DETROIT, Mich. (July 2, 2018) – In a battle of undefeateds, TAV 13 Black held off Dynasty 13 Black, 25-22, 20-25, 15-13 in the 13 Open final on Monday at the USAV Girls Junior National Championships at the Cobo Center.
The 2018 Girls Junior National Championships (GJNC) will continue through July 4.
Other champions crowned on Monday were Seal Beach 13-Black (American Division; Southern California Region), Palm Beach Jrs. 13 Elite (National Division; Florida Region) and AZ REV 13 Premier (USA Division; Arizona Region).
Both TAV (North Texas) and Dynasty (Heart of America) went into Monday’s final with identical 9-0 match records and 27-1 set records.
It didn’t come as a surprise that the two teams would battle. TAV held the advantage throughout the first set and took an early lead in the second. Dynasty came back to win the second and fought off three set points in the third.
“These girls have been working since day one to win a national championship,” TAV Head Coach Corinne Atchison said. “We’ve talked about being comfortable in uncomfortable situations.
“Between sets two and three, we talked about, ‘You can’t lose your composure. Forget set two.’ I’ve been in this situation on the other side of it and it’s really easy to let it all go.”
TAV Captain Emily Simmons said the team got more confident as the tournament progressed.
“It was kind of hard at the beginning because we kept getting down on ourselves,” she said. “At the end, we said, ‘We worked really hard for this,’ so it’s really worth it now.”
In the 13 Open semifinals, TAV beat Nebraska Elite 13 Thunder (Great Plains), 25-18, 25-11. Dynasty defeated KC Power 13-1, 25-21, 25-22.
In the semifinals, TAV beat WAVE 13 Juliana (Southern California), 25-18, 25-11. Dynasty defeated TStreet 13 Taylor (Southern California), 25-21, 25-22.
Sport Court is the official athletic flooring for all USA Volleyball national championship events.
13 AMERICAN
Seal Beach 13-Black beat TX Tornados 13 Mizuno (Lone Star), 25-15, 31-29 to win the championship. In the semifinals, Seal Beach defeated CVC 13 Black (Ohio Valley), 25-11, 29-27. TX Tornados topped Tribe 13 Elite Hector (Florida), 25-22, 17-25, 15-8.
13 NATIONAL
Palm Beach Juniors won the title, defeating Florida Region rival OT 13 E. Doug in the final, 25-23, 11-25, 15-11. In the semifinals, Palm Beach swept Iowa Rockets 13 Black (Iowa), 25-13, 25-19. OT defeated AP 13 Asics (Lone Star), 25-11, 25-19.
13 USA
AZ REV beat Miami Elite 13 Kevin (Florida) in the final, 25-20, 25-17. In the semifinals, AZ REV defeated WPVC 13 Elite Black (Florida), 25-15, 25-18). Miami Elite topped USA South 13 Premier Purple (Florida), 25-19, 25-23.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
June 28: 14s
June 29: 15s
June 30: 12s
July 1: 11s
July 2: 13s
July 3: 17s
July 4: 16s