CHICAGO – Volleyball teams were hitting and digging until the bitter end over Easter weekend in the Windy City Qualifier. A bid or seeding at USAV Nationals will do that to a club.

By the time the dust had cleared in the 16 Open division, H Skyline 16 Royal of Texas captured its first bid to Nationals with a Gold-winning performance. And HPSTL 16 Royal of St. Louis, like so many other teams in the three-day event, qualified again with a runner-up finish and improved its seeding.