2023 Season History2023-08-04T09:48:32-05:00

2023 Season History

2023 Teams

 

US Junior National Championships | June 28 – July 6, 2023 | Chicago, Illinois | Girls 14’s – 17’s

Northern Lights placed 3 of our 9 teams into the Gold Championship Brackets at the US Junior National Championships in Chicago, Illinois and medaled 1 of them.  Northern Lights had 4 All Tournament player selections. Northern Lights had more teams finish in the top 10 than any other Minnesota club team! #MNLproud

4 Northern Lights All Tournament Selections

Player Name Team
Maddy Dombeck Northern Lights 17-1
Reese Ptacek Northern Lights 17-1
Mesiaya Bettis Northern Lights 16-1
Ava Ball Northern Lights 16-1

Final Finishes

Team Final Finish Division
17-1 3rd 17 National
17-2 29th 17 USA
16-1 5th 16 Open
16-2 13th 16 Liberty
16-Red 19th 16 American
15-1 19th 15 National
15-2 35th 15 American
14-1 5th 14 National
14-2 23rd 14 Liberty

Northern Lights 17-1 | 3rd Place


US Junior National Championships | June 17 – June 17, 2023 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Girls 11’s – 13’s

Team Final Finish Division
13-1 19th 13 National
13-2 55th 13 American
13-Black 9th 13 Patriot
12-1 35th 12 National
12-2 35th 12 American
11-1 27th 11 National


AAU National Championships Trip (11s – 17s) | June 12 – 30, 2023

Northern Lights placed 14 of our 23 teams into the Gold Championship Brackets at the AAU National Championships and medaled 4 of them. Three teams were in their division finals and all three won their championship match!  NL had 13 AAU All Tournament selections. It was an amazing run at AAU Nationals for Northern Lights!

15 Northern Lights AAU All Tournament & MVP Selections

Player Name Team
Brynlee Opland Northern Lights 13-1
Gabrielle Weidemann – MVP Northern Lights 13-1
Ella Zieske Northern Lights 13-1
Kaelyn Bjorklund Northern Lights 14-1
Clara Christ Northern Lights 14-1
Ellie Utecht – MVP Northern Lights 14-1
Clara Keaveny Northern Lights 15-2
Izzy Keaveny
Northern Lights 15-2
Anna Johannson Northern Lights 16-Red
Avery Klein Northern Lights 17-2
Lola Beck Northern Lights 17-Red
Cassie Gospodarek – MVP Northern Lights 17-Red
Molly Klembarsky Northern Lights 17-Red

Final Finishes

Team Final Finish Division
17-1 9th 17 Open
17-2 5th 17 Premier
17-Black 71st 17 Club
17-Red 1st 17 Aspire
16-1 9th 16 Open
16-2 9th 16 Premier
16-Black 19th 16 Club
16-Red 5th 16 Aspire
16-White 9th 16 Spirit
16-Xenon 9th 16 Classic
15-1 27th 15 Open
15-2 3rd 15 Club
15-Black 27th 15 Aspire
15-Red 75th 15 Aspire
15-White 126th 15 Spirit
15-Xenon 45th 15 Classic
14-1 1st 14 Open
14-2 9th 14 Club
14-Black 19th 14 Aspire
13-1 1st 13 Premier
13-2 50th 13 Club
12-1 5th 12 Premier
11-1 9th 11 Club

Northern Lights 13-1 | 1st Place

Northern Lights 14-1 | 1st Place

Northern Lights 17-Red | 1st Place

Northern Lights 15-2 | 3rd Place


Northern Lights Banquet 

The Banquet was an amazing event with close to 900 people in attendance. It was the second year of the Marlon Johnson Award of Excellence (which replaces the Maurice Batie Award from previous years).

Congratulations to our Northern Lights Coach, Lisa Slinde, on receiving the Marlon Johnson Award of Coach Excellence! You are so deserving and we appreciate you!

