2007 Season History

2007 Teams

Northern Lights has 9 athletes training with the best in the country

Congrats to all of our Mizuno Northern Lights girls who after a very successful 2007 juniors season finished off the year by taking part in high performance camps and junior national teams. Below is a list of what teams the girls trained with this summer.

July 10-21, 2007 Northern Lights Europe Trip

From July 10-July 21 Northern Lights will be touring Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia & Bosnia, playing various European Youth teams who will be meeting us in various cities. The tour is being conducted by BringitUSA.com. As time permits we will also post pictures on this website.

• Day 1- Dachau & Linderhof Castle
• Day 2- Innsbruck Austria and Venice at night.
• Day 3- Venice – Pula
• Day 4- Pula
• Day 5- Pula
• Day 6- Pula to Duga Resa
• Day 7- Duga Resa & National Park
• Day 8- Tuzla Match
• Day 9/10- Sarajevo

June 29-July 8 USJO Nationals

Mizuno Northern Lights 15-1’s take 3rd in 15 Open
and Medal at the USJO Championships!

Mizuno Northern Lights 18-1’s take 3rd in 18 Open
and Medal at the USJO Championships!

Congratulations to all Northern Lights Players and Coaches for a great JO’s and an outstanding year! See you in November.

Click here for a link to the daily journal kept for the tournament.

Northern Lights USAV All Tournament Selections

Open is the highest division with 28 teams. National is the next level with 48 teams, and American is the lowest level in the tournament with 48 more teams.

June 12-21 AAU National Championship Trip

Overall Northern Lights places 10 of its 19 teams in the Gold Championship Brackets!

Mizuno Northern Lights 15-1’s win
AAU National Championships

Mizuno Northern Lights 15-2’s place 3rd at the
AAU National Championships

Mizuno Northern Lights 18-1’s place 2nd at the
AAU National Championships

Mizuno Northern Lights 16-2’s place 2nd at the
AAU National Championships

Click here for a link to the daily journal and photos kept for the tournament.

Northern Lights AAU All American Selections

June 7, 2007 – Northern Lights Year End Banquet

The 2007 Northern Lights Year End Banquet was a huge success with 580+ people attending. The Theme Baskets were awesome, the scrapbook pages impressive and Andy the Town Crier was loud! Thanks to everyone who helped with the banquet.

We also would like to extend our congratulations to Naomi Johnson who was voted by the coaches to receive the 2007 Maurice Batie Award of Excellence at the Banquet. The award was presented to Naomi by Leslie Bielski, last year’s winner. Pictures of the banquet can be viewed by clicking here

June 3, 2007 – Junior National & High Performance Teams

Congratulations to Lauren Gibbemeyer for being selected to the USA Junior National Team. Lauren will train with the team after JO’s and compete in The World Championships in Suphanburi, Thailand.

Congratulations to Northern Lights 15-1 players Tori Dixon, Lauren Grant, Molly Kreklow, and Ashley Wittman for being selected to the USAV A1 High Performance Program. This program is for the top 60 athletes in the nation born in 1992 or later. They will train in Ft Lauderdale and compete in the 2007 High Performance Championships later in July.

Congratulations to Northern Lights 17-2 player Alexa Manuel for being selected to participate in the USAV A2 High Performance Program. This program is for players who were just below the cut for the A1 & Youth National teams, and represents the next best players in the nation.

May 29, 2007 – NJC Results

Congratulations to all 4 of the Northern Lights teams who participated in the NJC Classic this past weekend. ALL of the Northern Lights teams finished at the top…the 18’s were 2nd in the prestigious 18’s Division, the 17-1’s were 7th in the 17’s Division, the 16-1’s were 6th in the 16’s Division, and the 15-1’s were 2nd in the 15’s Division.

Kresson Vreeman from 18-1’s was named Best Setter, and Lauren Gibbemeyer was named Best Middle Blocker.

Tori Dixon from 15-1’s was named named Best Middle Blocker, and Mollie Geske was named Best Libero.

We are proud that all of the Northern Lights age levels consistently finish at the top in these major events.

May 20, 2007 – 173, 121, 141 win gold & 111, 142, 163 win silver.

Congratulations to the 17-2 team for winning and the 18-2 for taking 2nd in the May 20th MVW 18’s tournament. These two teams played each other in the finals. The 16-2 team also had a great tournament taking 3rd losing to the 18-2 team in the semi finals. Northern Lights teams were 1st, 2nd, & 3rd in this touranment!

