Midwest Power League 17/18 Open Preview
It’s time to kick things off in the Midwest Power League! This series of club events will rotate between sites in Lincoln and Omaha, and it’s always a fun way to bring together some of the best teams in the…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingIt’s time to kick things off in the Midwest Power League!
This series of club events will rotate between sites in Lincoln and Omaha, and it’s always a fun way to bring together some of the best teams in the region. I’ll have a live eye on the 17/18 Open pools at the UBT Sports Complex in Omaha, so I’m starting with a primer to get you acquainted with all the teams.
Now, you read that right: the UBT courts will feature a nearly half-and-half mixture of 17s and 18s in the same pool. This is surely going to bring us some great battles.
Midwest Power League BracketPal Link
Pool 1
This is the one pool that features a trio of teams rather than four. Even still, the quality is certainly there. Pool 1 is also headlined by two 18s teams that are fresh off a trip to Kansas City for last weekend’s MLK Challenge.
VCNebraska 18 Elite is one such challenger. After competing with some of the Midwest’s best club teams in 18 Open, VCN is looking to show off their high-flying attack at the Power League. I’ll be looking for many of 18 Elite’s seasoned frontcourt hitters to make an impact here.
Keep an eye out for Nebraska Elite 18 Crossfire in this group after they also had a nice showing in Kansas City. This team has several athletes that I look forward to highlighting in the coming days.
The third team in this group is Premier 17 Gold, a squad that has already proven that it can hang with the older age groups. They took the overall crown in the season-opening Premier Showcase earlier this month, so the prospect of facing 18s teams will not deter them.
Pool 2
Here’s your “variety pool” — four different teams from four different clubs.
This event will offer my first live look at Nebraska Juniors 18 Black this year. It’s a roster packed with D1 commits that you certainly know about through their dominance on the high school stage. Don’t be surprised if Juniors comes into Omaha and makes some big strides.
Of course, Nebraska Elite 18 Omega is also able to boast a handful of college commits on their roster, too. We’ll even see plenty of high school teammate battles between 18 Omega and the aforementioned NJ 18 Black. Look out for that!
VCNebraska 17 Elite will look to push these two 18s squads. This particular VCN team also has a big contingent of 2024s playing up, so the Power League will be a great opportunity to see how the young guns adapt.
Don’t discount Premier 17 Black‘s chances in this pool, either. I saw a 17 Black team with a lot of grit and ball-handling skills during opening week, and that usually translates to club success. Better yet, this stacked pool will allow 17 Black to hone its skills before the big qualifier gauntlet arrives.
Pool 3
Our last group of the 17/18 Open division has two Nebraska Elite teams and two out-of-state insurgents.
Nebraska Elite 17 Vici is undoubtedly looking to make a big statement on Sunday. It’s a new-look iteration of the old “Top Gun” squad that we all enjoyed watching in 2021. A year older now, 17 Vici will begin to redefine themselves, starting with this upcoming Power League.
17 Vici’s clubmate in this pool is Nebraska Elite 16 Lokahi. In case you missed it, we just did a full rundown of this team’s successful trip to the Colorado Juniors Challenge last weekend. That performance is enough to put everyone here on notice, even if this is the youngest team in the entire division.
Club Ignit Select 18 Blue is joining the fray from Iowa. Interestingly enough, this is also a team I just featured as they clinched a USAV Nationals bid in Kansas City. This is where 18 Blue’s long preparation for Nationals can begin.
Lastly, we find a chance to broaden our scope of club volleyball knowledge. Kairos Elite 18 Beta is making the trip from South Dakota and will provide an exciting scouting opportunity for us all. Get used to the name, too, because we’ll see a lot more from Kairos in future Power Leagues.