News
High Finishes at Big South
Date Posted: 4/15/2019
Big South is the monumental point in most team’s season. For some, this is the 2nd or last qualifier they would compete in to earn a spot at USAV Nationals this summer. For others, this marks the end of their Regional+ season. A bitter sweet weekend, normally falling on Easter weekend, but was moved this year due to Atlanta hosting the Super Bowl earlier this year. Because of the high demands of the Georgia World Congress Center, Big South was split between two weekends with 15-18’s competing first.
All National and Regional+ team’s in the older age group made their way down to Atlanta, Georgia to spend their weekend competing amongst the masses. With 16 Academy teams competing, there was action happening everywhere. Our regional plus teams fared well against the tough competition, mostly finishing in the top half of their brackets. The match to watch of the weekend was the showdown between 15 Jade and Pearl in pool play on Day 2. Pearl fought their way and came out on top in 2 sets, a well-played match from both sides.
Other matches of note on the weekend, 17 Diamond landed in a tough Day 1 pool that ended in a 3 way tie for 2nd place. Their first tie breaker was against a strong Gulfside team, eventually losing the 2nd tie breaker to NKYVC which landed them 3rd in the pool. 16 Diamond had a successful 2-1 Day 1, losing their lone match of the day to Metro 16 Travel in 3 sets. Staying in the top half they had another 2-1 day 2 landing them in a Gold Pool on day 3. With a win against Houston Juniors and losing to OT 16 C. Jason, we landed ourselves in another tiebreaker. This time it was against OT, who won the tie breaker set and finished 16 Diamond’s run at the bid. Congrats to both HJV and OT for earning the 16 Open Bids. 18 Diamond had their best run of the season, going 6-3 on the weekend and finishing 5th overall in the 18 Challenge division!
The 2nd weekend of Big South was just as exciting as the first, starting just 4 days after the 1st weekend ended, the 14U’s were ready to go! After 2 tough days of play, 4 Academy teams emerged into the Gold Brackets – 14 Diamond, 14 Crystal-R, 13 Diamond, and 12 Diamond. Some wins of note, 13 Diamond took on CHAVC on Day 1 and ECJVC on Day 2. 12 Diamond took the first set from OPU 12 ROX – which Coach Daphne described as “the best loss of her life”. 14 Diamond also showed extremely well, defeating Triangle Black and their only losses coming from the two teams who placed above them. With 14 Diamond’s 3rd place finish, this marks the highest Open finish in Academy history at a National Qualifier. This team is ready to compete in Indianapolis this summer! Congrats to Top Select for earning the lone 14 Open bid!
Overall it was a great two weekends for Academy, working on placing higher in each and every event. Kudos to the Regional+ teams on their awesome seasons and great finishes at their last tournament of the season. Best of luck this summer, we can’t wait to see you again in the fall!
Big South Finishes:
18 Diamond – 5th in 18 Challenge
17 Diamond – 21st in Open
17 Crystal – 45th in USA
17 Crystal-T – 33rd in American
17 Jade – 29th in American
16 Diamond – 9th in Open
16 Crystal – 37th in USA
16 Jade – 49th in American
16 Pearl – 29th in American
16 Ruby – 15th in Challenge
16 Sapphire – 31st in Challenge
15 Diamond – 15th in Open
15 Crystal – 61st in USA
15 Jade – 89th in American
15 Pearl – 73rd in American
15 Ruby – 15th in Challenge
14 Diamond – 3rd in Open
14 Crystal-R – 9th in USA
14 Crystal-T – 29th in American
14 Jade – 73rd in American
14 Pearl – 69th in American
14 Ruby – 101st in American
13 Diamond – 5th in USA
13 Crystal – 53rd in American
13 Jade – 31st in American
12 Diamond – 5th in American