Dynasty 17 Black Captures Open Bid
We have been very high on the Dynasty 17 Black team to start the season. With returning players like UCLA-bound Ashley Mullen Ashley Mullen 5'10" | S Liberty | 2023 State #9 Nation MO and Minnesota-commit Calissa Minatee Calissa Minatee…
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Continue ReadingWe have been very high on the Dynasty 17 Black team to start the season. With returning players like UCLA-bound Ashley Mullen Ashley Mullen 5'10" | S Liberty | 2023 State #9 Nation MO and Minnesota-commit Calissa Minatee Calissa Minatee 6'0" | MB North Kansas City | 2023 State #25 Nation MO , we expected them to be in the conversation for some early season championships. Things didn’t go as we expected them to go at the NIT Triple Crown last month in Kansas City, not winning a match. They bounced back to have a successful run in Philadelphia to earn an open bid at the Northeast Qualifier. The team finished with an 8-2 record and runner-up finish, dropping their final match to Circle City 17 Purple, who went undefeated and did not drop a set.
The tournament didn’t start as expected for 17 Black, dropping their first match of the tournament in pool play action to Academy 17E Tsumani in straight sets, -22, -22. From there they went on a winning streak of their own winning eight straight taking down Skyline 17 Black and A5 Mizuno 17 Jing. They would sweep six of their eight victories, going three sets twice along the way.
Day 1 saw them bounce back to be NYC Juniors in two, then Skyline in what was a must-have match to stay in gold pools. On the second day after running past A5, they had strong showings over Surfside 17 MB Legends and GP 17 Rox. Cy Rae Campbell Cy Rae Campbell 5'11" | MB Heritage Christian | 2024 State #45 Nation KS continues to turn heads from the middle position. The 5’11” MB playing up a year uses her athleticism to make plays at the net. She looked very strong throughout the weekend off of one foot behind the setter.
The final day opened with a sweep of No Name VBC before they made quick work of Vaqueras 17-1, -14, -14. This set their attention on a four-team Gold Bracket, where at least one win would put them in bid position. The first match featured Dynasty against OT 17 J John, who was the only other undefeated team up to this point. OT found some breathing room to escape with a 25-19 first set win. Dynasty found some things that worked and saw strong defensive play from their back row in Abigail Christian Abigail Christian 5'9" | DS/L Liberty North | 2023 State MO , Heidi Devers Heidi Devers 5'4" | DS/L St. James | 2024 State KS , and Caitlyn Cobb Caitlyn Cobb 5'6" | DS/L Blue Valley | 2023 State KS to snatch a 25-22 second set. The race to 15 was dominated by the Kansas City team, grabbing in 15-7 to grab a berth in the championship match and earning their open bid. They fell short in the championship match as mentioned previously. This team will continue to get stronger and will look to double bid, if not triple this qualifying season.
This team features a strong roster of players. Those not mentioned:
OH: Rylee Unruh Rylee Unruh 5'11" | S Free State | 2023 State KS , Chapel Dobbs Chapel Dobbs 6'1" | OH Helias | 2023 State MO , and Julia Kinney Julia Kinney 5'11" | OH Blue Valley | 2023 State KS
MB: Brooklyn Young Brooklyn Young 6'0" | MB Liberty | 2023 State MO
DS/S: Kaylen Rush Kaylen Rush 5'7" | DS/L Rock Bridge | 2023 State MO , Brynne McGhie Brynne McGhie 5'10" | S St. Teresa's Academy | 2023 State MO