Max Sellers (holding plaque) from Edwardsville and Connor Sheehan (No. 40) from O’Fallon helped to lead HPSTL B17 Royal to a third-place finish in St. Louis this weekend.
Five-foot-10 setter Connor Sheehan from O’Fallon and Edwardsville’s 5-8 libero Max Sellers led HPSTL B17 Royal to a third-place finish in the 17 Open division of the 19 Dennis Lafata Boys Bid Qualifier in St. Louis, Missouri, this weekend.
HPSTL B17 Royal opened the tournament Friday by losing to TORRI 17-1 from Puerto Rico, 25-17, 25-21, and defeating Vortex 17 Storm, 25-17, 25-23, and Cinci Attack 17 Black, 25-23, 25-20. Saturday, HPSTL lost its first match, then played a three-set thriller against Chicago Bounce 17 Red.
The third set against Bounce was tied at 20-20 until HPSTL won the final two points. Here is a link to match point: https://youtu.be/ch5WYMGB4jQ
After defeating Bounce, 25-18, 23-25, 22-20, HPSTL defeated D1 17 Elite Green, 25-21, 25-23, to finish 2-1 in the pool. Bounce and Milwaukee Sting B17 Gold also finished 2-1 in the pool, but Sting had the best set won percentage setting up a one-set playoff between Bounce and HPSTL to see which team would advance.
HPSTL dominated the match, winning 25-11. Here are the final two points from that match: https://youtu.be/uaQ1RIgHkaQ
Sunday in the Gold bracket, HPSTL B17 Royal defeated EXCEL 17N Red from Texas, 17-25, 25-19, 15-13, before losing to MVC Jake 17 in the semifinals, 25-21, 25-20.
Hitmen 17 Elite finished fifth in the 17 Open division and Bounce finished seventh. Ultimate B17 Gold placed ninth, and Pipeline 17 Nike and D1 Elite 17 Green tied for 11th.