2011 Season History
2011 Teams
Pictures taken this entire year are now posted on our new photo website by CrossCourt Images
July 7-20, 2011 Northern Lights Europe Trip
From July 7-July 20 Northern Lights will be touring Vienna, Slovenia, Prague, Krakow Polland, & Budapest Hungary playing various European Youth teams.
To read the day-by-day journal of the trip, click here.
- Day 1 – Arrive in Vienna
- Day 2 – Vienna to Maribor Slovenia
- Day 3 – Maribor Slovenia
- Day 4 – Maribor Slovenia to Brno Czech Republic
- Day 5 – Brno Czech Republic to Krakow
- Day 6 – Krakow Poland
- Day 7 – Krakow Poland
- Day 8 – Krakow Poland to Prague Czech Republic
- Day 9 – Prague, Czech Republic
- Day 10 – Prague, Czech Republic
- Day 11 – Budapest
- Day 12 – Budapest
June 25-July 4 USJNC’s Atlanta
Mizuno Northern Lights 15-1’s are the
National Champions in the 15 Open Division!
Mizuno Northern Lights 17-2’s place
2nd in the 17 National Division
Mizuno Northern Lights 16-1’s place
2nd in the 16 Open Division
Northern Lights has 8 teams competing in Atlanta for the US Junior National Championships.
To view a day-by-day journal from the USJNC’s, click here.
Northern Lights USJNC All Tournament Selections
Player Name | Team |
Lydia Dimke – MVP | Northern Lights 15-1 |
Abby Monson | Northern Lights 15-1 |
Kylee Zumach | Northern Lights 15-1 |
Kelsey Chambers | Northern Lights 17-2 |
Maren Loe | Northern Lights 17-2 |
Brianne Stamer | Northern Lights 17-2 |
Alyssa Goehner | Northern Lights 16-1 |
Samantha Swenson | Northern Lights 16-1 |
Sarah Wilhite | Northern Lights 16-1 |
Team | Final Finish | Division |
17-1 | 22nd | 17 Open |
17-2 | 2nd | 17 National |
16-1 | 2nd | 16 Open |
16-2 | 27th | 16 National |
16-Black | 18th | 16 American |
15-1 | 1st | 15 Open |
15-2 | 43rd | 15 National |
14-1 | 9th | 14 National |
June 13-23 AAU National Championship Trip
Northern Lights placed 10 of it’s 20 teams into the Gold Brackets at the AAU National Championships, won 1 National Championship and Medaled a total of 4 of them! Congratulations to 17-1, 17-2, 16-1, 16-2, 16-Black, 18-2, 12-1, 14-1, 14-2 & 15-2.
Mizuno Northern Lights 17-2’s win the
AAU National Championships 17 Club
Mizuno Northern Lights 17-1’s place 3rd at the
AAU National Championships 17 Open
Mizuno Northern Lights 16-1’s place 3rd at the
AAU National Championships 16 Open
Mizuno Northern Lights 12-1’s place 3rd at the
AAU National Championships 12 Open
A day-by-day journal from the AAU National Championships can be found by clicking here.
