On April 24-25, the MVS upper school quiz bowl team competed in the Small School National Championship Tournament (Open Division), organized by National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT). The MVS team was comprised of William Groger ’21, Lakshmi Jain ’22, Andrew Holzinger ’23, and Arshaan Kahlon ’24. Fifty teams from 22 different states qualified for and attended the tournament, which was held entirely online. Teams in the Open Division are selective, non-“traditional public” schools with 350 or fewer students in grades 10-12.

On Saturday, MVS tallied a 9-0 record in its prelim games, qualifying for Sunday’s double-elimination playoffs as the #3 seed in the 32-team playoff bracket. In the playoffs, MVS defeated Merrol Hyde Magnet School (Tennessee) and Monrovian Academy A (Pennsylvania) before a loss to second-seeded TAG Magnet (Texas) sent them to the losers’ bracket. From there, MVS bounced back with wins over Bishop Ludden (New York) and BASIS McLean (Virginia) to reach the tournament Final Four and set up a rematch with TAG. MVS leapt out to an early lead and didn’t look back, pulling out a 420-315 win and clinching a spot in the tournament finals, where top-seeded St. Mark’s School of Texas A awaited with an undefeated record. In a thrilling back-and-forth match, MVS fell 295-385, taking home the second place trophy. Senior captain William Groger ’21 was the overall leading scorer for the tournament with 147.22 points per game, which earned him the tournament’s #1 All-Star award.

“This MVS team showed amazing enthusiasm and tenacity all weekend and really rose to the challenge of playing for a national championship,” said coach Tyler Benedict ’09. “In the Small School National Championship Open Division, we have the opportunity to compete against other schools like MVS, the nation’s best small charter, magnet, and private schools, with programs like TAG and St. Mark’s who are both ranked in the national Top 15 for quiz bowl regardless of school size. I’m so proud of how our team represented MVS and Dayton, Ohio, on a national stage.”

MVS’ quiz bowl team is currently #49 in the country in the all-school national rankings. They will next compete at the Ohio Academic Competition State Championship on May 1.