 While the 2022 TC NIT volleyball event is still five months away, let’s revisit some important details for this high-powered gathering of the top club programs. It all happens Feb. 18-21 at the Kansas City Convention Center.
Our menu of College Camps, along with the Unsigned Junior/Senior Workout, is still being assembled, but those will take place Friday, Feb. 18 at the Convention Center. Look for these on the website by Oct. 1. This in an invite-only tournament! A few spots remain in every age group (12u through 18u), but it won’t take much longer to finish the process of registering teams. You can see on the Who’s Coming list that we are pulling in superior programs from around the nation. We have commitments from 22 of the Top 25 clubs in the country, based on the updated US Club Rankings. If you haven’t asked for an invite yet but believe your team belongs in the mix, contact us immediately. jared@triplecrownsports.com www.triplecrownvolleyball.com  The depth and competitive drive that flows through dozens of club volleyball programs in Colorado will get another avenue to explore thanks to the new Colorado Tournament Series, powered by Triple Crown Sports.
This four-tournament slate begins with the Dec. 18-19, 2021 Avalanche Havoc event, with the series closing April 9-10, 2022, at the Bighorn Bash. Teams can also secure their registration for the Rumble in The Rockies, a seven-match guarantee located at the Gaylord Hotel in Aurora, Co., which teams can use to heighten their readiness for the summer championship journey. The CTS welcomes teams playing 14u through 17u and will be limited to 80 teams. Discounts are available (through October 1) for teams playing in three or four of the tournaments, or for clubs putting in five teams into four events. All matches in the series will be held at the NORCO training facility located in northeast Loveland near the I-25/Exit 259 interchange. “We are excited to provide this unique and competitive tournament series for volleyball clubs across Colorado,” said TCS event director Sarah Dannettell. “Our goal is to create fun and competitive tournaments for all caliber of teams. We encourage teams from every skill level to come experience the elite reputation of Triple Crown volleyball in your own backyard.” There will be particular attention on how teams are scheduled within CTS tournaments – on Day 1 of an event, teams from the same club will be scheduled away from each other. Also, CTS officials will track recent matchups to try and ensure teams don’t have excessive repeat matches, and when appropriate, teams may play in a different age group, all designed to maximize the best fits in terms of competition. Here’s the CTS slate of events: Avalanche Havoc: Dec. 18-19, 2021, five-match guarantee Mile High Madness, Jan. 15-16, 2022, five-match guarantee President’s Day Summit, Feb. 19-21, 2022, seven-match guarantee Bighorn Bash, April 9-10, 2022, five-match guarantee Rumble in the Rockies, May 6-8, 2022, seven-match guarantee More information at: www.covolleyballseries.com Sarah Dannettell (970) 672-0513 sarahlauren@triplecrownsports.com  KANSAS CITY – Fueled by a championship finish in one age group and two runner-up efforts, MadFrog Volleyball Club earned the Top Club Award from the 2021 Triple Crown NIT, which was held May 29-31 in Kansas City, MO.
