DETROIT, Mich. (June 29, 2018) – A loss in the finals at the 2017 USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships motivated TAV 15 Black to win the 15 Open Division in 2018.

TAV 15 Black swept its North Texas Region rival Madfrog 15’s N Blue, 25-8, 25-20 on Friday at Cobo Center in Detroit.

The 2018 Girls Junior National Championships (GJNC) will continue through July 4.

Other champions crowned in the 15s divisions are Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar C (American Division; Southern California Region), A5 South 15-Joe (National; Southern), Vegas Aces 15 UnderArmour (USA; Southern California) and LAVA West 15 adidas (Patriot; Southern California).

In 2017, TAV 14 Black lost to Tstreet 14-Carson in the 14 Open final, 25-18, 25-16.

The team wasn’t going to let that happen again and went undefeated through the tournament. Its only three-set match was a 21-25, 25-16, 15-10 defeat of Mintonette Sports – m.51 out of Ohio Valley.

“I was focusing on helping the team out because I know that last year they got second,” said TAV’s Charitie Luper, who was named the 15 Open MVP. “They wanted to come back this year and do better. My goal was to help them out and get that done.

“Now I’m hoping to do the same thing next year.”

TAV’s Jordyn Williams, who also made the all-tournament team, was focused on consistency.

“Being consistent, that’s the most important thing with our team,” Williams said. “Sometimes we let other teams go on runs, so I’m really proud of how we handled that in the national tournament.”

In the semifinals, TAV swept another Texas Team, H Skyline 15 Royal (Lone Star), 25-22, 25-12. Madfrog beat out Sunshine 15 Westside (Southern California), 23-25, 25-17, 15-12.

Sport Court  is the official athletic flooring for all USA Volleyball national championship events.

15 AMERICAN

Mizuno Long Beach 15 Rockstar C beat Seal Beach 15 Black in the final, 25-15, 22-25, 15-7 to win the title. In the semifinals, Long Beach beat Austin Skyline 15 Royal (Lone Star), 25-19, 25-22. Seal Beach swept SVVC 15-Lisa (Southern California), 25-13, 25-17. Long Beach’s Jennifer Wroblicky was named the MVP

15 NATIONAL

In the championship match, A5 South 15-Joe defeated Premier Nebraska 15 Gold (Great Plains), 25-23, 25-15. In the semifinals, A5 beat OT 15 T Randy (Florida), 26-24, 25-19. Premier Nebraska swept AJV 15 Mizuno (Lone Star), 25-15, 25-21. Ngozi Iloh of A5 was named MVP.

15 PATRIOT

LAVA West 15 adidas battled SG Elite 15Elite (Southern California) and won, 17-25, 25-13, 15-12 to take the title. In the semifinals, LAVA beat Iowa Rockets 15R (Iowa), 25-22, 25-17. SG Elite made it past Forza1 North 15 UA (Southern California), 25-15, 25-22.

15 USA

In the final, Vegas Aces 15 UnderArmour defeated Epic 15-Bert (Southern California), 28-30, 25-18, 15-9. In the semis, Vegas beat Mintonette Sports – m.52 (Ohio Valley), 19-25, 25-21, 15-9. Epic defeated Momentum 15 Elsa (Rocky Mountain), 25-13, 25-23. Anjelina Starck of Vegas Aces was named MVP.

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

June 28: 14s
June 29: 15s
June 30: 12s
July 1: 11s
July 2: 13s
July 3: 17s
July 4: 16s