Every year the Northeast Qualifier is held in Philadelphia, PA. The tournament has such massive participation that it's broken down by age group and spread out over three weekends - with some of the girls playing during Easter and Passover. First up are the 18s, followed by the 16/17 year olds, then comes the 13-15s. Now that all of the age groups have finished their competition, we have captured all of their recaps here. Read on!
GIRLS 18s - March 24-26
18 Red
With a bid to Nationals securely in hand, the NEQs are all about fine tuning their game to prepare for the big tournament.
On the first day of the tournament, the girls dropped matches to Forza and Rockwood Thunder before picking up a win over Dulles in their third match. The second day took a similar path as the first day with the girls dropping matches to VB Rags and PGH Elite before picking up a straight sets win over Whirlwind.
The girls had one more match to play on the second day as they were in a 5-team pool, which they dropped to EC Power in three sets. On the final day of the tournament, the girls dropped their opening playoff round match to Spiral. The girls are now getting set to compete in the USA Volleyball Junior National Championships in Anaheim CA later this month.
Talent abounds on the Girls 18 White Northh team - and not just on the court. Pictured above, Maria Vasiliou performs the National Anthem at the Philadelphia NEQs.
18 White North
Like the 18 Red, the Girls 18 White North team already have their bid to Nationals, so this tournament is all about fine tuning their game to prepare for the national tournament.
The girls came out strong picking up two straight wins over Surge and CEVA before dropping a match to Coastal. On the second day of the tournament, the girls dropped all of their matches, falling to 18 Elite, Renaissance, and Brandywine respectively.
The girls qualified for the Bronze playoff bracket, where they defeated AVVC in the first round (15-25, 25-20, 15-11). In the second round they faced CBVBC, who they also defeated in three sets (25-14, 20-25, 15-12). From there the girls advanced to the Bronze bracket finals – winning in straight sets over MDJRS 18 Elite (25-16, 27-25). Nice job by the 18 White North as they too will now prepare to compete in the USA Volleyball Junior National Championships in Anaheim, CA later this month.
18 White South
The Girls 18 White South team competed in the American division at the NEQs. On the first day of the tournament the girls dropped their matches to Metro, Husky, and Synergy respectively.
On the second day of the tournament, they fell to Horseshoe and Pinnacle before picking up a win over SOMD in straight sets (25-19, 25-18). This set the girls up for their first playoff match on the last day of the tournament, which they fell to SERV in three, very competitive sets (23-25, 27-25, 15-9).
The NEQs were the last tournament of the Girls 18 White South club careers and all of us at Academy would like to wish the girls best of luck as they move to the next chapter in their life. Many of the girls will be continuing to play volleyball at the collegiate level and we ask that you please keep in touch. Congratulations girls!
GIRLS 16s & 17s - March 31 - April 2
The Easter Bunny made a special visit to the NEQs - Just ask Mary Dexter! Word is that the bunny led the tournament in Digs.
16 Red
The Girls 16 Red opened their tournament in a three-team pool, dropping matches to High Performance St. Louis and AJV.
The girls had a very strong second day of the tournament as they went undefeated, picking up wins over DVA Aston, Coastal, and NC Elite.
For their strong play, they earned a spot in the Bronze playoff bracket where they defeated Princeton 16-1 in two straight sets (25-20, 25-20) before falling to the ECVC Hurricanes in the second round of the playoff bracket.
16 White North
The Girls 16 White North opened the tournament by going 1-2 on the first day of pool play, dropping matches to EC Power, and Madfrog before picking up a win over the ECE Cyclones (25-19, 26-24).
The girls also went 1-2 on the second day of the tournament as they defeated ASEVC (25-20, 25-22) and fell to Club SyrV and DVA Aston.
On the last day of the tournament, the girls won their playoff bracket by defeating the MDJRS 16 Elite (26-24, 23-25, 15-11) and Phoenix (19-25, 25-12, 15-11).
16 White South
The Girls 16 White South opened the tournament by playing hard in facing some very tough teams and falling to 0-3 on the day.