Based out of the Dallas Metroplex suburb of Plano, Texas, MadFrog had 360 points, with Premier Nebraska next at 250 points. Points were awarded in age groups 13u through 17u, with 100 points going to the champion of each age division down to 10 points for 10th place. Previous winners of the Top Club Award are: A5 Mizuno (2020), Texas Advantage (2019) and Arizona Storm (2018). Here are the top 10 clubs from 2021:
T8. Legacy (140) – The Michigan powerhouse took second at 16 Elite and seventh in the 17’s. 10. Tri-State Elite (130) – Based around Cincinnati, the club finished third at 17 Elite and sixth in the 15’s.  by Marcos Aragon
SALT LAKE CITY — Club V 17 took their unblemished record all the way to the title game to face off against Synergy Force Volleyball 17. Club V earned the 17u Open title after taking down SFV 25-14, 25-20 at the Triple Crown West Coast Invitational. Remaining undefeated for the weekend was a first for Club V, as Hailee Garcia described it. She admits that her favorite part of the tournament was the fact that the team didn’t lose at all and played to the level they expect for themselves. “It’s something that we haven’t done, like at all, in our club — for my age group right here,” said Garcia. “Our past tournaments have been a little rough; we’ve done really well and then on the third day we just lost our matches. But I think it was really exciting that today we were able to pull it off and go two sets these last two games." Avery Shewell echoed Garcia’s excitement, but admitted there was a small hint of nervousness due to the enormous nature of the championship. “There was all that pressure, it’s the championship game,” Shewell said. “If you do mess up, there's a chance they could come back and win.” When asked what her favorite part of the tournament is, Shewell responded especially quickly with a one-word answer. “Winning,” she said. Assistant coach Wayne Wood explained that his team is confident in their offensive and defensive abilities, but that the team is especially successful when their serves are on point. “We’ve relied heavily on our serve and serve receive,” explains Wood. “If we can control that first ball, we have offense to spare.” He added, “I have a ton of offense, I just need a first ball contact. If I can get a first ball contact, we have offense, and if I can make them not have a good first contact, it makes my defense pretty simple. I know that’s really generic volleyball, but they executed that at such a high level this tournament, and we did well.” Garcia explained that over the course of the weekend, she noticed that the team had really improved their serving. In the match against SFV, the team very rarely sent the ball into the net and managed to find weak spots on the floor. “Going into this tournament, Wayne, our assistant coach, has done an amazing job watching film on other teams and seeing how their serve receive is,” Garcia says. “When he calls it, I think we’ve done really well at hitting those serves and that does a really good job of getting the other team out of system or getting certain girls out of the plays. I think as the tournament goes on, it just got better and better.” Wood explains that his team will use the tournament experience as a motivating factor before they head to their next tournament in Orlando. Despite not earning a bid to nationals, Wood notes that Club V will embrace the challenge that awaits. “Going undefeated in this is a good stepping stone to continue later this month when we go to Orlando,” says Wood. To Shewell, it doesn’t matter where the team plays next or who they play next — she’s just always ready to play. “I love playing volleyball,” Shewell says with a smile. “Literally the entire time I’m playing, I’m like ‘I love this sport,’ it’s the best.”  by Marcos Aragon
SALT LAKE CITY — On championship Sunday, Hive 16 Gold captured the 16u Open title after defeating Club V 16, 25-20, 25-21 at the Triple Crown West Coast Invitational. Hive’s precision ball control was too much to overcome as they never let momentum shift to their opponents. When the team needed a kill, they easily found open space in the middle of the floor. This is Hive’s first tournament win. “We are a big physical team, but I think what opens it up is our decisions — our choices on where we’re setting the ball and when we’re setting it up,” said Hive head coach Sarah Chism. “Our middles are very active, which opens it up for our outsides to go when they need to and be one and terminate the ball." Jordyn Harvey explained that her team has a strong chemistry off the court, but the team’s true success is their ability to play as a cohesive unit. “I think the strength of our team is we have really good hitters in the front row but really good passers in the back row,” says Harvey. “So when we connect, it really works because we can count on our team to get a good pass, and then count on the rest of the team to get a good kill or a good block.” Margaret Mendelson noted that the team has had many close finishes but had been unable to bring home a championship, until today. “We’ve needed a win. We’re always so close, we took third at Vegas and fifth at Crossroads,” Mendelson says. “We’re always right there. So to actually take one home is really awesome.” Next up for Hive (Farmington, UT) are Nationals. After winning their first championship, the team is riding high with confidence. The team finished the weekend with a single loss to NE Elite 16 Top Gun, but Harvey pointed out that “anyone in this whole country is beatable. Hive earned two impressive wins to reach the final, sweeping Absolute VBC and Texas Advantage. “It definitely gives us a confidence booster to know that we’re a good team and we can go take this thing if we really want to,” Harvey said. “This tournament was really important as a national prep for us, and I really like the format because it teaches us that we have to win all the way through, we have to be 1-0 every game,” said Chism. “Our primary focus in this tournament is ‘survive and advance. 1-0, we focus on that immediate point, immediate set, immediate game right in front of us, and we’re able to keep our heads and not get too caught up in what’s down the road.” Chism has high praise for the tournament, but even higher appreciation for the host city. “I love that this tournament is in Salt Lake. Salt Lake is awesome,” she added. “People should come here, it’s a great location. The convention center was awesome, downtown is awesome, Utah is awesome. The weather is great, people should come to this tournament — this should be the premier tournament.” |
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