Congratulations to the 17-3 team for winning the May 20th SMV 18’s tournament in Rochester. This is the 2nd straight weekend the 173 team has won a tournament.

Congratulations to the 16-3 team for taking 2nd in the May 20th SMV 16’s tournament in Rochester. The 163 team played a long 3 game match against our 152 team (who took 3rd) and then immediately had to play the finals where they lost in two close games to SMV 15-1’s.

Congratulations to the 14-1 team for winning the May 20th SMV 16’s tournament in Rochester. The 14-1’s ended up playing the 16-4’s in the finals of this tournament.

Congratulations to the 14-2 team for placing 2nd in the May 20th SMV 14’s tournament in Rochester. The 14-2’s just ran out of energy after having to play 3 matches in a row, and lost to SMV 141 in a close finals.

Congratulations to the 12-1 team for winning and the 11-1 for taking 2nd in the May 20th SMV 12’s tournament in Rochester. These two teams played each other in the finals in a good match. The 12-2 team also had a great tournament taking 3rd losing to the 12-1 team in the semi finals. Northern Lights teams were 1st, 2nd, & 3rd in this tournament!

May 12 & 13, 2007 – 173, 162, 143 win gold & 153, 131, 132 win silver.

Congratulations to the 17-3 team for winning the May 12th Ralia 18’s tournament. The 17-3’s had a perfect day and ended it by defeating Jordon 18’s in the finals.

Congratulations to the 16-2 team for winning the coveted Rochester Cup. The 16-2’s had an exciting match against Eden Prairie in the semi finals, and then easily defeated SMV 15-1’s in the finals to take home the Cup and continue the Northern Lights tradition of winning the Rochester Cup.

Congratulations to the 13-1 team for placing 2nd in the 14’s division of the Rochester Cup. After getting off to a rocky start on Saturday, the 13-1’s came back to beat the #1 seed in the tournament and end up in the finals on Sunday against Milwaukee Sting. It was close finals, with Sting prevailing in 2 games.

Congratulations to the 14-3 team for winning the May 12th MVW 14’s tournament. The 14-3’s ended up playing the 13-2’s in the finals of this tournament.

Congratulations to the 15-3 team for placing 2nd in the May 12th 16’s MVW tournament. The 15-3’s defeated the 15-4’s in the semi finals, and then lost to Stars Athletics 161 in the finals.

Finally, even though the 14-1 team finished 17th in the Rochester Cup 16’s division, they still ended up winning their 3rd Tier bracket and brought home another trophy.

May 6, 2007 – 121, 152, 164 strike gold.

Congratulations to the 12-1 team for winning the May 5th MVW tournament. The 12’s defeated our 11-1 team in the semi finals, and then beat Faribault 12-1’s in the finals.

Congratulations to the 15-2 team for winning the May 6th MVW tournament. The 15-2’s played a great match against our 16-3 team in the finals. It went 3 games and was a very fun match to watch. Both teams should be very proud of the level of play they exhibited in that match.

Congratulations to the 16-4 team for winning the May 6th Rochester Tournament. The 16-4’s went undefeated all day and played our 15-3 team in the finals and won in 2 games.

May 5, 2007 – Northern Lights final USJO Championship Qualifications

The final tallies are in, and Northern Lights is pleased to have placed a total of 16 teams in the USJO Championships to be held this summer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Great Job Ladies!

This week Northern Lights 17-1’s received an At Large Bid for the 17 Open Division, and our 18-2’s, 17-3’s, & 16-3’s all received reallocation or trickle down bids. The final listing of MNL teams who are now qualified is:

April 22, 2007 – Northern Lights places 5 more teams in the Gold Brackets of the Northern Lights National Qualifier

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 18-1 team (picture below) for winning the Mizuno Northern Lights National Qualifier. The 18-1 team played a great finals match against Front Range. This is the 2nd Qualifier the 18-1’s have won this year.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 16-2 team (picture below) for placing 3rd in the Mizuno Northern Lights National Qualifier. The team had a great tournament losing only one match in the semi finals and then coming back to beat Lions (First Alliance) 16-1’s in the 3rd/4th place match with the entire Northern Lights Club cheering them on! This is the 2nd time the 16-2’s have finished 3rd at a National Qualifier.

The Northern Lights 17-1’s finished 5 in the Open Division Gold Championship pools. They have now come close to Qualifying in the Open Division twice.

The Northern Lights 17-3 team also was in the Gold Championship Bracket and finished 9th in the 108 team 17 Club Division. This was a great finish for the team which was missing members most of the weekend due to track and injuries.