Northern Lights AAU All American Selections
Player Name | Team |
Payton Nutter | Northern Lights 12-1 |
Gabrielle Orr | Northern Lights 12-1 |
Mira Grinsfelder | Northern Lights 14-2 |
Kaylea Ahrens | Northern Lights 14-1 |
Taylor Goar | Northern Lights 16-2 |
Sarah Wilhite | Northern Lights 16-1 |
Alyssa Goehner | Northern Lights 16-1 |
Monica Turner | Northern Lights 17-1 |
Leigh Pudwill | Northern Lights 17-1 |
Kelley Wollack – MVP | Northern Lights 17-2 |
Kelsey Chambers | Northern Lights 17-2 |
Ashley Dahly | Northern Lights 17-2 |
Team | Final Finish | Division |
18-1 | 16th | 18 Open |
18-2 | 9th | 18 Club |
17-1 | 3rd | 17 Open |
17-2 | 1st | 17 Club |
17-Black | 18th | 17 Club |
17-Red | 73rd | 17 Club |
16-1 | 3rd | 16 Open |
16-2 | 5th | 16 Club |
16-Black | 9th | 16 Club |
16-Red | 137th | 16 Club |
16-White | 60th | 16 Club |
15-1 | 15th | 15 Open |
15-2 | 9th | 15 Club |
15-Black | 40th | 15 Club |
15-Red | 108 | 15 Club |
15-White | 70th | 15 Club |
14-1 | 5th | 14 Open |
14-2 | 5th | 14 Club |
13-1 | 17th | 13 Open |
12-1 | 3rd | 12 Open |
June 6, 2011 – NJC Tournament announces awards
Congratulations to Kaitlyn VanWinkle for being named Best Blocker in the 17 Club Division of the NJC tournament held in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend.
Congratulations to Abby Monson for being named Best Libero in the 15 Open Division of the NJC tournament held in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend.
We also want to congratulate Jocelyn Youngdahl for being named Best Blocker in the 16 Open Division! Originally this was reported by the event staff as being Haley Fogarty . . . even though she is a Libero. Congrats to Jocelyn!
June 5, 2011 – Northern Lights Year End Banquet
The 2011 Northern Lights Year End Banquet was a huge success with 680+ people attending. The 18-2’s winning team video was great, the 150 scrapbook pages were very impressive and the raffle prizes were a hit. Thanks to everyone who helped with the banquet and congratulations to Melissa Loe for winning the 2011 Northern Lights Quilt.
We also would like to extend our congratulations to Taylor Voss who was voted by the coaches to receive the 2011 Maurice Batie Award of Excellence at the Banquet. The award was announced to Taylor by Danielle Dombeck, last year’s winner. Pictures of the banquet can be viewed by clicking here
You can view a couple of the banquet shows from this year by clicking here.
NL puts 3 teams in the NJC Tournament Gold Divisions
Congratulations to the 17-Black team for finishing 3rd at the NJC Tournament in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend. The 16-1’s also finished 3rd in the 16 Open Division. The 15-1’s were 4th in the 15 Open Division. All 3 teams had an excellent weekend making it to the final Gold Brackets/Pools.
Team | Finish | Division |
17-1 | 11th | 17 Open |
17-2 | 10th | 17 Open |
17-Black | 3rd | 17 Club |
16-1 | 3rd | 16 Open |
15-1 | 4th | 15 Open |
USA High Performance Players
Congratulations to Janelle Rupkalvis, Lydia Dimke, Shelby Seurer, Samantha Swenson, Brittany Luethmers, and Jade Tinglehoff who were selected for this year’s USAV High Performance program. They will meet and train with other top players from around the nation later this summer and play in the High Performance Championship event with teams from other nations.
May 15-Northern Lights wins all divisions at SMV Tourn.
