Going into 15 Open at the Show Me Qualifier in Kansas City all three bids had to be awarded out as trickle down could only extend to sixth place and no further. It was just a matter of how previously-qualified teams in Dynasty 15 Black, Nebraska One 15 Synergy and Circle City 15 Purple would factor into the mix. The answer was heavily. Nebraska One wound up defeating Dynasty in the final in straight sets, while Circle City tied for third place with NE Elite 15 Matrix. That gave NE Elite the first bid. The last two went to fifth-place finishers in Northern Lights 15-1 and HPSTL 15 Royal. Here’s a rundown of the teams’ path to their finishes.

NEBRASKA ONE 15 SYNERGY (FIRST, 8-2)

Day 1: l MAVS 816 15-1 25-19, 15-25, 15-10; d FRVBC 15 Black 25-16, 25-14; d ECJ 15-1 25-12, 25-20
Day 2: l MAVS KC 15-1 25-20, 25-20; d Skyline 15 Royal 25-18, 25-22; d OP2 15-1 25-14, 25-18
Day 3: d HPSTL 15 Royal 19-25, 29-27, 15-8; d Mich Elite 15 Mizuno 25-21, 25-22; d NE Elite 15 Matrix 25-13, 25-21; d Dynasty 15 Black 25-16, 25-15

As long as Nebraska One wasn’t playing a MAVS team, it proved untouchable on its way to winning the 15 Open division. Having clinched an Open bid previously at Northern Lights, there was no pressure on Nebraska One in terms of finishing in a spot to qualify.

However, long before Nebraska One was in a position to finish on top of the field, it was simply looking to survive Day 1 after losing its opening match of the weekend to MAVS 816 15-1. It wasn’t reason to panic necessarily but another loss in pool play would knock out Nebraska One much earlier than anyone expected. That was never in danger of happening with the way Nebraska One responded, sweeping FRVBC 15-1 Black and ECJ 15-1 to take second.

The loss did put Nebraska One in a much tougher Day 2 pool and again the Great Plains Region club received an early-morning wakeup call with a setback to MAVS KC 15-1 in straight sets in its first match. With Skyline 15 Royal up next, there was no guarantee Nebraska One would advance. But once again, Nebraska One found its form and swept past Skyline and OP2 15-1 to move into gold pools.

Once there, there was no stopping Nebraska One on Day 3. Nebraska One fought past HPSTL, Mich Elite 15 Mizuno and NE Elite to make the final, where Nebraska One swept Dynasty, 25-16, 25-15, to claim the championship.

Nebraska One was in position to make the final at Northern Lights but fell to Drive Nation 15 Red in its final gold pool match. That left Nebraska One in a showdown with Northern Lights for the final bid. Nebraska One took that contest in straight sets, 25-10, 25-22, to secure its bid.

Outside of 6-4 middle blocker and vballrecruiter.com four-star recruit Natalie Wardlow, Nebraska One doesn’t have the size of some other teams in the division. It also relies on seventh-grade setter Malorie Boesiger to run the show and she definitely plays with a maturity beyond her age. Outside hitters Mattie Kamery and three-star recruit Anna Jelinek are both steady with a knack for scoring against bigger blocks. Kacey Porter helps balance the offense with her attacking on the right side, while Nebraska One relies on Kendall Cose in the other middle position. Also, Keri Leimbach showed herself to be one of the more impressive liberos in the division flying around the court making plays.

***

DYNASTY 15 BLACK (SECOND, 8-2)

Day 1: d Synergy 15-1 25-23, 25-18; d Nebraska Jrs 15 Black 25-12, 25-16; d Rockwood Thunder 15 Elite 25-19, 25-16
Day 2: NE Elite 15 Matrix 25-22, 25-19; d Premier Nebraska 15 Gold 25-16, 23-25, 15-10; d MKE Sting 15 Gold 26-24, 25-19
Day 3: d Northern Lights 15-1 25-17, 25-10; d Circle City 15 Purple 11-25, 25-22, 15-13; l MAVS 15 KC 15-1 25-23, 25-23; l Nebraska One 15 Synergy 25-16, 25-15

We were on hand at MEQ in Indy when Dynasty captured first place and clinched its 15 Open bid. There, Dynasty reeled off victories in its last five outings and kept it going in KC, where it took its first eight matches before dropping its final two, including in the final to Nebraska One. Dynasty also lost to MAVS KC in gold pool play but had already clinched first place and its spot in the final.

