This is “Dots,” VolleyballMag.com’s weekly look at 10 things in club volleyball, past or present, that interest me and hopefully will interest you. Look for Dots every Tuesday through Junior Nationals this summer.
• The 10th Triple Crown NIT in Kansas City finished on Monday exactly as it should have, with volleyball as the star.
For a tournament that bills itself as “Where the elite come to compete,” the NIT absolutely delivered, with three days of scintillating volleyball featuring 448 of the absolute best club teams nationally in the 15-18 age groups. [There were 12s, 13s and 14s teams also, but at VolleyballMag.com we do not cover teams until they reach high school age.]
The four Elite Bracket championship matches were as good as the play leading up to it, which isn’t often the case, as tired legs, frayed emotions and thoughts of a flight home (and school) tend to intercede to impact the product on the court.
This year’s NIT was the exception, as all eight finalists battled with everything they had.
When all was said and done, Coast 18-1, from California, won the 18s division, rallying from down five in Game 2 to defeat vaunted TAV 18 Black, 17-15 in the third.
Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold got stomped in Game 1 of the Elite 17s final before rallying to defeated 1st Alliance 17 Gold, 16-14 in the third.
Legacy 16-1 Adidas won an overtime first set, but needed to rally after getting worked in the second to start fast in the third and hold on over Mintonette m.61 for the Elite 16s title.
TAV 15 Black fought off three set points in the second to win, 26-24, to sweep Club V 15 Ren Kalee in the Elite 15s championship match.
• The Elite 18s final promised to pit the terrific ball control of Coast, the beachy keen San Diego squad; and the sheer power of Dallas’ TAV, which boasts four of the top front court players in the country in MB Favor Anyanwu and pins Macaria Spears, Suli Davis and Jaidyn Livings.
Both control and power had their moments in the match,
Coast used a 5-0 run, punctuated by successive Tianna Owens’ kills; to go up, 9-6, in the first set. Coast maintained a slim advantage through most of the set, as Owens and OH Jaidyn Jager found ways to score and libero Ximena…
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