The Northern Lights 13-1’s was our youngest team to make it into the Gold Championship Bracktes. They finished 5th overall in their first Qualifier.

Finishes for all MNL teams who attended week 2 of the Northern Lights Qualifier

April 16, 2007 – Northern Lights places 3 teams in the Gold Brackets of the Northern Lights National Qualifier

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 15-1 team for winning the Mizuno Northern Lights National Qualifier. The 15-1 team beat a good Club Fusion team in 2 games.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 14-2 team for placing 3rd in the Mizuno Northern Lights National Qualifier. The team had a great tournament losing 32-30 in the semi finals and then coming back to defeat a Milwaukee Sting 14-2’s in the 3rd/4th place match.

From left to right are: Kim Hook, Emily Schroers, Cassie Cahill, Taylor Sharp, Alyssa Webber, Suzi Spears. Row 2: Ashley Benick, Emmy Ness, Kyndra Beekman, Kelly Distad. Row 3: Megan Westlund, Kayla Bolland.

The Northern Lights 15-2 team also was in the Gold Championship Bracket and finished 5th in the 15 Club Division. This is the 2nd time the 15-2 team has placed 5th in a National Qualifier that has over 100 teams in it! Congratulations to the team for another solid performance.

Finishes for all MNL teams who attended week 1 of the Northern Lights Qualifier

April 8, 2007 – Northern Lights 17-2’s narrowly miss Qualifying for Open Nationals

Congratulations to the Northern Lights 17-2’s who finished 6th in the 17 Open Division of the Big South Qualifier this past weekend. Unfortunately 5th place was the lowest the Open Bids trickled down to, and in the 5/6th place match they lost to MAVA who had already previously qualified. The 17-2 team had a great tournament winning several key matches including one against Piedmont who had previously won the 17 Club division in Colorado.

The 17-3 team also attended the Big South Qualifier. They ended up finishing 33rd out of 120 teams, and had an overall match record of 6-2. They narrowly missed getting into the Gold Bracket because of a tie breaking game on Saturday.

Both teams did a great job at the Big South Qualifier!

April 1, 2007 – Northern Lights Qualifies 4 more teams for USJO Championships

Northern Lights continued its dominance of the Regional Championships on Sunday by qualifying 4 more teams, bringing the total number of teams qualified to 13…..the most ever qualified by one club in North Country Region.

It was an exciting day in the 16’s age division. All four Northern Lights 16’s teams made it to the Gold Championship bracket. The 16-4 team finished 8th, the 16-3 team finished 6th, and the 16-1 & 16-2 teams played each other in the Championship match.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 16-1 team for winning the North Country Regional Qualifier. This win qualified them for the 16 National division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis. The 16-1 team defeated M1 161 in the semi finals.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 16-2 team for placing 2nd in the North Country Regional Qualifier. This qualified them for the 16 American division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis. The 16-2 team defeated a very solid MN Select 161 team in the semi finals in 3 exciting games.

The 17’s age division was no less exciting. The day started off with 17-4’s defeating 17-3’s and ending up 2-1 in pool play, normally a solid lock on 2nd place. But the 17-3’s had other plans, and they beat MN Select 17-1’s to force a 3 way tie in the pool. The 17-3’s then took their revenge on the 17-4’s in a one game playoff, which put the 17-3’s into the Gold Bracket. The 17-3’s finished 6th overall, losing in a close 3 game match to Pipestone. The 17-4’s finished 11th overall. Meanwhile the 17-1’s and 17-2’s easily cruised into the Gold Bracket and the semi finals. In the semi finals 17-1’s and 17-2’s were forced to play each other, with 17-1 winning. The 17-2’s were disappointed, but went back to work and easily defeated MN Select 17-1’s to take 3rd place. This left the big show down between Northern Lights 17-1’s and M1 17-1’s for the Championship.

It was a great match. Game 1 went 34-32 to M1. Game 2 went 25-15 to Northern Lights. Game 3 and the match went 15-10 to Northern Lights 17-1’s.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 17-1 team for winning the North Country Regional Qualifier. This win qualified them for the 17 National division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 17-2 team for placing 3rd in the North Country Regional Qualifier. This win qualified them for the 17 American division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis.

