afford a loss until the semi-final round if they hoped to punch their ticket to Las Vegas. They followed the blueprint by winning out but did lose the one game they could afford to lose, a semi-final matchup with Aspire 17 UA Premier. This placed them in the all-important 3rd place match where the winner walked away with their bid. And to add to the suspense, three sets were needed to find out who would grab the bid. Mavs squeaked out a 15-13 third set to set in motion plans for a summer trip to Nevada.