On the second day, the girls continued to battle ad they fell to Dulles, Ignit, and Phoenix.
In their playoff bracket, the girls picked up a big win over BRYC winning 25-21 in the first set, then following it up with an emphatic win in the second 25-15.
17 Red
The Girls 17 Red team opened the tournament by posting a record of 1-2 during the first day of pool play, picking up a three-set victory over Ballyhoo (25-21, 19-25, 16-8). Their day wasn’t done after pool play as the girls had to also play a crossover match, in which they fell to Revolution.
The girls also went 1-2 on the second day of pool play, falling to AP Asics and Brandywine, while picking up a win over ATTACK in two straight sets (25-23, 25-16).
On the third day of the tournament, the girls fell to Beach Elite in their playoff bracket.
17White
The Girls 17 White team also opened their tournament with a 1-2 record, picking up a win over NVA in three sets (18-25, 25-16, 15-12).
The girls a a great second day of the tournament as they went 2-1 in pool play – picking up wins over the CT Stars (25-20, 25-12) and Mill City (25-16, 25-20) while falling to Rocky Select. In their playoff bracket, the girls fell to Allegro in three sets.
GIRLS 13-15s - April 6-8
13 Red
The mighty 13s! The Girls 13 Red opened the tournament with a 3-0 record as they picked up wins over EC Power, Asphalt Green, and BRYC – all in straight sets.
The second day of the tournament, the girls continued their winning ways as they also went 3-0, picking up wins over Team VB Rags, Sportime, and WPVC – also all in straight sets.
The girls took their perfect 6-0 record in to the Gold Playoff bracket, where the fell to Asics Willowbrook. For the entire tournament, the girls finished 5th out of 45 teams – Great job!!
14 Red
The Girls 14 Red team opened the tournament with a 1-2 record. After dropping matches to TAV and MDJRS, the girls picked up a big win over NVVA in three sets (25-18, 19-25, 17-15).
They carried that momentum in to the second day as they went 2-1 for the day, picking up wins over NYC Juniors (25-19, 25-23) and Liberty Elite (25-22, 25-13), but falling to AP Asics.
The girls qualified for the Bronze Playoff bracket where they defeated the EC Power in the first round (23-25, 25-20, 15-11) be for falling to AP Asics in the second round.
14 White
The Girls 14 White team opened the tournament with two-straight wins and going 2-1 during the first round of pool play. Their wins came over CSA (25-14, 25-16) and Columbia Condors (25-19, 16-25, 16-14).
During the second day of the tournament the girls dropped their matches to OT, TAV, and Blocksport. The girls qualified for the Bronze “A” Playoff bracket where they fell to AP in the first round.
15 Red
The Girls 15 Red team had a tough first day of the tournament as they dropped all three of their matches with A5, Excel, and Metro.
The girls bounced back the next day as they picked up a win over Dulles in straight sets (25-13, 25-15) and going 1-2 on the day.
In their playoff bracket during the third day of the tournament, the girls picked up a win over Capital City Elite in straight sets (25-12, 25-21) before falling to the NYC Juniors in three sets in the finals for their bracket.
15 White North
The Girls 15 White North team also had a rough first day of the tournament as they dropped all three of their matches with Premier, Rocky Select 15s, and CPVBC.
The girls regrouped for they second day of the tournament as they finished the day with a. 1-2 record, picking up a win over AVA in three sets (25-20, 15-25, 15-10).
In their playoff bracket, the girls defeated the Surge 15 Lime in three sets (10-25, 25-20, 15-13). From there they advanced to play CJVA – where they fell in three sets.
15 White South
The Girls 15 White South team also had a rough first day of the tournament as they dropped all three of their matches with Beach Elite, Instinct, and PGH Elite.
Just like the 15 Red and 15 White North, the girls regrouped during the second day of the tournament as they went 2-1, picking up wins over CPVBC in three sets (23-25, 25-18, 15-7) and Dynamix in two straight (25-23, 25-14).
In their playoff bracket, the girls fell in the first round to EC Power.