16s Finish GJNC With a Bang!
We got a treat regionally with two teams in the 16 Open Gold Bracket. As we shared on our Day 3 Updates From Nevada, Mavs KC 16-1 and Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite were set to go for the top prize.…
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Continue ReadingWe got a treat regionally with two teams in the 16 Open Gold Bracket. As we shared on our Day 3 Updates From Nevada, Mavs KC 16-1 and Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite were set to go for the top prize.
Mavs KC 16-1 started their day off with the team many considered to be the consensus top team in the nation in Legacy 16-1. The Legacy team just finished earning the big trophy the week prior at AAU championships. If you have BallerTV, this Legacy/Mavs match you want to go back and watch. Haymaker, after haymaker was thrown in this match and Mavs, escaped with a first set win, 25-21. The pressure was on to try to snatch the second and get out of there in two but Legacy screeched out the second 25-23. 3rd set energy in a national quarterfinal is a bit different and it was on display. The back and forth had parents leaping out of seats, grabbing their heads, and some too stressed to look. Tied at 13, OH Reagan Barth Reagan Barth 6'0" | OH Shawnee Mission West | 2023 State KS had a huge kill from the back row. Shortly after, MB Ashlyn Reeves had a big block to go up 15-14. Mavs would pull it out 16-14. This win guaranteed them at minimum, a third-place finish. In the semifinals, Mavs would run into the eventual national champion, TAV 16 Black, and be swept -13, -22 to end their year with a bronze medal. Throughout the tournament, RS Elizabeth Goodenow emerged as one of the top opposites in the country. The southpaw demonstrated her ability to fill up the stat sheet in the kill category and held her own in the back row. She would earn All-Tournament Team with team S Logan Jones Logan Jones 5'10" | S Carl Junction | 2023 State #57 Nation MO .
Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite showed it’s not where you start but where you finish. If you recall from our Where We Stand After Two Days article, they barely earned the opportunity to play for a championship. They finished 4th in their pool after the first two days and had to work to get back in contention. They were in a must-win game on day 3 and needed help to get to challenge round play and everything worked out in their favor. In bracket play, they opened up with Northern Lights 16-1. After two sets where both teams won by 10 points, Rockwood delivered with a 15-13 third set win to send themselves to the semifinals and a medal. MB Mia Berg Mia Berg 6'1" | OH Eureka | 2023 State MO and RS Megan Manaj Megan Manaj 6'0" | MB Lindbergh | 2023 State MO came up with some big blocks in the contest. OH Caitlyn Little Caitlyn Little 5'10" | OH Lafayette | 2023 State MO used a variety of shots to score including a big tool of the block in the decisive set. Like the Mavs, Rockwood ran into a tough North Texas team in the semifinals losing in two, -19, -15. OH Claire Morrissey Claire Morrissey 6'0" | RS St Joseph’s Academy | 2024 State #22 Nation MO was on an elite level the who tournament and made her way onto the All-Tournament team, joined by the before mentioned Little.
How other teams fared:
16 Open
KC Power 16-1 23rd
Dynasty 16 Black 27th
16 National
Mavs 816 16-1 11th
PVA 16 Elite 13th
HPSTL 16 Royal 33rd
16 USA
Rockwood Thunder 16 Navy 25th
Dynasty 16 Blue 33rd
16 American
417 Juniors 16-1 9th
Mavs KC 16-2 13th
HPSTL 16 Orange 21st
Invasion 16 Black 21st
PVA 16 National 31st