February 16, 2025
by Michael DeLeon
KANSAS CITY, MO -- Day 2 at the Triple Crown NIT is heating up in the 15’s division. There were some very intriguing matches brewing and we can’t contain our excitement. The Elite Division Championship Challenge matches are done and now the best of the best are battling it out in a winner-take-all Championship bracket. One of the matchups that we were on hand to witness was Tstreet 15 Chandler versus AZ Sky 15 Gold.
Both teams have some talent on their rosters that could give anyone a run for their money. AZ Sky 15 Gold comes into the Challenge Bracket after going undefeated so far and besting a very talented Houston Juniors squad in the challenge match. They have a well-balanced offense and even if they get knocked down, they get right back up and keep fighting.
Tstreet on the other hand had traveled down a slightly more difficult road to get to where they are. They went 0-3 in their opening Power Pool B but every match was highly contested. All three of their matches were against teams who will undoubtedly qualify for nationals in the Open division later this year. Despite being winless, they still earned the right to battle against another top squad in the challenge match to have the chance to still be in contention. They ended up beating a solid Dallas Skyline 15 Royal David team in straight sets and were ready for a new fresh start.
In Set 1 of the first round against AZ Sky 15 Gold, it looked like it was going to be a battle between two evenly matched squads. Neither team could get more than a two point lead as they traded big time blows against each other. Tstreet’s star outside hitter Piper Coady sent quite a few booming sharp angle attacks that scored. Superstar middle Kate De Jong definitely made her presence felt at the net and from the service line as she had a few aces to extend the lead 13-9. More strong serving from setter Riley Stringer led to a few out of system plays from AZ and strong blocking from Izabella Slavkov sealed the deal.
Gabriella Nucci turned it on for AZ 15 Gold as she slowed down the attack by getting her hands on a lot of swings at the net. Great timing on the block like this definitely may not show up in the stat book, but it allowed her teammates to turn defense into offense. It allowed hitters like left side Peyton Pearson to swing away and allow Arizona Sky to claw their way back into the match. Tstreet’s awesome libero had to have some ball magnets inserted into her arms because she was everywhere digging up everything that came her way. I also loved how she was able to use her hands to dig the high balls that were hit at her. All of that ball control kept her team in system and able to fire away. Their offense was just too much to handle in set one as they won easily 25-17.
Do you remember me saying that Arizona had some fight in them earlier? Well they definitely showed it in Set 2. Right side/setter Addison Martin stepped her game up big time as she stuff blocked and slowed down the offensive barrage from her Cali opponent. She had tons of help in the back row from libero Miyah Duran who did such a great job digging and passing for her squad. Tstreet then took a staggering lead in the middle of set two thanks to some haymaker swings from left side attacker Josslyn Jacks. She also used that strong right arm to unleash fury on some jump topspin serves that wreaked havoc on the reception of AZ Sky.
They forced AZ to call a timeout at 11-17 in Set 2. Right after the timeout, outside hitter Malaya Gibbs gave her team a shot of adrenaline with some big swings to cut into the Tstreet lead. However, they couldn’t contain middles Kate De Jong and Blake Borquist for long as they helped Tstreet take the set 25-22. This squad showed everyone what resilience really is as they are now on a roll after the tough start to the tourney. We are going to watch them closely as we think they have the firepower to do some damage moving forward in the bracket. Stay tuned for more from them!