Congratulations to our player, Teagan Timperley, on receiving the Marlon Johnson Award of Player Excellence! You are such a great person on and off the court, Teagan!


Prep Dig Gauntlet 2023 | Milwaukee, WI 

We had seven teams compete in the Prep Dig Gauntlet in Milwaukee, WI over Memorial Day Weekend! Our teams faced some great competition and four of our teams placed in their divisions.

14-1 finished 2nd in 14 Open 🥈
15-1 finished 3rd in 15 Open 🥉
15-2 finished 7th in 15 Open
16-1 finished 3rd in 16 Open 🥉
16-2 finished 10th in 16 Open
17-1 finished 2nd in 17 Open 🥈
17-2 finished 6th in 17 Open


Molten Cup 2023

A big congratulations to our teams that competed in the Molten Cup; Northern Lights had 8 teams medal!

12-1 finished 15th in 13/14 Premier
13-1 finished 3rd in 13/14 Premier 🥉
13-2 finished 16th in 13/14 Premier
13-Black finished 7th in 13/14 Club
13-Red finished 4th in 13/14 Aspire
14-1 finished 1st in 15 Premier 🥇
14-2 finished 1st in 13/14 Premier 🥇
14-Black finished 9th in 13/14 Premier
14-Red finished 5th in 13/14 Club
14-White finished 8th in 13/14 Premier
15-1 finished 4th in 16 Premier
15-2 finished 4th in 15 Premier
15-Black finished 6th in 15 Premier
15-Red finished 5th in 15 Club
15-White finished 13th in 15 Club
15-Xenon finished 3rd in 15 Aspire 🥉
16-1 finished 3rd in 17/18 Elite 🥉
16-2 finished 5th in 17/18 Premier
16-Black finished 5th in 16 Premier
16-Red finished 6th in 16 Premier
16-White finished 1st in 16 Club 🥇
16-Xenon finished 5th in 16 Club
17-1 finished 2nd in 17/18 Elite 🥈
17-2 finished 6th in 17/18 Elite
17-Black finished 11th in 17/18 Elite
17-Red finished 2nd in 17/18 Premier 🥈

AAU Super Regional 

We had 21 teams compete in the AAU Super Regional! 8 of our teams medaled.
Final Finishes:
12-1 finished 8th
13-1 finished 3rd
13-2 finished 6th
14-1 finished 1st 🥇
14-2 finished 2nd 🥈
14-Black finished 5th
15-1 finished 2nd 🥈
15-2 finished 3rd 🥉
15-Black finished 5th
15-Red finished 7th
15-White finished 7th
15-Xenon finished 10th
16-2 finished 1st 🥇
16-Black finished 2nd 🥈
16-Red finished 4th
16-White finished 5th
16-Xenon finished 6th
17-1 finished 1st 🥇
17-2 finished 2nd 🥈
17-Black finished 6th
17-Red finished 5th

NL Annual Ice Cream Social 2023

This fun night includes playing Queen of the Court, Zumba, and of course, ice cream! It is a night to dress up in funky outfits and hangout with multiple teams and coaches. Enjoy a few pictures capture from the Annual Ice Cream Social:

        


May Freebie 2023

Our Northern Lights May Freebie was a full and successful tournament! We had 12 Northern Lights teams medal!


18’s USA Girls Junior National Championships 2023

Our 18-1’s traveled to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the USA Girls Junior National Championships. They were they highest finish from Minnesota placing 19th overall in 18 Open!

Team Finish Division
18-1 19th 18 Open


 MNL April Freebie (Elite Scrimmage)

The Northern Lights April Freebie was an invite-only elite scrimmage this year! It was a fun and successful weekend for our 12 teams that participated. 

