GJNC Recap – Texas Advantage Volleyball 16 Black
The USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center from June 26-July 5. In order to play at this prestigious tournament in one of the four main divisions, a club team must win their…
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Continue ReadingThe USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center from June 26-July 5. In order to play at this prestigious tournament in one of the four main divisions, a club team must win their bid by placing at a USAV national qualifier.
184 teams have earned their right to represent their club and compete to be one of the best teams in the nation in four different 16’s divisions. The best of the best are playing in the Open division, which is the top division in the tournament. The state of Texas was heavily represented in the 16’s Open Division with an impressive eight teams making the trip to Nevada out of the 36 teams in the tournament. The winner of this division is crowned as the BEST team in the nation for this season.
Texas Advantage Volleyball 16 Black
The team led by head coach Jonathan Nasgowitz has had a fantastic season as they were able to Double Qualify for USA Junior Nationals. So far in the regular season they had 55 wins and only 9 losses against some stellar competition. They have championships at the Northern Lights Qualifier and the Northeast Qualifier to earn their bid to Nationals.
Day one and two consists of pool play. There are six pools of six teams that are seeded by USA Volleyball. Many factors go into the seeding such as win/loss record versus the rest of the teams in the field. TAV 16 Black came in to the tournament ranked as the 8th best team in the 16 Open Division. They went undefeated in both matches and didn’t drop a single set during the first pool of the tournament that is played over the first two days. That means they overtook the 5thoverall seed in the tourney from that point forward.
Day three at Nationals bottle-necks into eight pools of three. They determine these pools by who finished 1st through 4th of each pool. These teams now have to prove themselves by getting first or second place in this pool to still have a shot at the title. TAV had two tough battles on this day against some stiff competition. In the first match, Rockwood Thunder 16 Elite gave them a scare as they forced a third set against TAV. The Dallas area phenoms would eventually prevail (21-25, 25-21, 15-7). The last match of the pool against the 11th seeded NE Elite 16 Top Gun was also a battle but TAV would again prevail (25-21, 25-22). They then had one Challenge Bracket match against fellow Texas team, Woodlands Revolution 16 Premier, to earn a trip to the top 8 Gold Bracket. TAV won easily (25-14, 25-16).
Up next for TAV was the Day four Gold bracket. They ran into a strong Arizona team in fourth ranked Aspire 16 UA Premier in the first round. Both teams battled back and forth in the first set with TAV winning 25-20. Both teams were not ready to give up yet and another tough back and forth battle ensued but TAV took the next set 25-21 to win the match.
The Semi-Finals against MAVS KC 16-1 from the Heart of America Region. MAVS had just won a grueling three-set upset victory over the tournament’s top seeded Legacy 16-1 Adidas. For TAV, it was easier than the previous match they just had, but the result was the same in which TAV won (25-13, 25-22). This pitted them against a team they know very well. Cross-town rival and triple qualified Drive Nation, who came into the tourney ranked 2nd overall was their opponent for the right to be called the National Champion of the 16 Open Division. The players know each other very well and a lot of them are friends off of the court and have even been teammates in the past. Both teams were stellar but TAV showed their will against Drive Nation to win the championship (25-22, 25-22). Let’s meet a few of the players from the team.
I watched numerous times in person at Nationals in Vegas and every player contributed to the team’s success. They are so fun to watch and all deserve recognition. Kyndal Stowers Kyndal Stowers 6'0" | OH Guyver | 2023 State #8 Nation TX was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player while Kate Hansen Kate Hansen 6'3" | MB Weatherford | 2023 State #67 Nation TX and Emily Simmons Emily Simmons 5'10" | OH Eaton | 2023 State #169 Nation TX were named to the 16 Open All-Tournament team due to their great play throughout the tournament. Other notable players I saw over the course of the weekend were Stephanie Gutierrez Stephanie Gutierrez 6'1" | OH Boswell | 2023 State #157 Nation TX , Hannah Pfiffner Hannah Pfiffner 6'2" | RS Wakeland | 2023 State #78 Nation TX , Cecily Gooch Cecily Gooch 6'3" | MB Highland Park | 2023 State #183 Nation TX and libero Zoe Winford Zoe Winford 5'8" | DS/L Community | 2023 State TX .