It was Dynasty’s defense and ability to extend rallies and take advantage that led to its success in Indy and the Heart of America Region club continued on with that style of play in KC. Dynasty is not an overly big team but has one of the most reliable outsides in the division in three-star recruit Lauren Lopez. The attack was helped out by Jenna McClure, who showed some strong play at outside as well. Setters Ella Florez and Emma Christian also had middles Epifania Salamasina and Isabel Glover to work with, as well as right sides Leah Russell-Bova and Ashlee Chavez. Hadley Porter was her usually steady self at libero to anchor the defense and set the tone.

Up next for Dynasty is Windy City, where it opens as the No. 1 seed and will look to triple qualify.

***

CIRCLE CITY 15 PURPLE (T-THIRD, 7-2)

Day 1: d Premier Nebraska 15 Gold 25-11, 18-25, 15-13; d Team Momentum 15 Navy 25-8, 25-17; d OT 15 Meg 25-19, 25-20
Day 2: l HPSTL 15 Royal 25-19, 16-25, 15-7; d Rockwood Thunder 15 Elite 19-25, 25-15, 15-11; d Tulsa Power 15-1 26-24, 29-27
Day 3: d MAVS KC 15-1 25-20, 20-25, 15-11; l Dynasty 15 Black 11-25, 25-22, 15-13; d Northern Lights 15-1 25-16, 25-22

After defeating Legacy 15-1 Adidas in the third-place match at MEQ, Circle City arrived knowing there would be no such dramatics in terms of bidding at Show Me. That’s not to say the weekend went smoothly for Circle City. Though the Hoosier Region club eventually tied for third place it was facing elimination from gold contention on Day 2. Obviously, that would have soured Circle City’s time at Show Me.

Day 1 opened with a tight three-set victory over Premier Nebraska 15 Gold before sweeping its next two and holding seed. Then things became interesting in a hurry on Day 2 when Circle City was upended by HPSTL in three sets in its first contest. Next, Circle City lost its first set against Rockwood Thunder 15 Elite and had its back against the wall if it was hoping to advance. Circle City came through by winning in three but was not clear quite yet. A victory was still needed against Tulsa Power 15-1 or else Circle City would miss the gold pools. Circle City pulled out a close two-setter to avoid the letdown of not competing for a top spot on Day 3.

Circle City had its hands full on the final day, splitting a pair of three-setters to start against MAVS KC (win) and Dynasty (loss). The day ended with a victory over Northern Lights in straight sets. Afterward, Circle City and NE Elite decided to not play the third-place match and settled for a tie.

Circle City was using a mix of lineups in KC. There was some of the regular spots like three-star recruit and setter Isabelle Brown, three-star recruit and outside Logan Bell, and three-star recruit and middle Reese Dunkle, as well as three-star recruit and libero Avery Freeman and three-star recruit and outside Keira Lucas. But Circle City was also using Ellen Zapp on the right side and in the middle, as well as Aubrey Runyon in the middle and Taylor Woods on the right.

Like Dynasty, Circle City concludes its qualifying schedule this coming weekend at Windy City, where it also will look to triple qualify.

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NE ELITE 15 MATRIX (T-THIRD, 7-3)

Day 1: l Tulsa Power 15-1 25-19, 18-25, 15-12; d Boiler Jrs 15 Gold 18-25, 25-14, 15-6; d Ozark Jrs 15 Elite 25-19, 25-22; d IPVA 15 Black 25-14, 25-16
Day 2: Dynasty 15 Black 25-22, 25-19; d MKE Sting 15 Gold 25-16, 25-21; d Premier Nebraska 15 Gold 25-18, 26-24
Day 3: Mich Elite 15 Mizuno 25-21, 25-13; d HPSTL 15 Royal 25-23, 15-25, 15-13; l Nebraska One 15 Synergy 25-13, 25-21

Oh no, here we go again. NE Elite had to fight through that feeling after dropping its opening match of the weekend at Show Me. Last month, NE Elite competed at the Northern Lights Qualifier and lost its first two matches to get knocked from contention on Day 1.

NE Elite maybe had a little more breathing room in KC, but not much. There were two, five-team pools on Day 1 and NE Elite was involved in one of them. That created some more possible scenarios than a four-team pool but the only way NE Elite could guarantee moving on without any help was winning its next three matches. One of those victories came against Boiler Jr 15 Gold, which was part of the gold pools at MEQ. That big victory helped propel NE Elite into Day 2. There, NE Elite scored a huge victory over Premier Nebraska that sent NE Elite into the gold pool.

In position to qualify, NE Elite took advantage.

“We’ve been struggling to make the necessary changes to play at this level but they all started to buy in and it started to work,” NE Elite coach Tony Carrow said. “It was a fun weekend. We passed well and served well. Those are the big two things you need to do.”

NE Elite assured itself a bid by beating Mich Elite and HPSTL to open gold action. It gave NE Elite a chance to compete for a spot in the final but NE Elite had to settle for a tie for third after falling to Nebraska One in straight sets.

