Despite the gnarly wind chill outside, Day 1 of the Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier 18s and 17s and January Thaw 14-16s tournament started off with straight fire Friday in Minneapolis. There were tons of great teams and athletes on several courts so let’s just jump right in with a few team and athlete spotlights.

Iowa Rockets 18R: In 18 Open, this was the team which literally got touches on everything. St. Cloud State commit and outside Shelby Kimm was swinging well along with libero Meg Berkland owning the backline. Another athlete who was fun to watch was setter Allie Barlow, a Northern Michigan signee.

1st Alliance 17 Gold: This was a fun team to watch in 17 Open. You have 4-star Kansas commit Grace Nelson and 4-star Michigan commit Ellie White – the vballrecruiter.com 2022 HS Junior Player of the Year – swinging away on the outside. There is also 3-star recruit Ellery Rees owning the middle and 3-star recruit Calli Kenny dishing and swinging well. Ava Falduto – a 4-star Penn State recruit at L/DS – and Samantha Falk, a 3-star recruit, run the back court. And that’s just to name a few.

Day 1 Show Stoppers

Jae Fitting DS Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold: A Loyola Chicago commit, Fitting is an incredible asset to her squad. Don’t get me wrong, Clemson commit Claire Luoma was amazing in the libero jersey but kudos to Fitting for being a lights-out DS on the court.

Calli Kenny S 1st Alliance 17 Gold: The 3-star S/RS Kenny was impressive on Day 1 in 17 Open. She was dishing and swinging with the best of them all the way around.

Bree Messenger OH VC United 171 Elite: Messenger is an undersized and an incredibly scrappy outside hitter. Messenger was fun to watch both offensively and defensively.

Kananihokuao Misipeka OH/Opp Pohaku 17-1: Misipeka, a 3-star athlete, is another undersized hitter who literally flies out there.

Malayah Long S VCNebraska 17 Elite: Long, a Marquette commit, was fun to watch run the show for her VCN squad. She is a fiery setter with great connections.

Mackenzie Dean OH Club Ignit Select 17 Blue: Dean, a Kansas commit, brings the heat on the outside.

Hannah Benjamin OH A5 Jing: Benjamin, a 5-star Kentucky commit, just keeps getting better and more explosive on the court.

Andi Spies S 608 Juniors 18-1: Spies, a Middle Tennessee 2024 commit, is playing on the new 608 Juniors 18s team. She is fiery and has great hands.

Stella Swenson S MN Select 18-1: Swenson, a 5-star 2024 Minnesota commit, ran her court with precision. She has a great cast around her along with great decision making skills.

Sidenotes

With FC Elite 18 Elite 5-star libero Saige Damrow at Wisconsin this spring, make sure to watch 2026 athlete Peyton Carlson filling into the libero role for FC Elite this year.

Skyler Pierce was missing from the court today but will be back on Sunday with her Dynasty 17 Black squad. In the meantime, outside Maya Houseworth filled in nicely.

Michigan signee and Nebraska Elite senior Morgan Burke was back dishing on her club team. On her high school squad Skutt Catholic she was the jack of many trades and was an offensive powerhouse at outside hitter.

Anyone else excited for Day 2!?