(Day 4 Show Stoppers)

(Day 4 All Red Hat Team)

When A5 14 Helen couldn’t get Elleora Utecht’s serve back over the net, the dogpile celebration was officially on for Northern Lights 14-1. There was more than once when the eventual 14 Open AAU national champion looked beat during gold-bracket action on the final day of the division.

The original No. 11 seed took its first loss of the tournament on Day 2, falling in three sets to Top Select 14 Elite. A rematch with Top Select came on Day 4, in the semifinals. That was partly set up by Northern Lights falling to Munciana 14 Chipmunks in Day 3 pool play. The other half was Top Select upsetting A5 on Day 3. More on that later.

When Top Select dispatched Legacy 14-1 Adidas in the quarterfinals followed by Northern Lights sweeping Adidas KiVA 14 Red, the two sides were set for another clash. It was a one-sided affair in Top Select’s favor. Until it wasn’t.

After dominating the first set, Top Select was doing much of the same in building up a 20-12 advantage in Game 2. That’s when it got really interesting.

A quick side note, this is also the point when the club scheduled for the next match on the same court started stalking Northern Lights’ sideline like a vulchers do injured prey. A couple Northern Lights girls looked over, wondering what was going on. Whether that fired up Northern Lights or not, the rally was on!

Overcoming an eight-point deficit that late is remarkable in its own right, but Northern Lights fought off three match points trailing 24-21 before going on a 5-0 run and forcing a third set.

Top Select seemed unfazed by letting such a big lead slip away, going ahead 10-6 and 11-7 in the final set. Northern Lights was once again in a precarious situation, but as we would see later in the day, this team doesn’t rattle and does an excellent job of keeping its composure and staying the course.

That was certainly the case as Top Select went up 14-12, earning its fourth and fifth match points. But like the first three, they came and went and in a blink of an eye Northern Lights was celebrating the three-set comeback victory, 16-25, 26-24, 16-14.

As for Northern Lights’ opponent in the final, A5 was in the position it was having lost to Top Select on Day 3 and thus drawing top-seeded OT 14 Laura in the quarterfinals to start its day. A5 came out smoking, building up a large lead before OT cut it to 22-20. A5 closed it out and was up comfortably in Game 2, 22-17, and looking to finish it. That’s also when it got real interesting real fast.

A 7-0 run turned the momentum and had OT up 24-22. OT held set points as well at 25-24 and 26-25 before A5 held on for the sweep, 25-21, 28-26. A5 took care of Munciana in the semis, 25-16, 25-19, to set up the gold medal showdown.

There wasn’t any mystery surrounding the final. When two teams with the combined size and athleticism as these two hook up it’s really just a matter of which team is going to stay in system more. Northern Lights – with outsides Ellie Osowski and Utecht and right sides Addison Otto and Kaelyn Bjorklund – runs its attack pin-to-pin, with few sets going to the middles. A5 – with outsides Mia Ray and McKenzie Burrell, right side Megan McLarty and middles Riley Bethea and Layla Dunn working with 5-star setter Marissa Jones – is difficult to slow in system because they can get points from everywhere.

It was A5 controlling its side in Game 1, with Northern Lights returning the favor in Game 2. When A5 raced to a 9-6 advantage midway through Game 3 it looked like the Southern Region club was well on its way to lifting the championship trophy. But Top Select knows a lead is never safe with the way Northern Lights stays in the fight. And that’s exactly what happened as Northern Lights fought back and went in front. At 14-13, Lights had the first crack at it and didn’t let the opportunity pass for nothing. Utecht’s serve wasn’t returned and that was the match.

Obviously, Northern Lights deserves an unbelievable amount of credit and props for doing what it did. How many teams in the semifinals – knowing they have a bronze medal secured – toss in the towel down 20-12? There is also all the bragging rights that come with winning AAU. And it’s going to open a debate around the USAV GJNC.

Northern Lights was among the teams we had in consideration for an Open at-large. We broke it down here and hindsight is always helpful. Based on the at-large selections, it was hard to argue Northern Lights should have been among the seven picked given all the factors. Northern Lights had a 4-3 mark against the Open field, which is a great record. But Northern Lights played in two qualifiers, coming in sixth at Show Me (out of 10 teams) and 17th at Northern Lights.

Still, given what we saw from Northern Lights the last four days – and especially on Saturday – I would love to see Northern Lights in the 14 Open field in Chicago. Northern Lights went 3-1 against Open qualifiers in Orlando, beating GP 14 Rox, Top Select and A5.

Half of the gold bracket featured teams participating in 14 Open in Chicago in A5, Top Select, OT and Legacy. KiVA, Munciana and Kairos 14 Alpha – the other quarterfinalist – won’t be playing in Chicago. Northern Lights is set to compete in 15 National in Chicago and should be a real factor there.

No doubt A5 will use what happened here in Orlando as plenty of motivation for Chicago. At No. 8, OT was the highest-ranked team from vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 competing here, followed by KiVA at No. 11. A5 came in at No. 13, while Northern Lights was down in the pack at No. 42.

Munciana, whose only setback came against A5 in the semis, tied with Top Select for bronze. Muncie is currently ranked No. 16 and showed it would be a competitive team in 14 Open in Chicago as well. Top Select sits at No. 34 and can clearly rise with another strong showing in a couple of weeks.