“We’ve been trying to fix the things we have issues with like staying calm in serve receive and staying aggressive with our serving,” Carrow said. “We served really well in every match but the last one we played.”

A key for NE Elite was the play of three-star recruit and opposite Ashlyn Paymal. She’s certainly a target for three-star recruit and setter Peyton Meyer. Outside Elizabeth Layson adds some physicality on the left while Isabel Junior was locked in at libero.

Part of the improvement this season is incorporating middles Ava Stone and Kiera Link. Both are learning to play at this level and as they are starting to figure it out NE Elite is starting to look like a different team.

“It was a good weekend for the team,” Carrow said. “We talked a lot about staying calm and composed and just playing this one ball. They really got into that this weekend.”

***

HPSTL 15 ROYAL (T-FIFTH, 7-3)

Day 1: d UPVBC 15 Open 25-13, 25-17; d Mission 15 Elite 25-15, 22-25, 15-10; d Five One Five 25-15, 25-13; l MKE Sting 15 Gold 25-23, 25-19
Day 2: d Circle City 15 Purple 25-19, 16-25, 15-7; d Tulsa Power 15-1 25-21, 25-21; d Rockwood Thunder 15 Elite 25-22, 22-25, 15-5
Day 3: l Nebraska One 15 Synergy 19-25, 29-27, 15-8; l NE Elite 15 Matrix 25-23, 15-25, 15-13; d Mich Elite 15 Mizuno 25-18, 25-17

It was an emotional weekend at Show Me for this group. HPSTL was dealing with the passing of club director Cary Cusumano just days before the start of competition on Saturday. How the weekend played out was secondary to that news.

With heavy hearts, HPSTL set out in hopes of qualifying. It began by needing to navigate a five-team pool on Day 1 and concluded with a must-win victory over Mich Elite that secured the team’s Open bid.

“They performed all weekend really well,” HPSTL coach Ben O’Day said. “They did a great job controlling the first contact and the hitters did a good job terminating. They communicated at a really high level. They played well the whole weekend, even the matches we lost they still fought hard.”

HPSTL’s first shot at qualifying was last month at MEQ but it was a rough Day 2 as a 0-3 showing left HPSTL out of gold pools. One of those losses was at the hands of Mich Elite, so getting a rematch against the Lakeshore Region club and winning was extra sweet. HPSTL also was contending with a pair of injuries that left the team playing with less than its full roster.

“Not having all 12 is a tough task,” O’Day said. “We were short-handed and asked some girls to fill in. They did a great job.”

One of those was outside Hannah Taylor, who played a big role in the absence of Zoe Baliva. The defense was also a highlight of the weekend with liberos Ally Fuchs and Harper Highfill taking turns doing their thing.

Show Me also marked the start of a busy stretch for HPSTL, which heads to Big South this weekend then NEQ the following weekend. The club attends both now knowing it already punched its ticket to Nationals.

“It’s an awesome feeling to qualify,” O’Day said. “Especially this weekend. These girls needed it. They earned it and they deserve it.”

***

NORTHERN LIGHTS 15-1 (T-FIFTH, 6-3)

Day 1: d PVA 15 Elite 25-22, 25-17; d Illini Elite 15 Cardinal 25-18, 25-15; d OP2 15-1 19-25, 26-24, 15-5
Day 2: l Mich Elite 15 Mizuno 27-25, 25-20; d Six Pack 15 25-13, 25-20; d MAVS 816 15-1 25-14, 25-23
Day 3: l Dynasty 15 Black 25-17, 25-10; d MAVS KC 15-1 25-19, 22-25, 15-12; l Circle City 15 Purple 25-16, 25-22

There was no need to play off for a bid this time around. Northern Lights was on the wrong side of a third-place result at the Northern Lights Qualifier last month, finishing fourth and just missing out on qualifying.

At Show Me, Northern Lights knew its bid was wrapped up after gold pool play was over and left the gym early and forgoing the fifth-place contest. However, it was close to going differently and Northern Lights once more winding up one victory shy of its Open bid.

Northern Lights pulled out a three-set victory over MAVS, 25-19, 22-25, 15-12, in its second gold pool contest. It proved to be the biggest triumph of the weekend. Northern Lights and MAVS ended tied at 1-2 in pool play but Lights earned third place based on the head-to-head result. The lineup in part consisted of setters Clara Hoegh and Olivia Wagner running a 6-2. Ava Ball – a three-star recruit – and Emerson Dillon were holding down the outside spots, with four-star recruit Mesaiya Bettis and Mia Weaver on the right. The middle positions featured Natalie Ptacek and Keira Schmidt, while three-star recruit McKenna Garr was at libero.