Team | Finish | Division |
17-Black | 1st | 18’s Division |
17-Red | 2nd | 18’s Division |
16-Black | 1st | 16’s Division |
15-Black | 1st | 15’s Division |
15-Red | 3rd | 15’s Division |
15-White | 3rd | 15’s Division |
14-2 | 2nd | 15’s Division |
14-Black | 1st | 14’s Division |
14-Red | 2nd | 14’s Division |
13-2 | 3rd | 14’s Division |
13-Black | 9th | 14’s Division |
12-1 | 1st | 12’s Division |
12-2 | 3rd | 12’s Division |
11-1 | 5th | 12’s Division |
Northern Lights Rochester Cup Finishes
Team | Finish | Division |
16-Black | 1st | 16’s Division |
16-Red | 3rd -(Gold Championship Bracket) | 16’s Division |
16-White | 5th – (Gold Championship Bracket) | 16’s Division |
15-2 | 4th – (Gold Championship Bracket) | 16’s Division |
14-1 | 18th | 16’s Division |
13-1 | 4th – (Gold Championship Bracket) | 14’s Division |
Northern Lights Team Results for May Tournaments
Date | Team | Place | Tournament |
May 22 | 15-1 | 3rd | MVW 18’s Tournament |
May 22 | 16-2 | 3rd | MVW 18’s Tournament |
May 22 | 17-2 | 1st | MVW 18’s Tournament |
May 22 | 17-Red | 5th | MVW 18’s Tournament |
May 22 | 18-2 | 2nd | MVW 18’s Tournament |
May 22 | 141 | 3rd | MVW 16’s Tournament |
May 22 | 15-2 | 1st | MVW 16’s Tournament |
May 22 | 16-Red | 3rd | MVW 16’s Tournament |
May 22 | 16-White | 2nd | MVW 16’s Tournament |
May 22 | 12-1 | 3rd | MVW 14’s Tournament |
May 22 | 13-1 | 1st | MVW 14’s Tournament |
May 22 | 14-Black | 3rd | MVW 14’s Tournament |
May 15 | 15-1 | 3rd | 18’s Elite Playday |
May 15 | 16-1 | 2nd | 18’s Elite Playday |
May 15 | 16-2 | 7th | 18’s Elite Playday (Silver winners) |
May 15 | 17-1 | 3rd | 18’s Elite Playday |
May 15 | 17-2 | 5th | 18’s Elite Playday |
May 15 | 18-1 | 1st | 18’s Elite Playday |
May 15 | 18-2 | 8th | 18’s Elite Playday |
May 7 | 14-Red | 1st | MVW 14’s Tournament |
May 7 | 13-2 | 2nd | MVW 14’s Tournament |
May 7 | 13- Black | 3rd | MVW 14’s Tournament |
May 7 | 15-Black | 1st | MVW 16’s Tournament |
May 7 | 14-2 | 2nd | MVW 16’s Tournament |
May 7 | 14-Black | 3rd | MVW 16’s Tournament |
May 7 | 15-Red | 5th | MVW 16’s Tournament |
May 7 | 15-White | 5th | MVW 16’s Tournament |
Northern Lights 12’s Cup Results
Pictures of the All Tournament Selections can be found by clicking here.
Gold Bracket Medal Winners
Place | Team |
1st | Northern Lights 12-1’s |
2nd | MN Select 12-1’s |
3rd | Northern Lights 12-2’s |
4th | Northern Lights 11-1’s |
NL 18-1 & 18-2 travel to Italy
The Northern Lights 18-1 & 18-2 teams will be traveling and competing in Italy from April 18- April 26 with BringitUSA. They will be spending the first few days sightseeing in Rome, Florence, and Venice. After that they will be competing in a high level tournament in Pordenone Italy (18-1) and Falconara (18-2) with Junior teams from around the world. The team’s written journals and pictures can be seen by clicking here.
NL 18-1 Wins Northern Lights Qualifier & puts 10 teams in the Gold and 4 teams into the Finals!
Congratulations to the 18-1 team for winning the Northern Lights National Qualifier 18 Club Division. It was a hard fought battle that lasted 3 sets against Colorado Performance.
A total of 10 of the 17 teams who played in this event were in the Gold Brackets. Four of those teams were in the Finals of their division. 6 Northern Lights teams medaled.
Congratulations to the 17-1 team for placing 2nd at the Northern Lights National Qualifier 17 Open Division. Their 2nd place finish qualified them for the 17 Open Division at the USJN Championships in Atlanta late this June.
Congratulations to the 17-Black team for placing 2nd at the Northern Lights National Qualifier 17 Club Division.
Congratulations to the 16-Black team for placing 2nd at the Northern Lights National Qualifier 16 Club Division. Their 2nd place finish qualified them for the 16 American Division at the USJN Championships in Atlanta late this June.
Congratulations to the 16-1 team for placing 3rd at the Northern Lights National Qualifier 16 Open Division. The 16-1’s would have also qualified at this event, but they had already qualified with their win at Big South.