March 31, 2007 – Northern Lights Qualifies 7 more teams for USJO Championships

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 12-1 team for winning the North Country Regional Qualifier. This win qualified them for the 12 National division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 11-1 team for placing 3rd at the North Country Regional Qualifier. This qualified them for the 12 American division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 13-1 team for winning the North Country Regional Qualifier. This win qualified them for the 13 National division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 13-2 team for placing 3rd at the North Country Regional Qualifier. This qualified them for the 13 American division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 14-1 team for placing 2nd at the North Country Regional Qualifier. This qualified them for the 14 American division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 15-2 team for placing 2nd at the North Country Regional Qualifier. This qualified them for the 15 American division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis.

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 15-3 team for placing 3rd at the North Country Regional Qualifier. This qualified them for the 15 American division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis.

March 18, 2007 – Northern Lights places 2 teams in the Gold Brackets of Colorado Crossroads!

18-1’s 1st

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 18-1 team for winning the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier. This win qualified them for the 18 Open division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis. The 18-1 team played Vision in the finals and won in 3 great games.

From left to right are: Adam Beamer, Nicole Anderson, Brook Dieter, Lauren Gibbemeyer, Naomi Johnson, Leah Bjerke, Allie Oelke, Bryan Kellen, . Row 2: Susan Halverson, Tawny Dahmes, Hailey Cowles, Kresson Vreeman.

17-4’s 2nd

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 17-4 team for placing 2nd in the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier Select Division. The 17-4 team lost to Williamson County 17-1 in 3 close games.

From left to right are: Sandy Suapaia, Kate Otten, Lauren Olson, Katy Braaten, Meghan Gilbert, Carolyn Newstrom, Megan Stinchfield, Kara Buffington, Adam Marschall. Row 2: Krista Anderson, Rebecca Wade, Leah Beekman.

Finishes for all MNL teams who attended week 2 of Colorado Crossroads

March 12, 2007 – Northern Lights places 3 teams in the Gold Brackets of Colorado Crossroads.

15-1’s 1st

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 15-1 team for winning the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier. This win qualified them for the 15 Open division at the USJOV National Championships to be held late June in Minneapolis. The 15-1 team beat a very good SCVC (Southern California Volleyball Club) team in 2 great games.

From left to right are: Chad Becker, Elly Braaten, Lauren Grant, Tori Dixon, Ashley Wittman, Elen Senf, Kari Raymond. Row 2: Molly Kreklow, Danielle Dombeck, Mollie Geske, Amanda Konetchy, Christine Bielski.

16-2’s 3rd

Congratulations to the Mizuno Northern Lights 16-2 team for placing 3rd in the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier. The team had a great tournament and defeated a good IPVA 16-1 team in the 3rd/4th place match.

From left to right: Sunny Choh, Brooke Lewko, Alecia Stewart, Catherine Hermann, Jessica Speckman, Katie Froehle, Rosey Cashman. Row 2: Sophie McBride, Grace Sanders, Lauren Wigen. Row 3: Karlee Lursen, Shannon Byers, Christina Hanf.

The Northern Lights 15-2 team also was in the Gold Championship Bracket and finished 5th in the 15 Club Division losing in a close 3 game match to advance to the semis.

Finishes for all MNL teams who attended week 1 of Colorado Crossroads

Feb 19, 2007 – Northern Lights places 4 teams in the finals of the Omaha Presidents’ Day Classic, and wins 3 of them!

Congratulations to the Northern Lights 18-1, 17-2, 16-2, & 15-1 teams for making it to the finals in the Omaha Presidents Day Classic.

The 18-1 team won the 18 Open Division by defeating OVA 18-1’s in 3 games.

The 17-2 team won the 17 Club Division by defeating KC Power 17-1’s in 2 games

The 16-2 team took 2nd place the 16 Club Division in a close 3 game match against Kansas Networks 16-1.

The 15-1 team won the 15 Open Division by defeating MAVS 15-1 in 2 games.

Northern Lights also placed 4 other teams in the Gold Championship Divisions at the Omaha tournament. The 18-2 team finished 9th in 18 Club, 1the 17-1 team finished 3rd in the 17 Open Division, the 16-4 team finished 9th in 16 Club, and the 15-3 team finished 3rd in the 15 Club Division. Overall Northern Lights had 8 teams in the Gold Championship Brackets!

The results for all of the teams are:

Feb 18, 2007 – Northern Lights 12’s win NCR Presidents Day Tournament

Congratulations to the Northern Lights 12-1 team which won the North Country Region Presidents Day Tournament held in Minneapolis. The 12-1’s defeated Chaska in the finals.

Northern Lights also placed 2 other teams in the Gold Championship Divisions at the NCR Tournament. The 13-2 team placed 5th, and the 14-3 team also placed 5th.

