Report By USA Volleyball’s Bill Kauffman

The 30th USA Junior Olympic Girls’ Volleyball Championships, hosted by USA Volleyball at the Miami Beach Convention Center, crowned three champions in 17-and-under age division brackets on Wednesday as the 10-day event runs from June 26 to July 5.

Miz Long Beach 17 Mizuno (Southern California) topped Northern Lights 17-1 (North Country) 25-20, 29-27, 25-22 in the gold-medal match of the 17 Open Division. Miz Long Beach 17 Mizuno defeated Wave 17 Jeanne Spalding (Southern California) 25-19, 26-24, 25-22 in the semifinals and Sunshine 17 (Southern California) 25-22, 25-21, 25-16 in the quarterfinals. Northern Lights 17-1 reached the title match with a 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 quarterfinal win over Texas Tornados 17 Mizuno and a 25-22, 25-20, 25-15 victory over Vision 17 Gold (Northern California) in the semifinals.

CVC 17 Black (Ohio Valley) captured the 17 National Division title with a hard-fought 25-23, 26-24 victory over Sports Shack 17-1 (Southern California) in the championship match. CVC 17 Black downed Club West 17 Elite (Southern California) 25-21, 22-25, 15-9 in the semifinals and City Beach 17 Black (Northern California) 25-22, 25-22 in the quarterfinals. Sports Shack 17-1 reached the finals by defeating Legacy 17-National (Lakeshore) 26-24, 25-21 in the quarterfinals and AJV 17 Mizuno (Lone Star) 20-25, 25-18, 15-8 in the semifinals.

951 Elite 17-1 (Southern California) earned the 17 American Division title with a 25-22, 25-15 victory over Ohio Elite 171 (Ohio Valley). 951 Elite 17-1 advanced through the gold bracket with a 25-10, 25-20 win over CincyClassics 17Black (Ohio Valley) in the quarterfinals and Goldenwest 17 Asics (Southern California) 25-27, 25-14, 16-14 in the semifinals. Ohio Elite 171 topped OVA 17 Asics (Florida) in the quarterfinals and SG ELITE 17Roshambo (Southern California) 25-21, 24-26, 15-10 in the semifinals to reach the gold-medal match.

Without any title being settled on July 2, the 15 Open, 15 National and 15 American Division champions will be the next group to be declared winners on July 3.

This year’s USA Junior Olympic Girls’ Volleyball Championships includes 9,500 athletes from 788 teams. The tournament will crown 19 champions in age divisions ranging from 12-18. Open Division titles are disputed for the 14s, 15s, 16s, 17s and 18s, while National Division and Open Division contests championships for all seven age groups.