Dynasty 16 Black was previously qualified after taking home the title last weekend at Northern Lights and added yet another championship after finishing on top of the 16 Open field. With trickle down in place, there was no need for the third-place match to decide the final bid, thus runner-up 1st Alliance 16 Gold and third-place finishers KC Power 16-1 and OT 16 Jason grabbed the three available bids. We recap all four teams’ weekend below.

DYNASTY 16 BLACK (FIRST, 10-0)

Day 1: d Sky High 25-13, 25-22; d Evolution Ohio 25-11, 25-9; Team Indiana Elite 16-1 25-15, 25-12
Day 2: d MAVS KC 16-1 25-12, 25-16; d Legacy 16-1 Adidas 25-14, 25-18; d Upward Stars 16 Amy 25-11, 25-19
Day 3: d Boiler Jrs 16 Gold 25-10, 25-21; d Six Pack 16 25-19, 25-11; d KC Power 16-1 25-16, 25-21; d 1st Alliance 16 Gold 25-12, 25-13

Teams are struggling to take a set off of Dynasty 16 Black let alone beating what is now a three-time champion so far in 2022. The Triple Crown champs have kept it rolling. First, by winning and qualifying at Northern Lights. Next, by capturing 16 Open at MEQ this past weekend in Indy.

TAV 16 Black is the only opponent to top Dynasty during that stretch. And Dynasty was able to return the favor by toppling TAV in Minneapolis. In that span, Madfrog 16 Green, MN Select 16-1 and Skyline 16 Royal are the only other clubs to earn a set victory against Dynasty, which swept through its competition in Indy by allowing teams to reach 20 or more points in just three sets. That included downing 1st Alliance 16 Gold, 25-12, 25-13, in the 16 Open final.

“The goal is to win every qualifier we can,” Dynasty coach Cassie Rockers said. “That’s our goal. We’re focused on getting better and if you’re not making the gold pools on Day 3 you’re not facing the best competition. We want to prepare ourselves the best we can for nationals.”

In reality, it’s more likely to be opponents who are trying to best prepare to face Dynasty at nationals eventually. Through Triple Crown, Northern Lights and now MEQ, Dynasty has gone 6-0 against qualified teams and still has Show Me and Windy City on the schedule.

“It went really well,” Rockers said of the weekend in Indy. “We have a thing where we like to start off slow on Day 1 and get progressively better every day. By Day 3 we were really gelling with each other. I’m proud of them. After winning Triple Crown and already having our Open bid it could have been easy for them to roll over and not play our game but they didn’t.”

If there are holes, they are hard to exploit. Dynasty is as a complete of a team as there is in the division. It includes three vballrecruiter.com five-star athletes in freshman setter Reese Messer, freshman right side Abigail Mullen and sophomore outside Skyler Pierce. Plus, two four-star recruits in libero Ryan McAleer and outside Carlie Cisneros. Middle Jada Ingram is a three-star recruit. There’s also Piper Newton and Saida Jacobs who fill out the middle spots on the roster. The team doesn’t lack for offense but really hits its stride when clicking on defense. The blocking proved phenomenal in the victory over 1st Alliance in the final.

“That was one big focus is being solid in the front row with our blocking,” Rockers said. “We are getting better with our eye work and getting way better closing blocks and building a wall. It’s fun. One of the big things is our defense gelling. When we are making awesome digs and blocking in the front row we have a lot of success. When that’s not happening we have to rely solely on our offense and it doesn’t always go the way we want it to.”

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1ST ALLIANCE 16 GOLD (SECOND, 7-3)

Day 1: l TVC 16 Black 28-26, 18-25, 18-16; d MAVA Adidas 16 Select 25-15, 25-11; d Boiler Jrs 16 Gold 25-18, 25-17
Day 2: d Mintonette Sports m.61 25-16, 25-19; l MKE Sting 16 Gold 23-25, 25-22, 15-12; d KC Power 16-1 18-25, 25-19, 15-13
Day 3: d NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami 25-14, 17-25, 15-13; d Circle City 16 Purple 27-25, 25-12; d OT 16 Jason 26-24, 25-18; l Dynasty 16 Black 25-12, 25-13

After losing to MKE Sting 16 Gold in Day 2 pool play 1st Alliance 16 Gold – playing in its first qualifier of the season at MEQ – faced a moment of truth in its next contest against KC Power 16-1. 1st Alliance was facing elimination with a loss in that one. The way KC Power took the opening set it was looking bleak for the Great Lakes club. However, there was another ending to be written. 1st Alliance came back, winning in three, 18-25, 25-19, 15-13, and kept it going from there.

The next day began with qualifying-clinching victories over NKYVC 16-1 Tsunami – the Triple Crown runner up and a team that beat 1st Alliance at that tournament – and Circle City 16 Purple in gold pool play. That effort propelled 1st Alliance into the semis. A bid in hand, 1st Alliance took care of one of the other qualifiers in OT 16 Jason in one semis match before going down to Dynasty 16 Black in the championship.

“Overall, we had a really great tournament,” 1st Alliance coach Trish Samolinski said. “We paced ourselves with the tournament and we were just looking to getter. We had a tough final match against a really good Dynasty team. We beat some fantastic teams to get there and they should be proud of where we finished.”

