Texas Advantage Volleyball’s top team defeats Texas Image in loaded DFW national final
In the final tournament of the 2018-19 club volleyball season, it was the top team from Texas Advantage taking down Texas Image’s top team 2-0 in the Open Division of the USA Volleyball Girls 18s Junior National Championships on Sunday at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.
Both teams are loaded with some of the best volleyball players from Dallas-Fort Worth.
TAV 18 Black won the 48-team Open Division over rival Texas Image 18 Asics Black 25-22, 26-24. TAV erased a six-point deficit in the second set. Frisco Liberty 2020 outside hitter and Minnesota commit Jenna Wenaas was named MVP.
Wenaas and TAV defeated Coast 18-1 (Southern California) 25-18, 25-13 in the quarterfinals and then knocked off Arizona Storm 18 Thunder 25-22, 22-25, 15-12 in the semis. They finished the tournament with a 9-1 record.
Texas Image entered the final with an unblemished mark in its previous eight matches. They beat Minnesota Select 20-25, 25-21, 15-10 in the quarterfinals and SG Elite 18 Roshambo (Southern California) 22-25, 25-20, 15-5 in the semis.
TAV ROSTER
Madi Whitmire, Prosper
Haley Hoang, Plano West
Emma Clothier, Hebron
McKenzie Nichols, Carroll
Symone Wesley, Grapevine
Morgan Christon, Allen
CiCi Hecht, Prosper
Makenna Kelty, McKinney Boyd
Satasha Kostelecky, Decatur
Aleia Wilborn, McKinney
Mykayla Myers, Coppell
IMAGE ROSTER
Elizabeth Carroll, Martin
Jillian Dits, Colleyville Heritage
Audrey Nalls, Waxahachie
Allie Wells, Waxahachie
Molly Phillips, Mansfield
Azhani Tealer, South Grand Prairie
Rachel Tullos, Guyer
Sarah Morehead, Aledo
Londyn Gray, Weatherford
Sophia Miller, Lake Highlands
Emily Merrick, Flower Mound
18 USA Division
In the 18 USA Division final, another DFW team, TAV 18 Blue defeated VC United 181 Elite (Great Lakes) 27-25, 24-26, 15-7.
TAV 18 Blue went 9-0 in the 18 USA Division, but went three sets in five of nine matches. They beat The Diff 18 Black (Rocky Mountain) 25-20, 25-23 in the quarterfinals and then rallied to beat CTV 18 Elite (North Texas) 16-25, 25-16, 19-17 in the semis.
TAV BLUE ROSTER
Bella Burns, LD Bell
Tea Gayden, Flower Mound
Kelby Buchanan, Midlothian
Georgiana Dunn, Carroll
Alex Griffiths, Keller
Libby Hinton, Glen Rose
Gabriele White, Flower Mound
Abby Butler, Flower Mound
Gracie Sutherland, Lovejoy
Shea Slusser, Guyer
Tessa Francoise, LD Bell
Christina Cowsert, Lewisville
This story was originally published April 28, 2019 at 6:58 PM.
