Qualifier season brings more bids to A5 teams
Contributed by: Walter Patterson
March 30, 2021 - The past two weekends saw many of our teams participating in national qualifiers. Over the March 19-21 weekend, our 17's teams as well as 18-Jordan played in the Mid-East Qualifier in Louisville, Kentucky, while 15-LA, 14-Helen, 13-Karen, and 12-Jing all traveled March 26-28 to St. Louis for the younger portion of the Mid-East Qualifier. You read that correctly - the Mid-East Qualifier is played in Indianapolis, Louisville, and St. Louis, over three consecutive weekends.
In Louisville, 17-Jing played 10 matches in 17 Open over three days, winning 8 of them and making the finals, where they fell to a strong Drive Nation team from North Texas - those Dallas area teams are real trouble! Jing lost 15-12 in the 3rd set of the championship match, but the second place finish was enough to earn a bid in Open division. 17-Kelly had already earned a bid so they were also playing in the Open division and finished 13th. 17-Missey had a strong showing finishing 5th in 17-USA, just barely out of reach of a bid.
A5 15-LA got off to a hot start in St. Louis, winning 8 matches in a row, all in straight sets, before falling in the semifinal match against Momentum from Colorado. Their 3rd place finish earned 15-LA a bid to Nationals in the 15-USA division. A5 14-Helen went 8-2 on the weekend, winning out against a true 'who's who' lineup of opponents, including Union, Boilers, Northern Kentucky, Dynasty, Skyline, and TAV. Helen's team lost in the finals to finish 2nd in 14-Open, earning a much-deserved bid to USAV Nationals. A5 12-Jing finished 5th in 12-National, and A5 13-Karen finished 13th, both teams just out of bid reach.
Over the March 27-29 weekend, 18-Scott and 18-Boba flew to Philadelphia for the Northeast Qualifier, with both teams playing in the Open division. 18-Boba went 6-3 on the weekend, finishing in 7th place, while 18-Scott went 8-1, losing in the finals to TAV (another Dallas area club). 18-Scott's second place finish made them "double qualified" for USAV Nationals.
Next up for A5: Atlanta's Big South National Qualifier, over the April 2-4 weekend. Big South is the nation's largest girls qualifier - you have to see it in person to understand what several hundred courts under one roof looks like. Because it's in A5's backyard, we'll be sending a whopping 33 of our teams to play, plus more from our sister clubs. Stay tuned!