1st Alliance can do some different things with its lineup but one of its mainstays is running Calli Kenny and Ellie White in a 6-2 with both hitting across the front row. Grace Nelson is the go-to on the left and is involved in the offense all the way around. The team isn’t as big as some others but Ellery Rees does bring height in the middle. Libero Samantha Falk helps steady out the defense with her skills. The team is back in action this weekend at the Sunshine qualifier before finishing at Windy City.

“It’s a big weight off of our shoulders,” Samolinski said. “This is one of the best qualifiers in the country. We are just excited to come in and play good competition consistently.

“We have lots of versatility and the ability to make changes. We can do lots of switching around and that versatility really helped us.”

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KC POWER 16-1 (T-THIRD, 7-2)

Day 1: d L2 16-1 25-11, 28-26; d BEV 16 Empire 25-14, 25-10; d AVC Cle Rox 16 Red 25-12, 25-16
Day 2: d MKE Sting 16 Gold 25-13, 25-12; d Mintonette Sports m.61 25-23, 25-16; l 1st Alliance 16 Gold 18-25, 25-19, 15-13
Day 3: d Elevation 16 Butcher 25-18, 25-16; d Union 16-1 UA 25-21, 25-11; l Dynasty 16 Black 25-16, 25-21

For most of the weekend KC Power 16-1 was hardly challenged. There was the Day 2 setback to 1st Alliance 16 Gold, which downed KC Power in three games. But all KC Power had to do was win one set in that one and it was guaranteed first in the pool based on tiebreakers.

In contention to qualify on Day 3, KC Power allowed 20 points or more in just one set in sweeping past Elevation 16 Butcher and Union 16-1 UA in gold pool and clinching its bid. With Dynasty 16 Black already owning one and creating trickle down, the top priority on the weekend for KC Power was accomplished. KC Power had a chance to add to the fruits of its labor but wasn’t able to get past Dynasty in the semis, falling in two in its last outing.

“I thought we played great,” KC Power coach Dave Johnson said. “We lost to 1st Alliance and Dynasty and both are really good teams. We were doing such a good job of continuously putting pressure on teams. I’m proud of this group. We passed well. We served lights out. We got all three of our middles going. We got our pins going hitting to corners. We were putting pressure on, especially when we had free balls.”

Janelle Green, a three-star recruit, was working the offense well with her distribution of the ball. She always has freshman Alea Goolsby and five-star recruit Rachel Van Gorp as outlets on the outside. Jillian Huckabey, a three-star recruit, can be unstoppable at times on the right with the power she brings. And middles Zoe McDonald and Julia Headley were getting more involved as well. Three-star recruit and libero Mya Bolton can’t be overlooked with her contributions and holding down the backrow defense.

The same group spent the weekend prior at Northern Lights and was also in gold pool play on Day 3. Losses to A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe and Premier Nebraska 16 Gold prevented KC Power from leaving for home qualified. Then there was having to deal with the turnaround of coming right back and competing in Indy the next weekend.

“It was hard,” Johnson said. “It was a true test of our team to be able to bounce back and take care of their bodies and still be focused.”

KC Power still has its home qualifier – Show Me – coming up but will now be part of the teams creating possible trickle down there instead of chasing a bid.

“I slept good last night. Real good,” Johnson said. “It’s a good confidence booster.”

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OT 16 JASON (T-THIRD, 8-1)

Day 1: d EC Power 16 Empire 25-8, 25-15; d L2 16-2 25-12, 25-10; d Mintonette Sports m.61 25-20, 25-16
Day 2: d Boiler Jrs 16 Gold 25-17, 19-25, 15-8; d AVC Cle Rox 16 Red 26-24, 25-14; d Academy 16 Yeti 23-25, 26-24, 15-12
Day 3: d MAVS KC 16-1 25-19, 25-16; HJV 16 Elite 25-18, 25-15; l 1st Alliance 16 Gold 26-24, 25-18

It wasn’t entirely smooth sailing for OT 16 Jason but it was close enough as the club locked down one of the three available 16 Open bids at MEQ. There were a couple hiccups on Day 2 as OT needed three sets to defeat Boiler Jrs 16 Gold and Academy 16 Yeti. Then there was its only loss of the weekend when 1st Alliance 16 Gold took OT down in straight sets in the semis. Before that though, OT had qualified by handily sweeping past both MAVS KC 16-1 and HJV 16 Elite in gold pool action.

“I’m very happy how the girls played,” OT coach Jason Partington said. “It was a team effort all the way across the board. It always is. I’m happy with the result. Getting the bid early takes the pressure off.”

OT was playing in its first qualifier of the season coming off its showing at Triple Crown where it tied for third with KC Power 16-1. There, OT defeated three teams that recently qualified in Mizuno Long Beach 16 Rockstar, A5 Mizuno 16 Gabe and Madfrog 16 Green. A narrow 16-14 loss in Game 3 to NKYVC prevented OT from reaching the final.

Setter Taylor Parks – one of three, three-star recruits on the roster – isn’t lacking for options. Outsides Taylor Bedinghaus and Hannah Hankerson are reliable scorers. She also has Maria Happ in the middle and Bailey Higgins on the right, two more three-star recruits. Going forward, it’s the defense that’s going to start to separate OT.

“Defensively,” Partington said where the team can improve moving forward. “We are not the biggest team. We are not the strongest team. Defensively we can do a little better job picking up some more balls and being disciplined blocking and just being in system.”