Day 3 of 2018 Nationals Comes to a Close

ORLANDO, Fla (June 20) - Day 3 of the w018 AAU Girls' Junior National Volleyball Championships came to close with the 10, 11, 12 Open, 12 Club, 12 Classic, 13 Open, 13 Premier, 13 Club, 13 Classic, 14 Open, 14 Premier, 14 Club, 14 Aspire, 14 Classic, 15 Open, 15 Premier divisions rounding out of pool play and preliminary bracket play.

On Wednesday, June 20th, these divisions will be competing for some hardware as the first championship day of this year's Nationals commence.

Click here for schedule/results.

On Saturday, June 16th, the 2018 event kicked off with an energetic Opening Ceremony held at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The chance of rain did little to dampen the spirit of the athletes as Championship Stadium was filled to capacity with teams from Hawaii, Indiana, Illinois, New York, Texas, Tennessee to name but a few of the 47 states sending teams to the event. The state with the largest number of team is Florida with over 200 teams filled with avid volleyball players who you could hear as the teams were announced into the stadium.

Puerto Rico was well represented also and in solidarity to their recovery from Hurricane Maria, the Puerto Rican anthem was played during the ceremony.

AAU President/ CEO Dr. Roger Goudy was on hand to present the annual Phil Mazur award to an AAU volleyball official who shows dedication and leadership to the sport. Athletes recited the AAU pledge, promising to conduct themselves with good sportsmanship and participate in healthy competition throughout the event.

Mickey and Minnie made a special appearance to welcome the athletes, teams, parents and coaches to the WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort.

Rounding out the festivities, American Idol winner, Maddie Poppe sang a few songs for the crowd.

On Day 2 of competition, Sunday, June 19, the first of three Dig Pink days was held, with athletes, coaches and families wearing pink in support of breast cancer awareness. Athlete's also gave a special shout out for Father's Day.

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