The teams that made it through to the 18 Open division’s final four at the Boston Volleyball Festival shared quite a bit in common – each began as a top seed in their pool on the first day and each of the three qualified teams found success on their second try; all four now have a bid.

Overall winner, No. 51 EC Power KOP 18-Royal, narrowly missed its bid at Music City with a fifth-place finish, but Gold in Boston was meant to be. No. 13 APEX1 18 scored its bid in Minneapolis already but finished second in Boston anyway. Top seed Rockwood Thunder 18 Elite, ranked No. 42 nationally, was coming off a third-place finish at Triple Crown, a great improvement from the 13^th-place finish at the Music City Qualifier, to again earn Bronze in Boston. And CUVC 18 Premier made history, achieving its first girl’s Open bid in club history.

“It was a big milestone for us that we’ve been talking about for a couple of years,” said CUVC coach John Brannon. “It couldn’t have happened to a better group.”