Results for all NL teams participating in the NCR Presidents Day tournament are:

January 2007 – Hailey Cowles – Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year.

Congratulations to Hailey Cowles for being selected as the 2006-07 Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year.

Hailey had an outstanding year at Eden Prairie High School as team captain and outside hitter.

Hailey played on the Northern Lights 17-1 National Championship team last year, and this year is on our 18-1 team. She will be attending the University of Minnesota next year and continuing her volleyball career as a Golden Gopher. Way to go Hailey!

MLK Info

The Northern Lights MLK Scrimmage schedule is being finalized. It is scrimmage format. There will be a one hour running clock. The scrimmage will start at 1:00pm on Saturday and the last round for Saturday will start at 7:00. Sunday will start at 8:30am and that last round will start at 2:30pm.

Clubs attending are: Northern Lights, Iowa Rockets, Milwaukee Sting, Sports Performance, Minnesota Select, Wisconsin Power, Nebraska Elite, Club Fusion, and IPVA. Age groups involved are 15-18.

This is a scrimmage and as such there will be no admission charge. The scrimmage in its entirety will be held at Midwest Volleyball Warehouse, located at 14050 Judicial Road, Burnsville, MN 55337

Alumni Holiday 4’s Playdate

All Northern Lights alumni who graduated from the club as seniors are invited to attend our annual Holiday 4’s playdate on Wednesday December 27, from 6-8pm.

Its a great time to see some of your former Northern Lights teammates, and also a chance to meet and play with our current players.

We look forward to seeing you!

Nov 14, 2006 – Lauren Gibbemeyer – Pioneer Press Player of the Year.

Northern Lights is pleased to congratulate Lauren Gibbemeyer who was selected as the 2006 St. Paul Pioneer Press Player of the Year!

Lauren ended her career at Cretin Derham Hall High School with 1051 kills! . She played this past club season on the Northern Lights 17-1 National Championship team and will play her final Jr club season on Northern Lights 18-1.

November 12, 2006

Congratulations to the 140 new players selected for the 15’s – 18’s Northern Lights 2007 teams. More than 220 attended the tryout and made the choices very difficult. The first practice for the 15’s-17’s will be on Monday November 13th. The 15’s will start with SAQ at 6:00pm, then they will take the court after that. The 16’s will start with SAQ at 7:00pm, followed by court time. The 17’s will start on the court at 7:00pm and will do their SAQ intro about 8pm. All three groups should end at 9:30 on Monday.

The 18’s first practice will be on Wednesday at 5:30 pm.

For those of you who have your High School Volleyball Banquets, we do not expect you to be at practice and we will see you at the next practice.

A list of the players selected can be viewed by clicking on the 2007 Teams link on the left.

Nov 8, 2006 Hailey Cowles – Ms Minnesota Player of the Year

Northern Lights is pleased to congratulate Hailey Cowles who was selected as the 2006 Baden Ms. Minnesota Volleyball Player of the Year!

Hailey is coached by Chad Becker (Northern Lights 151 Lead coach) at Eden Prairie High School. She played this past club season on the Northern Lights 17-1 National Championship team.

November 8, 2006

Northern Lights would like to congratulate the 10 players from the club who were selected to the All State Teams at the State Tournament Banquet. Those players are:

We also would like to congratulate Lynne McDonald, Northern Lights 16-1 coach, who was inducted into the Minnesota Volleyball Hall of Fame tonight. Not only has Lynne coached at all levels and played internationally, but she was one of the first players to play in and win the first Minnesota State High School Tournament.

Nov 6, 2006 Hailey Cowles – Metro Player of the Year

Northern Lights would like to extend our congratulations to Hailey Cowles of Eden Prairie who was selected as the 2006 Metro Player of the Year. Hailey played on our 17-1 National Championship team where she also earned USAV All Tournament honors.

Nov 6, 2006 All Metro Players

Northern Lights would like to extend our congratulations to the 8 Northern Lights Players who were selected to the Star Tribune All Metro Teams. Five of the All Metro First Team members were Northern Lights players.

Northern Lights adds another staff member

Northern Lights is pleased to anounce that Dave Boos of the University of Minnesota will work with some of our outsides and middles at our specialized position practices. We are really excited to have Dave working with some of our players and teaching them some of the higher level college moves!

Nov 4, 11’s-14’s tryouts a huge success

Congratulations to the 100 new players selected for the Northern Lights 2007 teams. More than 140 attended the tryout and made the choices difficult. The first practice for the 11’s-14’s will be on Monday November 6th.