Congratulations to the 12-1 team for placing 3rd at the Northern Lights National Qualifier 12 Club Division.
Team | Finish | Division |
18-1 | 1st (Gold Bracket) | 18 Open |
18-2 | 9th (Gold Bracket) | 18 Club |
17-1 | 2nd (Gold Bracket) | 17 Open |
17-2 | 13th | 17 Open |
17-Black | 2nd (Gold Bracket) | 17 Club |
17-Red | 32nd | 17 Club |
16-1 | 3rd(Gold Bracket) | 16 Open |
16-2 | 4th (Gold Bracket) | 16 Club |
16-Black | 2nd (Gold Bracket) | 16 Club |
16-Red | 24th | 16 Club |
16-White | 9th (Gold Bracket) | 16 Club |
13-1 | 9th (Gold Bracket) | 13 Club |
13-2 | 22nd | 13 Club |
13-Black | 37th | 13 Club |
12-1 | 3rd(Gold Bracket) | 12 Club |
12-2 | 13th | 12 Club |
11-1 | 15th | 12 Club |
NL 15-1 Wins Northern Lights Qualifier & puts 5 teams in the Gold!
Congratulations to the 15-1 team for winning the Northern Lights National Qualifier 15 Open Division. This is the second National Qualifier the 15-1’s have won this year.
Five of the nine teams who played in this event were in the Gold Brackets. The other 4 were either in the Silver or Bronze brackets.
Team | Finish | Division |
15-1 | 1st (Gold Bracket) | 15 Open |
15-2 | 5th (Gold Bracket) | 15 Club |
15-3 | 9th (Gold Bracket) | 15 Club |
15-4 | 21st | 15 Club |
15-5 | 27th | 15 Club |
14-1 | 7th | 14 Open |
14-2 | 5th(Gold Bracket) | 14 Club |
14-3 | 9th (Gold Bracket) | 14 Club |
14-4 | 19th | 14 Club |
NL 16-1 Wins Big South!
Congratulations to the 16-1 team for winning the Big South National Qualifier 16 Open Division. This also Qualified them for the USJN Championships in the 16 Open Division to be held this June in Atlanta.
Congratulations also to the 17-Black team and the 17-1 team for finishing in the Gold Championship Brackets/Pools.
Team | Finish | Division |
16-1 | 1st | 16 Open |
17-1 | 9th | 17 Open |
17-Black | 9th | 17 National |
NL 15-1 & 17-2 Win Colorado Crossroads!
Congratulations to the 15-1 team for winning the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier 15 Open Division. This also Qualified them for the USJN Championships in the 15 Open Division to be held this June in Atlanta.
Congratulations to the 17-2 team for winning the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier 17 National Division. This also Qualified them for the USJN Championships in the 17 National Division to be held this June in Atlanta.
Team | Finish | Division |
17-2 | 1st | 17 National |
17-Red | 25th out of 90 | 17 National |
15-1 | 1st | 15 Open |
NL 16-Black 2nd at Crossroads & all teams in the Gold!
Congratulations to all teams participating in the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier in Denver. Northern Lights had 5 teams attending the first weekend of 596 teams, and all 5 teams were in the Gold Championship Brackets/Pools!
Congratulations to the 16-Black team for placing 2nd in the 16 National Division! They had an excellent tournament and really proved that they are a top level team.
Congratulations to the 14-1 team for placing 4th in the 14 Open Division! They were only 2 points away from Qualifying for an USJN Championship bid!
Team | Finish | Division |
16-Black | 2nd | 16 National |
16-2 | 5th | 16 National |
15-2 | 9th | 15 National |
15-3 | 9th | 15 National |
14-1 | 4th | 14 Open |
Dutch Youth National Team heads home
The Dutch Youth National team spent 10 days in the USA. They were hosted by Northern Lights for 3 nights, then rode with us to Omaha on our busses, played in the Omaha Tournament, and then rode out to Denver with Front Range for the last 3 days in the USA. In the Omaha Tournament they played in the 18 Open Division and did very well considering 4 of their top players (libero included) were not with the team on this trip. Northern Lights players had a great time hosting them and we hope to see them again in the future.
