IA HP CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

At the end of July, the Iowa High Performance program took seven teams to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to play in the USA Volleyball All-Star Championships. The USA Volleyball All-Star Championships is a tournament in which teams are comprised of the Region’s best players competing against the best of other regions, as well as other countries! The tournament uses modified FIVB International Rules, with the biggest changes being only 6 subs and liberos cannot serve.

The Iowa HP teams gathered at Grand View University on July 17^th to meet and train with their respective teams. At training, the teams not only learned what their coaches expected but also how their team played together. Throughout the training experience, the athletes became familiar with the international rules by scrimmaging other teams as well as collegiate athletes. Early the next morning the teams boarded buses and started their journey to Florida. Upon arriving in Florida, the teams prepared for the tournament by doing some team bonding, watching film, and getting some rest. Athletes woke up on the second day in Florida and walked over to the Convention Center for their one last practice and a few scrimmages.

The Girls 13 Black team started the tournament with a challenging Badger Region team, and unfortunately lost the match 0-3. Following that loss, they then won the remainder of their pool play matches 3-0 against Great Plains 13 Red, Great Plains 13 Blue & Oklahoma Region. They finished 2^nd in their pool, and in the challenge match, they had to play another team who was all too familiar…the Iowa HP 13 Red team! The Black team took home the victory 3-0 to face Team GEVA in the opening round of the Gold Bracket. 13 Black won that match 3-0, but unfortunately then dropped their semi-final match to a tough Team Florida, 0-3. Finally in the Bronze medal match the 13 Black team matched up against Badger Region 13s again! This time Iowa HP wasn’t going down without a fight! They battled through 5 sets but unfortunately, came up short in set 5, losing the last set by 2 points. They finished 4^th overall!

The Girls 13 Red team also started the tournament with a difficult match against Arizona Region, losing 1-3. The remainder of pool play was no easier. The 13 Red team lost to Team GEVA, 0-3; and Team Florida, 0-3. They had a hard-fought victory over North Country Region by beating them 3-2! This meant they were the 4^th place team in pool play and as stated earlier would face Iowa 13 Black in their Challenge match. 13 Red would face Oklahoma in the opening round of the Silver Bracket and was able to beat them 3-0! In the finals of the Silver Bracket, they once again met up with North Country Region! Unfortunately, they weren’t as lucky this match and lost a heart breaker 2-3, to finish 8^thoverall!

In the 15u International Division, the Iowa 15 Black team faced some of the tournament’s toughest competition. They started the tournament with two big wins over North Country Region Red team, 3-2; and a 3-0 victory over Team GEVA! Day 2 the competition became much more challenging. The 15 Black team would drop the next 3 matched 0-3 to Arizona Region, North Texas, and Southern Region 15 Red. After a few difficult matches, 15 Black beat Evergreen Region 3-1! In the last match of pool play the 15 Black team faced a tough Florida Region team losing 0-3. And unfortunately based on where they finished in pool play, the same two teams had to turn around 4 hours later and play each other once again. Iowa 15 Black improved but unfortunately Florida was too strong, again beating Iowa 0-3. The 15 Black team finished in 6^th place in the 15U International Division!

Iowa 15 Red had a highly successful tournament in the 15u National Division. The 15 Red team went undefeated in Pool Play beating Gulf Coast Region and New England Region 3-0, and Great Plains 15 Red 3-1, to lock up a 1^st place finish in their pool. They then went into a challenge bracket before being seeded into their final brackets. They started by beating a tough Team Florida 3-0 and that was followed by a challenging victory over Southern 15 White, 3-2. However, they weren’t quite as successful against Great Lakes Region, dropping the match 0-3. With that loss, the 15 Red became the 2^nd seed in the Gold Bracket. In the semi-final match they faced Puget Sound Region and battled to a 3-1 victory with each set within 3 points! Moving onto the finals they would once again face Great Lakes Region. The 15 Red team put up a good fight but ultimately ended up losing to Great Lakes by a score of 1-3, ending the tournament with a Silver Medal!

In the 17u National Division the Iowa HP Girls 17 Black team also had a great tournament. They started off their tournament with 3, 3-0 victories over Southern Region, New England Region, and Gulf Coast Region. They then met their match, the Oklahoma Region, suffering their first loss in arguably the most intense match of the tournament. In this 2 hour and 30-minute battle, Oklahoma Region edged out Iowa to win 2-3. Going to their challenge match Iowa beat Great Plains 17 Red, 3-0. That win put them in the Gold Bracket, where no match would be easy. In the Gold Bracket quarterfinals, 17 Black had their hands full with a 3-2 victory over Ohio Valley Region and had to face a highly seeded Great Lakes Region. Again, they fought to a 3-1 victory by out working their opponents. In the finals they faced a familiar foe, Oklahoma Region. And again, it was another 5-set match with the teams exchanging big blows. Ultimately, 17 Black came up just short of the victory and walked away with a Silver Medal!

The Iowa HP Boys 17 Black had a hard tournament, with each boys’ team being highly competitive. The 17 Black team opened the tournament with a difficult Hoosier Region, dropping the match 0-3. They then faced an Arizona team and while they fought hard, ultimately ended up dropping the match 2-3. The 17 Black showed resilience by beating a team a little closer to home, North Country Region. The match went the distance and Iowa won 3-2. The boys then faced two straight 0-3 losses to Ohio Valley Region & Western Empire Region. The 17 Black team ended pool play with a 3-0 victory over Northern California! They advanced to the Silver Bracket where they ended the tournament on two straight 0-3 loses to Southern and again a challenging Arizona team! The Boys 17 Black team ended with a 12^th place finish overall.

The last team on the roster for Iowa HP was our Boys 19 Black team! The 19 black team opened the tournament with a 3-1 win over Northern California, but unfortunately lost their next four matches. They battled to a 2-3 loss against North Texas, and a 1-3 loss to Badger Region. They would then face two extremely challenging opponents in Great Lakes Region & Arizona Region, both 0-3 losses. The team would make it out of pool play on a high with a 3-0 win over Gulf Coast Region. In the Silver Bracket the team would face two difficult losses to Rocky Mountain Region and North Texas Region. Both were 5 set matches and hard battles. The Boys 19 Black team finished the tournament in 10^th place.

Overall, Florida was not an easy business trip, however, Iowa HP saw their fair share of success. Iowa High Performance will be back in action this upcoming season! The 2024 tryout schedule, and camp dates will be posted soon to the Iowa HP social media sites. And the Iowa Region will host the 2024 USA Volleyball All-Star Championships in Des Moines, IA at Hy-Vee Hall, and Wells Fargo Arena! Join us at a tryout for your chance to attend our Iowa HP Camp in June as well as for your chance to represent Iowa at the All-Star Championships! For more information on Iowa High Performance please visit our website or reach out to Molly at Molly@iavbreg.org.