16 Open – Most Valuable Player:
Kyndal Stowers Kyndal Stowers 6'0" | OH Guyver | 2023 State #8 Nation TX [2023] 5-11 Middle (HS: Guyer/Club: Instinct Volleyball Club/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Miss Stowers is currently the 5th best overall 2023 prospect and the 3rd best outside on our State Rankings. We wrote about her Guyer high school program as the season began in September and here is a little from the story, “This young lady is the real deal. She plays out of the left and right side pins last season as a freshman on varsity for the Guyer program, but they may use her primarily on the left this year with the departure of Maggie Walsh Maggie Walsh 5'10" | OH San Marcos | 2022 State TX . Kyndal has all of the tools to be a fantastic outside hitter for the next three years. She will no doubt be a division 1 prospect. She plays for the famed TAV club program that routinely pumps out Div one prospects. This kid has the type of bounce that can’t be taught. She has length in her extremities which allow her to reach over blockers and hit with authority. What I love the most about her is her quickness off of the ground and her ability to move the ball around and score so easily. In my professional opinion, she is one of the best hitters in the state of Texas in the 2023 class and will grow to be even better with more experience under her belt. If you don’t know her name, write it down and get some popcorn because you are in for a treat watching her attack the ball. Kyndall has blossomed into one of the premier outside hitters in the state. She stepped up for the Guyer program this season and handled a lot of the offensive load for them as a sophomore. She filled up the stat book with 288 kills, 30 blocks, and 277 digs. We will be hearing about this young lady for the foreseeable future in the sport of volleyball.” We are extremely proud of her as she just showed the nation just how scary good she has gotten. What is scarier is that she is just getting started and still has two more years to improve. The volleyball world is her oyster right now and she is getting hundreds of looks from colleges. There is not a single school that wouldn’t choose her. Stay tuned as we are sure the offers will flood in. Please help us congratulate her team for winning the USAV 16 Open National Championship and her for being named the most valuable player.
16 American – All Tournament Team Members
Kate Hansen Kate Hansen 6'3" | MB Weatherford | 2023 State #67 Nation TX [2023] 6-3 Middle (HS: Weatherford /Club: Texas Advantage /Verbal: Uncommitted)
Kate is currently ranked as the 14th best overall prospect and the 4th best middle in the 2023 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. We have written about Miss Hansen a few times and we said the following, “While the 2023 class is young, players like Kate certainly have my attention. I’m sure she will have the attention of college coaches soon once volleyball resumes. She is a dominant force as a freshman middle in the Dallas area. The most notable aspect of her game will definitely be her power on her attacks. They will never go unnoticed. Myself, I am very intrigued more so by her footwork. It is beyond her years to be able to move like that in transition off the net and toward her setter. She has the ability to move up those rankings quite a bit with the future I see for her. Coaches take note of her now as she won’t be a secret long. I have been watching very closely and this past season she earned so many honors with her play on her Varsity squad. She was one of the main weapons on their team and helped them to a wonderful record of 23-2 overall and a 14-0 district record. She had 237 kills, hit a .342 efficiency, 86 blocks and 10 aces as a sophomore. Her local newspaper Star Telegram named her the Blocker of the Year. The Texas Sports Writers Association named her 6A All State 2ndteam. The accolades will not stop anytime soon. We are excited to watch as she and her TAV 17 Black team are killing it so far this club season. We are proud that she has moved up 5 spots due to her play on the court. She is now one of the top 4 middles in our large state.” We are very proud of Kate and loved watching her play in person during Nationals. She showed why she is such a highly touted middle. We loved watching her patrol the net and also how strong her serve is. Please help us congratulate her on such a wonderful achievement of being on the USA 16 Open All-Tournament team. We are excited to cover her upcoming junior season.
Emily Simmons Emily Simmons 5'10" | OH Eaton | 2023 State #169 Nation TX [2023] 5-10 Outside (HS: Eaton/Club: Texas Advantage /Verbal: Uncommitted)
Emily is currently ranked as the 10th best overall prospect and the 5th best outside in the 2023 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. We profiled her back in march of 2020 and here is a little of what was written, “Watching this youngster play is a real joy. The footwork she shows transitioning to her touch point to attack is pure textbook. She loves to get wide and this helps her get some momentum for her hitting approach. Her coaches at TAV have really taught her a lot and it shows. She definitely goes up to swing with a planned attack. She reads the defense well with her eyes and scores at a high clip. As a coach at heart, I would love to show my players clips of her footwork when teaching how to play the position.” She has been on a tear as she did it all for her Eaton varsity squad. She sets and hits for them. She was a huge reason for their 18-3 overall record along with a 10-2 district record. This past year she tallied 87 kills and hit a very good .210 hitting percentage. She also had 193 digs and 269 assists. She played amazing in Vegas and deserves the recognition of being on the All-Tournament Team. We are excited to have her in our State Rankings and cannot wait to cover her for the upcoming school season. Please help us congratulate her on the achievement.
Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite teams and athletes. If you have anyone you think we should watch out for, please shoot me an email with some info on them at nov8vb@yahoo.com. Also don’t forget to help these kids get more exposure by sharing our stories with your friends. Help us help them by simply retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook. Thanks for following Texas Family!