COLUMBUS, Ohio (May 26, 2019) – The 90th USA Volleyball Open National Championships crowned its first 12 champions on Sunday at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio.
Approximately 4,000 athletes are competing in the event, which has been held every year since 1928 minus two years during World War II. The Opens, which features over 1,600 matches on 45 courts, will crown 26 total championships with the Open Division as the top level in both genders. Other skill divisions are AA, A, BB and B Divisions. The age divisions start at 40-and-over for men’s and women’s divisions, and go up to 78-and-over for men and 60-and-over for women.
Men’s AA
Rusty Nuts (Ohio Valley Region) went undefeated (9-0) in the Men’s A Division to claim the title, including a 27-25, 25-21 victory over Team Freedom AA (Garden Empire Region) in the championship match.
Rusty Nuts AA reached the championship match by defeating Team Freedom AA 25-23, 25-23 in the semifinals and Swingers (New England Region) 25-19, 25-20 in the quarterfinals.
Team Freedom AA downed Thumpers (Florida Region 19-25, 25-21, 17-15 in the consolation finals to advance to the title match.
Women’s AA
Lady Sorin (Hoosier Region) edged out Shots (Southern California) to claim the Women’s AA Division crown. Lady Sorin advanced to the championship match by downing Shots 25-19, 25-18 in the semifinals and NARPS (Ohio Valley Region) 23-25, 29-27, 15-10 in the quarterfinals. Lady Sorin went undefeated in nine tournament matches, but lost one set in six of those contests.
Shots held off NARPS 25-22, 22-25, 18-16 in the consolation finals to advance to the championship match.
Men’s A
Degenerates (Great Lakes Region) captured the Men’s A Division title with a 25-19, 25-13 victory over Team Bear Claw (Iowa Region) in the finals.
The Degenerates had a rocky 3-2 start to the tournament, but came alive in the middle of the second round to win the final five matches of its tournament. They defeated Wave (Great Lakes) 25-20, 25-20 in the quarterfinals and KC Royal (Heart of America) 25-23, 25-20 in the semifinals to advance to the title match.
Team Bear Claw was undefeated heading into the finals having won nine straight matches. However, consecutive three-set wins in the gold bracket may have been the downfall. They defeated #SWAG (New England) 25-19, 22-25, 15-12 in the quarterfinals and Overkill (Great Lakes) 25-8, 23-25, 15-8 in the semifinals.
Overkill defeated KC Royal 22-25, 25-19, 18-16 in the third-place match.
Women’s A
Team Bearclaw (Iowa Region) claimed the Women’s A Division title with a 25-18, 25-19 victory over Team Freedom A-Red (Garden Empire Region). Team Bearclaw finished the tournament with a 10-1 record, its only loss to USA Deaf Volleyball (Chesapeake Region) in a second-round match.
Team Freedom A-Red, which ended the tournament with a 9-1 record and its only loss to the champion Team Bearclaw in the finals, reached the title match by sweeping Hot Mess (Great Lakes Region 25-23, 25-23 in the quarterfinals and Shock the World (Ohio Valley Region) 25-16, 25-15 in the semifinals.
Men’s 40-and-Over
Beam Pineapple (Hoosier Region) won the 40-and-Over Division by defeated Hustle & Flow (Garden Empire Region) 25-21, 25-18 in the gold-medal match.
Beam Pineapple defeated Hustle & Flow three times in the tournament en route to going undefeated, but the silver medal team was the only squad to take a set from the champions in eight matches.
After losing to Beam Pineapple 25-15, 25-21 in the semifinals, they came back through the loser’s bracket to defeat third-place Burgess 40 (Northern California 25-19, 25-17 in the consolation finals.
Women’s 45-and-Over
No Dinx 45+ (Moku O Keawe Region) claimed the Women’s 45-and-Over Division by sweeping San Diego Beaches (Southern California Region) 27-25, 25-21 in the gold-medal bracket.
No Dix 45+ edged San Diego Beaches 25-18, 17-25, 15-10 also in the semifinals after winning its quarterfinal round match against Team America 45 (Rocky Mountain) 25-10, 25-12. No Dix 45+ went 8-0 in the tournament with its only set loss to San Diego Beaches in the semis.