Congratulations to our teams on their successful weekend:

Team Finish Division
13-1 4th 14’s Division
14-1 1st 14’s Division
14-2 5th 14’s Division
15-1 1st 15’s Division
15-2 6th 15’s Division
16-1 2nd 16’s Division
16-2 1st 16’s Division
17-1 1st 17’s Division
17-2 2nd 17’s Division
18-2 1st 18’s Division
18-Black 2nd 18’s Division
18-Red 3rd 18’s Division

Northern Lights 14-1 | 1st Place

Northern Lights 15-1 | 1st Place

Northern Lights 16-2 | 1st Place

Northern Lights 17-1 | 2nd Place

Northern Lights 18-2, 18-Black, 18-Red


14th Annual Mizuno Northern Lights 12’s Cup

Six of our Northern Lights teams competed in the annual 12’s Cup tournament! Congratulations to our 12-1’s for placing 1st in the Open Division! 🥇 And to our 12-Black team for placing 2nd in the Club Division!

Final Finishes:

10-1 placed 4th in 12 Classic
11-1 placed 7th in 12 Open
11-2 placed 3rd in 12 Classic 🥉
12-1 placed 1st in 12 Open 🏆
12-2 placed 3rd in 12 Open 🥉
12-Black placed 2nd in 12 Club 🥈

12-1 | 1st Place in Open

12-Black | 2nd Place in Club


LoneStar Qualifier 2023 | Dallas, TX

Our 15-1, 15-2, 16-1, 16-2, 17-1 and 17-2 teams attended the LoneStar Qualifier in Dallas, TX. All teams faced great competition; only our 16-1 team competed in gold on Championship Sunday and placed in the top 10!

Final Finishes:

15-1 finished 21st

15-2 finished 49th

16-1 finished 7th

16-2 finished 23rd

17-1 finished 15th

17-2 finished 19th


18’s Italy Trip 2023

Our 18’s finally returned to Italy for competition and adventure! All four teams started in Rome, competing in a scrimmage against local teams, but then ventured off to their own tournaments in the following cities…

18-1 to Venice then Pordneon
18-2 to Ancona
18-Black to Verona
18-Red to Lignano
18-2, 18-Black and 18-Red finished the trip in Venice for a day of shopping and exploring.

Show Me Qualifier 2023 | Week 1 & 2

Congratulations to our Northern Lights Teams that competed in the Show Me Qualifier at Kansas City, MO!

In Week One our 15-1, 15-2, 16’s and 17’s competed in the Qualifier. Our 15-2, 16-1, 16-2, 16-Red, 16-White, and 17-2 teams competed in GOLD on Championship Day!

In Week Two, our 14-1 team and 15-Black team competed in the Qualifier.

Final Finishes:

14-1 finished 6th in 14 Open
15-1 finished 9th in 15 Open
15-2 finished 9th in 15 USA
15-Black finished 19th in 15 Liberty
16-1 finished 1st in 16 Open 🥇
16-2 finished 4th in 16 USA
16-Black finished 29th in 16 Liberty
16-Red finished 9th in 16 Liberty
16-White finished 5th in 16 American
16-Xenon finished 73rd in 16 American
17-1 finished 11th in 17 Open
17-2 finished 3rd in 17 USA 🥉
17-Black finished 33rd in 17 Liberty
17-Red finished 13th in 17 American


Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier 2023 | Week 2

Northern Lights had 20 teams play in Week 2 of the 2023 Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier!

Final Finishes:

Team

Finish

Division

15-1 20th 15 Open
15-2 15th 15 USA
15-Black 15th 15 Liberty
15-Red 51st 15 American
15-White 47th 15 American
15-Xenon 65th 15 American
16-1 5th 16 Open
16-2 1st 16 Liberty
16-Black 5th 16 Liberty
16-Red 1st 16 American
16-White 9th 16 American
16-Xenon 23rd 16 American
17-1 13th 18 Elite
17-2 1st 17 Elite
17-Black 3rd 17 Elite
17-Red 2nd 17 Elite
18-1 2nd 18 Elite
18-2 9th 18 Elite
18-Black 15th 18 Elite
18-Red 18th 18 Elite