NL wins 3 divisions of the Omaha President’s Day Tournament
Congratulations to the Northern Lights 17-1 team for winning the 17 Open Division of the Omaha President’s Day tournament. The 17-1’s went undefeated in the tournament and played Norco in the finals.
Congratulations to the Northern Lights 14-2 team for winning the 14 Club Division of the Omaha President’s Day tournament. The 14-2’s went undefeated in the tournament and played Nebraska Elite 14-2 in the finals.
Congratulations to the Northern Lights 12-1 team for winning the 12 Club Division of the Omaha President’s Day tournament. The 12-1’s went undefeated in the tournament and played Nebraska Elite 12-1 in the finals.
Congratulations to the Northern Lights 18-2 team for placing second in the 18 Club Division of the Omaha President’s Day tournament. The 18-2’s went undefeated in the tournament until their last match against OK Peak Performance in the finals.
Northern Lights placed 13 of it’s 20 teams into the Gold Brackets of the tournament. This was an excellent showing for all Northern Lights teams!
Team | Finish | Division |
18-1 | 7th | 18 Open |
18-2 | 2nd(Gold Bracket) | 18 Club |
17-1 | 1st (Gold Bracket) | 17 Open |
17-2 | 5th (Gold Bracket) | 17 Open |
17-Black | 3rd (Gold Bracket) | 17 Club |
17-Red | 15th (Silver Winners) | 17 Club |
16-1 | 3rd | 16 Open |
16-2 | 5th (Gold Bracket) | 16 Club |
16-Black | 9th (Gold Bracket) | 16 Club |
16-Red | 3rd (Gold Bracket) | 16 Club |
16-White | 19th | 16 Club |
15-1 | 5th | 15 Open |
15-2 | 3rd (Gold Bracket) | 15 Club |
15-Black | 5th (Gold Bracket) | 15 Club |
15-Red | 9th (Gold Bracket) | 15 Club |
15-White | 13th | 15 Club |
14-1 | 8th | 14 Open |
14-2 | 1st (Gold Bracket) | 14 Club |
13-1 | 5th (Gold Bracket) | 13 Club |
12-1 | 1st (Gold Bracket) | 12 Club |
Northern Lights 2nd, 3rd & 4th at the local President’s Day Tournament
Congratulations to the Northern Lights 14-Black team for placing 2nd in the 14’s age division.
Congratulations also to the Northern Lights 13-2 team which finished 3rd at the tournament.
Congratulations to the Northern Lights 12-2 team for placing 4th in the 12’s age division.
Team | Finish |
11-1 | 5th in Gold Bracket |
12-2 | 4th in Gold Bracket |
13-2 | 3rd in Gold Bracket |
13-Black | 18th in Gold Division |
14-Black | 2nd in Gold Bracket |
14-Red | 9th in Gold Division |
Minnesota High School State Tournament
Northern Lights would like to congratulate the 16 players from the club who qualified for the Minnesota High School State Tournament.
Player Name | Team |
Leigh Pudwill | Centennial |
Brandi Knupp | East Ridge |
Dale Hoeffel | East Ridge |
Brianne Stamer | Hutchinson |
Samantha Flattum | Lakeville North |
Alyssa Goehner | Lakeville North |
Jessica Goehner | Lakeville North |
Abigail Monson | Lakeville North |
Haley Walker | Lakeville North |
Kelly Nizzari | Lakeville North |
Sara Schmidt | Mayer Lutheran |
Rachel Schmidt | Mayer Lutheran |
Taryn Glynn | Visitation |
Mary Mullen | Visitation |
Dana Noeldner | Waconia |
Lauren Houg | Wayzata |