Sixteen Teams Take Home Titles at 2024 Open National Championship in Columbus

A male player on Team YoYo waves to the crowd — Photo by Joe Maiorana/Greater Columbus Sports Commission

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 31, 2024) – Sixteen champions were crowned at the 2024 USA Volleyball Open National Championship in Columbus, Ohio.

This year’s tournament, which followed the USAV annual meetings and Hall of Fame, included 449 men’s, women’s and coed teams with players ages 18-80 competing over the course of six days. The USA Volleyball Open National Championship, the longest-running volleyball tournament in the United States, gives adult volleyball teams at every level a chance to compete against teams from around the country.

King’s Mountain Fog of the Northern California Region and Balboa Bay (Southern California) each won a pair of national titles. SCVA took home four national championships and NCVA won three. The Florida and Rocky Mountain regions each won a pair of titles, while other regions who walked away with a national championship were the Iowa, Southern, Great Lakes and Gateway. Puerto Rico also won a title.

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Men’s A

The Tall Ones (Northern California) went undefeated, dropping only two sets in their 10 victories. Three of their winning sets went past 25 points, highlighted by a 37-35 win over fourth-place Dude Wipes (Great Lakes) in the first set of their match.

“My first nationals was in 2014, and I took some time off from volleyball,” said player Donny Hui, who is also the team’s head coach. “I set a goal to play on the featured court in a championship match. It took a long time, but I didn’t give up. That’s the theme of the Tall Ones. You just can’t give up. There were so many times we were down by five points and would grind it through.

“I am not the most athletic, but we want to show the world that if you set a goal, you can achieve it regardless of whatever shortcomings you have. The hardest opponent to beat is the one who doesn’t give up,” he added.

Future Fathers (Great Lakes) finished second and TEAM YOYO Puerto Rico (New England) placed third.

Coed 4

FBGM (Iowa) swept through the Coed 4 division without losing a set in posting a 7-0 record. After winning each of its first 12 sets by four points or more, FBGM won a hard-fought championship match, 25-23, 26-24 over runner-up Saxophone (Great Lakes).

“It was exciting going 14-0 over the weekend. We got everyone involved. A couple people playing defense, a couple people blocking. Everyone has to be moving and rotating, and making the plays,” said FBGM’s Edward Brogean. “All the Iowa teams were back and forth supporting each other. The vibe and the energy were good, so it was fun.”

The Louisville Darlings (Palmetto) won a thriller over Warriors (Intermountain), 19-25, 30-28, 15-13, to claim third place.

Men’s 70 & Over

King’s Mountain Fog 70 (Northern California) rebounded from losing two of its first three matches to win its last five matches and capture the championship. The squad won all three of its matches in the Gold Bracket in straight sets, yielding more than 14 points just once.

“It is always great to win, it’s always great to play with good friends. We play against good friends, and we have a great time,” said Kings Mountain Fog’s Jack Flora. “I see them once a year and it is a special group. We play hard and we enjoy each other.”

Divers 70 (Keystone) took second place thanks to a key 30-28, 25-22 victory over third-place E’s Club 70 (Southern California). Each team in the competitive division lost at least six sets.

Sitting

Southern Region representative Powered by Ibuprofen won all five of its matches in two sets to take the title. Winning all but one set by four more points or more, the champions were tested most by Sitting Pretty (Oklahoma) in a 25-21, 27-25 match.

“It feels great. A little bit of redemption from last year for us,” commented Men’s Sitting National Team member and two-time USAV Male Sitting Player of the Year Eric Duda. “It was a team effort, and I am happy with how it happened up and down our entire roster.”

Talking about the increased participating in sitting national events, he stated, “It’s growing every year. I saw so many matches from pool play that were just neck and back battles. I am happy with the growth.

Dimes (North Carolina) won its first four matches before falling to Powered by Ibuprofen in the final to earn a runner-up finish. Oklahoma Stunners (Oklahoma) placed third.

U.S. Sitting National Team current and former athletes who participated in the division included Nick Dadgostar, Rod Green, Chris Seilkop, Katie Bridge, Nichole Millage, Zach Upp, Lora Webster, Robbie Gaupp, John Kremer, James Stuck, Gia Cruz, Emma Schieck, Lexi Shifflett-Patterson, Jessie West, Ben Aman, Sam Surowiec, Bethany Zummo, MaKenzie Franklin, Kaleo Maclay, Courtney Baker, Whitney Dosty, Raelene Elam, Nicky Nieves, Monique Matthews, Tia Edwards and Sydney Satchell. They were joined by U.S. Sitting National Team coaches Greg Walker, Jeff Hicks, Joe Skinner, Leo Filho and Julie Allen.

Women’s AA

Show Me Your Tips (Gateway) dropped just one set in six victories before edging Dynasty Gems (Chesapeake) in an exciting championship match, 26-24, 25-23.

“Amazing! Back-to-back. There were a lot of women who just bought in all weekend. We had to fight hard, we had to push. My teammates are second to none,” said Jennifer Divan of the championship squad. “Everybody plays together. Nobody is too big for the team and everybody did their job. My favorite part was having all my favorite people with me and having our St. Louis crew behind us, cheering for us the entire time.”

Dynasty Gems won a pair of three-setters (15-12 and 16-14) to earn its second-place finish, and Lucky #7 out of North Texas took home third place.

Women’s 40 & Over

After splitting its first four matches, Set to Kill (Great Lakes) won its final four matches, losing only one set, to win the title in a very competitive division that saw each of the top five teams lose either two or three matches.

“Second year in a row! It feels fantastic,” said Set to Kill’s Patricia LoVerde. “I feel like all five teams in our pool could have made Gold and then it was just a battle. We went 2-2 in our pool and almost didn’t make the Gold Bracket. We took third in our pool and then beat both the teams we lost to in our pool (Ball-Z and MVM Brazil).”

“We played together and had so much fun,” she continued. “Even when we lost, we came together as a team, stayed positive, battled back, and it is an awesome team. They all deserve MVP.”

Ball-Z (Heart of America) advanced to the final with a pair of three-set wins over international opponents, 15-13 over fourth-place MVM Brazil (Brazil) and 15-12 against third-place Fog Canada Masters 40 (Canada).