16-2 Team | 1st place in 16 Liberty

16-Red | 1st Place in 16 American

17-2 | 1st Place in 17 Elite


MNL Challenge 2023

Final Finishes:
15-Black finished 6th
15-Red finished 5th
15-White finished 9th
15-Xenon finished 8th
16-Black finished 5th
16-Red finished 1st 🥇
16-White finished 3rd 🥉
16-Xenon finished 4th
17-Black finished 1st 🥇
17-Red finished 3rd 🥉
(Italy Prep)
18-1 finished 1st 🥇
18-2 finished 3rd 🥉
18-Black finished 2nd 🥈
18-Red finished 4th
NL 16-Red | 1st Place
NL 17-Black | 1st Place

Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier 2023 | Week 1

Northern Lights had 15 teams play in Week 1 of the 2023 Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier! Our 11-1 team placed 3rd in 11 National and our 14-2 team won the championship in gold in 14 Liberty! We are so #MNLproud!

Team

Place

Division

10-1 17th 11 National
11-1 3rd 11 National
11-2 17th 11 National
12-1 9th 12 National
12-2 10th 12 American
12-Black 25th 12 American
13-1 6th 13 Open
13-2 21st 13 USA
13-Black 13th 13 Liberty
13-Red 25th 13 American
14-1 17th 14 Open
14-2 1st 14 Liberty
14-Black 9th 14 Liberty
14-Red 68th 14 American
14-White 46th 14 American

14-2 | 1st Place

11-1 | 3rd Place


NCR-USAV Regional Qualifier 2023

Congratulations to our teams that competed in the NCR-USAV Regional Qualifier 2023 and earned bids to the USAV Girls Junior National Championship 2023 in Minneapolis, MN and Chicago, IL!

11-1 placed 1st and qualified 🥇
12-1 placed 1st and qualified 🥇
12-2 placed 2nd and qualified 🥈
13-1 placed 1st and qualified 🥇
13-2 placed 4th
13-Black placed 9th
14-1 placed 1st and qualified 🥇
15-1 placed 1st and qualified 🥇
15-2 placed 4th and qualified
16-1 placed 1st and qualified 🥇
16-2 placed 3rd and qualified 🥉
17-1 placed 1st and qualified 🥇
17-2 placed 2nd and qualified 🥈
NL 11-1 team | 1st place
NL 12-1 team | 1st place
NL 13-1 team | 1st place
NL 14-1 team | 1st place
NL 15-1 team | 1st place
NL 16-1 team | 1st place
NL 17-1 team | 1st place

National Invitational Tournament (NIT 2023)

Our 14-1, 15-1, 16-1, 17-1 and 18-1 teams traveled to Kansas City, Missouri for the NIT to compete against the best in the country.

Although our teams did not place in the top ten in their divisions, it was a great experience. It was the first year our 14-1 team has attended the NIT and they placed 19th!


Omaha Presidents’ Day Classic 2023

Northern Lights sent 28 teams to Omaha, Nebraska for the 2023 ASICS Omaha Presidents’ Day tournament.  Congratulations to the 5 teams that placed 1st in their division and the 6 teams that placed 3rd in their divisions.  Thank you to the athletes, coaches, chaperones, and parents for a great weekend! It was a very successful weekend!

Team

Place

Division

18-2 6th 18 Open
18-Black 1st 18 Club
18-Red 21st 18 Club
17-2 1st 17 Open
17-Black 9th 17 Club
17-Red 3rd 17 Club
16-2 1st 16 Open
16-Black 3rd 16 Club
16-Red 5th 16 Club
16-White 3rd 16 Select
16-Xenon 5th 16 Select
15-2 5th 15 Open
15-Black 5th 15 Club
15-Red 29th 15 Club
15-White 9th 15 Select
15-Xenon 12th 15 Select
14-2 5th 14 Open
14-Black 9th 14 Club
14-Red 51st 14 Club
14-White 3rd 14 Select
13-1 1st 13 Open
13-2 15th 13 Club
13-Black 5th 13 Select
13-Red 7th 13 Select
12-1 1st 12 Open
12-2 1st 12 Club
12-Black 3rd 12 Select
11-1 3rd 12 Select