San Diego Beaches reached the title match by rallying past third-place Duck Boat Divas (New England) 23-25, 25-12, 15-7 in the consolation finals.
Men’s 50-and-Over
Balboa Bay 50s (Southern California Region) claimed the 50-and-Over title by defeating Blaine Labs (Heart of America Region) 25-23, 25-23 in the gold medal match.
Balboa Bay 50s had previously defeated Blaine Labs 25-16, 25-17 in the semifinals and Colorado Masters (Rocky Mountain Region 25-18, 25-22 in the quarterfinals. Balboa Bay finished 7-2 in the tournament, overcoming a first-match loss to Boomer 5.0 (Iroquois Empire Region) and a second-round loss to Blaine Labs.
Blaine Labs, which ended the tournament with an 8-2 mark, came back through the consolation bracket to sweep third-place Colorado Masters 25-13, 25-19 in the consolation finals.
Women’s 55-and-Over
San Diego 55 Panama Jack (Southern California Region) claimed the Women’s 55-and-Over Division title with a seesaw championship match victory over Brasil Mix-55 (Brazil) 25-14, 11-25, 15-3.
The two teams also met in the semifinals with San Diego Panama Jack winning 25-22, 18 to reach the finals. San Diego Panama Jack went 8-0 in the tournament with its only set loss coming in the gold-medal match.
Brasil Mix-55 edged Lokahi 55 (Keystone Region) 27-25, 16-25, 15-9 in the consolation finals to earn its ticket to the finals.
Men’s 60-and-Over
Federal Resources, which ended the tournament 9-0, edged Kings Mountain Fog 60 25-22, 19-25, 15-6 in the semifinals.
Kings Mountain Fog 60 came back to defeat third-place E’s Club 60 (Southern California) 25-23, 25-16 in the consolation finals.
Men’s 70-and-Over
Quiksilver Legends 70 (Southern California Region) toppled V&C/Brasil M70+ (Brazil) 25-17, 25-20 in the Men’s 70-and-Over Division gold-medal match.
Quiksilver Legends reached the title match by sweeping Harrisburg Divers 70 (Keystone Region) 25-18, 25-23 in the quarterfinals and V&C/Brasil M70+ 27-25, 25-20 in the semifinals. The champions went undefeated in eight matches and did not lose a set.
V&C/Brasil M70+ advanced the title match by defeating third-place Harrisburg Divers 70 25-23, 27-25 in the consolation final.
Men’s 78-and-Over
Outback Steakhouse 78+ (Puget Sound Region) claimed a hard-fought title in the 78-and-Over Division – the oldest age group in this year’s USA Volleyball Open National Championships.
Outback Steakhouse 78+ edged out Rusty 78 (Columbia Empire Region) in back-to-back gold-bracket matches including a 25-13, 16-25, 15-5 victory in the gold-medal match. Similarly, Outback Steakhouse 78+ rallied to defeat Rusty 78 20-25, 25-16, 15-5 in the semifinal round after coming back to defeat Colorado Mile High 110-6 (Rocky Mountain Region) 21-25, 25-17, 15-10 in the quarterfinals. Outback Steakhouse 78+ ended the tournament with a 9-0 record and only three set losses – one each in their gold-bracket matches.
Rusty 78 came back in the consolation finals to defeat MAC MAGIC 78 (Chesapeake Region) 25-14, 25-15 to reach the finals.
Special Olympics
HC GA Gladiators won the Special Olympics Red Division with a 25-12, 22-25, 17-15 victory over Wisconsin Bad Pack. HC GA Gladiators finished the tournament with a 7-0 record, while Wisconsin Bad Pack was 6-1.
Georgia Kay Center won the Special Olympics White Division by defeating Hilliard Bobcats 25-17, 25-21 in the championship match. Georgia Kay Center ended the tournament with a 5-2 record.
Texas Allen Spikers brought home the Special Olympics Blue Division title with a 25-15, 19-25, 15-13 win over Arizona Outlaws in the finals.