The race for the Open bids is underway at the Show Me Qualifier in Kansas City. vballrecruiter.com will have plenty of coverage in the days ahead, including our substantial standout players list when the three-day event concludes. Some of the players we saw today who are sure to be featured include Premier Nebraska 15 Gold outside Shay Heaney, Synergy 15-1 right side Carly Gilk and Nebraska One 15 Synergy middle Natalie Wardlow. As well as Premier Nebraska 16 Gold middle Mia Tvrdy, Northern Lights 16-1 libero Luca Bredenberg, and Pohaku 16-1 right side Kananihokuao Misipeka. Below, we visit three storylines from Day 1.

IT’S ABOUT TIME

The biggest story of the day sprung from 15 Open where No. 19 seed MAVS 816 15-1 went 3-0 in Pool 3 to advance. The highlight was an upset victory over No. 3 seed and previously-qualified Nebraska One 15 Synergy in the opening match of the day before finishing with sweeps of ECJ 15-1 and Front Range VBC 15-1 Black.

MAVS 816 has to be saying FINALLY!! It was a stark turnaround from the Heart of America Region club’s first two qualifiers. As much as anything, bad luck had been ruling Day 1s for MAVS, which was knocked from contention on the opening day at both the Salt Lake City Showdown and MEQ last month.

In Salt Lake, MAVS drew eventual tournament winner AZ Storm 15 Thunder in its Day 1 pool. An additional loss to ID Crush 15 Bower eliminated MAVS, who went on to capture its next six matches in a row to end the tournament.

It was an even wilder ride in Indy. There, MAVS actually finished 7-1! But didn’t break its Day 1 pool after finishing in a three-way tie with Austin Skyline 15 Royal and Union 15-1 at 2-1. That means MAVS came into Show Me with a 13-3 record at qualifiers but will be playing its first Day 2 match while still in the mix for a bid!

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Circle City 15 Purple outside hitter Logan Bell (1) goes up for the kill.

AS EXPECTED

Nebraska One 15 Synergy was the only team with a bid in 15, 16 or 17 Open to drop a match Saturday at Show Me but still advanced from its pool. All the other previously-qualified teams went 3-0 in their respective pools, including Dynasty 15 Black and Circle City 15 Purple in 15 Open. Dynasty 16 Black, KC Power 16-1 and Premier Nebraska 16 Gold combined to go 9-0 in 16 Open, as did Dynasty 17 Black, MAVS 17-1 and Premier Nebraska 17 Gold in 17 Open.

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EXIT SIGN

There were a handful of teams who weren’t able to advance from their Day 1 pools for one reason or another. While MAVS 816 was the surprise in 15 Open, Pool 2 was perhaps the hardest of the day featuring Circle City, OT 15 Meg and Premier Nebraska 15 Gold. Circle City, the No. 2 seed, advanced along with Premier Nebraska, the No. 3 team in the pool. Premier Nebraska outlasted OT in three sets in a key victory.

The two, five-team pools also produced an unexpected exit for Boiler Jrs 15 Gold. The Hoosier Region club entered the weekend seeded No. 7 overall after making gold pools at MEQ last month. However, Boiler Jrs lost to Tulsa Power 15-1 and NE Elite 15 Matrix in its final two matches and took third in the pool. Both Tulsa Power (4-0) and NE Elite (3-1) moved on.

A tough blow in 16 Open was MAVS KC 16-1 being shown the exit. MAVS was in a three-team pool with HPSTL 16 Royal and TIV 16 Asics Black. MAVS went 1-1 and finished second. That put MAVS in a crossover match with USA South 16 Premier, which was the third-place team from three-team Pool 7. USA South took the match, 17-15 in the third, to remain alive.

KC Power 16 Red was the No. 3 team in Pool 2 but snuck past OP2 16-1, the No. 2 team, to advance and remain in contention. Another interesting result came from Pool 1, where UPVBC 16 Open, Iowa Rockets 16R and Nebraska Jrs 16 Black all tied at 1-2. It was Nebraska Jrs, the No. 4 team in the pool, which earned the second-place tiebreaker to break pool.

We knew coming in Pool 2 in 17 Open was going to be a difficult one to get out of and it proved to be the case indeed. Mintonette Sports m.71, the No. 1 team in the pool, and PVA 17 Elite, the No. 2, both advanced after finishing 2-1. Mintonette owned the head-to-head result. Mintonette’s day was thrown a curveball when it lost its opening match though to Six Pack 17. However, Six Pack couldn’t take advantage of the upset and fell to Tx Performance 17s in the 3 v 4 outing and ended 1-2. Mintonette then needed to beat PVA to avoid the three-way tie at 1-2.

After finishing fourth in Salt Lake City, Co Jrs 17 Kevin didn’t receive any favors and was made the No. 3 team in Pool 6 to start here. Co Jrs made it out of the three-team pool by going 1-1 after falling to MN Select 17-1 and beating HPSTL 17 Royal.

In another three-team pool, Pool 8, Northern Lights 17-1, Rockwood Thunder 17 Elite and NE Elite 17 Vici all finished 1-1. Northern Lights grabbed first place based on tiebreakers, while Rockwood Thunder and NE Elite both advanced to Day 2 after winning crossover matches. That meant only MKE Sting 17 Gold moved on from Pool 7.