2023 Northstar Presidents’ Day Challenge

Congratulations to our 12-1 team for placing 1st place in the 12 Premier division  at the NorthStar Presidents’ Day Challenge! #MNLproud

Our 10-1 team placed 12th in 12 Aspire and our 11-2 team placed 10th in 12 Pinnacle.

12-1 Team placed 1st in 12 Premier


Big City Luau 2023

We had 6 teams compete in the Big City Luau 2023, hosted by Kokoro Volleyball across the Twin Cities Metro Areas. Coming home with some fun trophies our 12-1 team and 12-Black team took 1st Place and 2nd Place in their divisions!

Team

Place

Division

10-1 7th 12 Classic
11-1 8th 12 Premier
11-2 15th 12 Club
12-1 1st 12 Premier
12-2 5th 12 Premier
12-Black 2nd 12 Club
12-1 Team placed 1st in 12 Premier
12-Black Team placed 2nd in 12 Club

2023 January Thaw and 17’s/18’s Mizuno Northern Lights National Qualifier

Congratulations to the 29 Northern Lights teams that participated in our annual January Thaw and the 17’s/18’s Northern Lights National Qualifier in Minneapolis! Our 18-1 team placed 3rd in 18 Open and earned a bid to the USA Girls Junior Nationals! Our 17-Red placed 2nd in 17 American and six of our teams medaled in the January Thaw. #MNLproud

Mizuno Northern Lights Qualifier

Team

Place

Division

18-1 3rd 18 Open
18-2 11th 18 USA
18-Black 11th 18 Liberty
18-Red 14th 18 American
17-1 9th 17 Open
17-2 4th 17 USA
17-Black 15th 17 Liberty
17-Red 2nd 17 American

 

January Thaw

Team

Place

Division

16-1 1st 16 Club
16-2 5th 16 Club
16-Black 3rd 16 Club
16-Red 5th 16 Club
16-White 14th 16 Club
16-Xenon 17th 16 Club
15-1 2nd 15 Club
15-2 7th 15 Club
15-Black 9th 15 Club
15-Red 13th 15 Club
15-White 15th 15 Club
15-Xenon 19th 15 Club
14-1 1st 14 Club
14-2 3rd 14 Club
14-Black 17th 14 Club
14-Red 22nd 14 Club
14-White 9th 14 Club
13-1 3rd 14 Club
13-2 13th 14 Club
13-Black 21st 14 Club
13-Red 19th 14 Club

The 18-1 Team placed 3rd | MNLQ

The 17-Red Team placed 2nd | MNLQ


NL Amsterdam / Innsbruck Trip 2023

From December 25 – January 6 2023 our Northern Lights  16-1 and 16-2 teams competed in Amsterdam. Pictures are posted on the Northern Lights Facebook page and videos can be found on the Northern Lights YouTube site!

 

 


Congratulations 2022 All-State Players

Northern Lights would like to extend our congratulations to all of the High School Players in Minnesota who were selected for the MN Coaches Association All State teams. The MNVBCA sponsors All-State teams for the top players in each class (1st team and honorable mention). 20 players from Northern Lights were selected:


Congrats All-Metro Players

Congratulations to our Northern Lights players that made the 2022 Star Tribune All-Metro Volleyball Teams:

🥇 All-Metro Volleyball Team 2022:
Sydney Jaynes
🥈 All-Metro Second Team 2022:
Gabby Wachholz
Teagan Timperley
🥉 All-Metro Third Team 2022:
Ava Blascziek
Samantha Ball
Ella Christ
Mesaiya Bettis

 

Go to Top