Power 16-1 led by Coach Chris Finseth had a fantastic run at the 2016 AAU National Championships in Orlando in June. 16-1 competed in the Club division and finished with 13 wins and only 1 loss to the eventual 2nd place team Kokoros from Minnesota. They played 31 sets including five (5) 3 set thrillers and played a total of 1156 points. The signature win came on Sunday morning when they knocked off the top ranked team Club 1 Elite, out of Plainfield Illinois, firmly supplanting themselves as the top seed in the tournament. Club 1 took a commanding set 1 lead with a 25-12 blocking clinic, but this was no match for 16-1’s resolve. In set 2, 16-1’s servers mixed up short serves with stinging float serves to get Club 1 out of system and the hitters pounded and tipped their way to an amazing 25-8 win in the second set. In set 3, the girls kept the momentum cruising to a 15-8 in the third. Club 1 never new what hit them and were left speechless. In the semifinal game, the team ran into a very tall and talented team from Minnesota. They fought hard but lost 21-25 and 17-25. The tournament results were defined by a true team effort. Hitters Madeline Hogan and Annika Barnett pounded balls through double blocks all week. Nicolette Leroux used her signature quickness to put balls away in the back corner. Kat Motovilov had her best tournament of the year with personal bests in blocks and kills. Alexa Zotos aced many serves and provided a huge blocking presence that frustrated our opponents. Newcomer Kristin Yoder filled in nicely and had two very timely kills in the match against Club 1. 16-1’s defense was as solid as always with Madeline Hogan, Channing McCurdy and Gerilyn Boyle digging anything out that the opposition could hit! Setters, Noelle Helms and Katie Whitaker were on point all week, mixing up sets across the net and running a well oiled offensive machine.
Power Volleyball is very proud of 16-1 and their 3rd place finish. Congratulations!
