February 15, 2025
by Adam Burns
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sometimes, competing close to home is just what a team needs. The KC Power made the most of their home-court advantage with a dominant 3-0 start Saturday morning in Power Pool play at the Triple Crown NIT inside the Kansas City Convention Center.
“Our girls like the theatrics of it all, so we’re trying to act like we’re coming from a hotel and go to a team dinner even though most of us only live 15 minutes from here,” said KC Power coach Taylor Welding.
The perfect start to the tournament was much needed for the majority of the players who returned from last year’s KC Power squad, which under-performed at the TC NIT, according to outside hitter Piper Hudson.
“It’s really nice to go 3-0 on the first day, especially after we did not do as well last year. It gives us a great start for the weekend,” Hudson said.
Her teammate agreed.
“It feels really good,” Kayla Allen said. “We’re working on being a team and working together and getting better.”
Meanwhile, coach Welding was satisfied but slightly concerned. For a good reason.
“It’s a little scary because they haven’t dropped a set this season,” Welding said. “As a coach, you just want them to just let it happen and get it done with. But they keep fighting. Our middle got hurt (today) and we had to place two girls on the front row who had not played there yet. They just really rallied against a really good team which was awesome to see.”
That team was Tstreet Volleyball Club out of Irvine, California. KC Power topped Tstreet 25-19 in both sets for the victory, largely thanks to a late 8-1 run in the second set to break away for good.
“They did a really good job late,” Welding said. “For us to be able to rally with them and get a kill before they could was really great to see.”
KC Power also beat Skyline (25-22,25-21) and Drive Nation (25-21, 30-28) on Saturday to set themselves up nicely for the rest of the tourney.
“Our goal is to stay disciplined and finish in the top three,” said Hudson, who resides in Oak Grove, Missouri, nearly 30 miles east of downtown Kansas City. “Our group is really special. We have a lot of talented girls on our team who can do a little bit of everything. Two of our players had to step up and play in the middle when a teammate got hurt and they did a great job; we just fought together, and we all just play together so well.”
The goal the rest of the way at the TC NIT?
“To stay disciplined and finish in the top three,” Hudson simply said.
