NPJ 18 Forefront vs Metro 18 Travel: Full Replay | Semifinal | The 18U National Championship 2025

Watch the high-stakes, full match replay: NPJ 18 Forefront battles Metro 18 Travel in the 2025 18U National Championship Semifinals. This video is a powerful resource for coaches, players, and parents to study elite competition, team resilience, and the highly skilled athletes we help develop through deliberate play and game-like practice.

Watch how our athletes execute complex skills under pressure, particularly during the intense, extended first set (29-27) and the focused, dominant second set (25-15).

Synopsis
The opening of the first set saw NPJ stumble, falling into an early 5-9 deficit against a sharp Metro attack, but the team dug deep to fight back and tie the score at 10-10. Momentum then swung hard in NPJ's favor, as they erased a 13-15 deficit with a dominant run, pulling ahead 18-15 and forcing Metro to call their first timeout at 15:34. NPJ looked to be cruising after extending the lead to 20-16, and a spectacular, game-changing play at 17:28 solidified a seemingly comfortable 21-16 advantage.

But the game was far from over. Metro launched an inspired counter-attack, forcing NPJ to burn their first timeout at 20:19, clinging to a 22-19 lead. Even with a large 24-20 lead and match point in sight, the set turned into a thriller. Metro roared back to cut the lead to 24-23, prompting NPJ's final timeout at 23:55. Metro completed the comeback to tie it at 24-24, and then took the lead. The atmosphere was tense as NPJ fought off three set points, only for the drama to heighten when Metro's setter went down with an ankle sprain at 27:57. After a four-minute injury delay and an emotional final point, NPJ finally closed out the incredible battle, taking the first set 29-27.

The emotional effort of the first set did nothing to slow NPJ, who immediately established control and delivered a disciplined performance, decisively closing out the match 25-15. With the win NPJ advanced to the 18 Open semifinals.