Three girls teams from the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club competed in the 43rd annual AAU National Championships in Orlando, Florida. This marked the end of the 2015-2016 club volleyball season for all teams.
The 14 Blue finished 15th overall in the Premier Division, the 15 Blue ranked 51st in the Premier Division of its age group and the 16 Blue finished strong, taking fifth place out of more than 140 teams in the Club Division.
The 14 Blue went 2-1 and took second place in its pool on the first day of action, with wins over TCA Philadelphia 14-Magic (20-25, 25-10, 15-6) and Tri-State Elite 14-White (15-25, 25-23, 15-13) before their sole loss on the day to Maverick 14-1 (25-23, 25-13).
On the second day, the team continued its strong showing with another second-place finish. This time the wins came over NC Elite 14-Black (25-15, 25-23) and CHAVC 14-National (29-27, 25-13), with the loss coming to Asics Team Indiana Elite 14-2 (19-25, 13-25).
The third day was by far the longest for the team. It came out on fire for a big win over A4 Volley 14-Purple (26-24, 13-25, 15-12), before losing a close one to Coamo ETVC 14U (22-25, 23-25). Another loss to Milwaukee Sting 14-Black (18-25, 18-25) set up a 3-way tie for second place, with the right to advance out of the pool hanging in the balance. A 3-way playoff ensued and the team revenged its loss to Coamo ETCV 14U (25-23) pulling out the single-set victory. That set up the rematch versus A4 Volley 14 Purple (15-25) in which the team just ran out of steam and suffered the single-set loss. The third-place finish for the day put them in the Bronze Division for the final day of bracket play.
On the fourth day, the team still exhausted from day 3, dropped their first match of the day to AP 14 Samurai (25-18, 25-18). Still, their hard work throughout the tournament earned them a 15th place overall finish!
Head Coach Jon Newton said of his team: “All the girls came out and played great through the entire tournament. Our middles Brynn Sofro and Danielle LaGrange were offensive forces for us and got us huge points when we needed it. Bella Johnson grew a lot during the tournament and scored while attacking at the net and from the service line. Grace Blankenhorn was solid from the libero position and helped lead the team through tough games. Grace Matthews was incredible on defense and used her athletic ability to make great defensive and offensive plays. Reese Kelley provided sparks of momentum during the tournament with her heavy arm swing, while Anabel Caesar played consistent throughout the tournament passing and hitting well under pressure. Alexa Osti did an amazing job setting, alongside Ellie Gamberdella, in a 6-2 and running a solid offense. As well as setting and keeping the offense going, Ellie also provided offense as a ride-side attacker and came in clutch on a lot of critical points. Lastly, defensive specialist Ingrid Blau not only helped out on serve receive with great passing but also brought a ton of energy all tournament. I am very proud of how hard these girls played for a long 4 days of volleyball!”
The 15 Blue team was competing in the 15 Premier division, and entered the tournament short a player due to an injury just days before the tournament. Coach Justin Hertlein said: “The team fought through adversity and ran a new rotation we had never practiced.”
On the first day of competition, the team squeaked out a third-place pool play finish with a 1-2 record. The two losses came to Houston Stellar 15-Elite (25-27, 16-25) and Ethos 15-Elite (25-18, 25-17), while the win was against TVC 15-2 Svat (25-15, 19-25, 12-15).
The second day, however, the team was competitive in all matches but struggled to close any out and went 0-3, with losses to Borinquen Coqui 15F Yeyo (19-25, 24-26), Alliance 15-2 Molten (19-25, 20-25), and Academy 15-Diamond (25-20, 13-25, 13-15). The third day the team again faced tough competition, going 1-2 with losses to AVA of Texas 15-Attack (23-25, 21-25) and Cincy Classics 15-Red (18-25, 23-25), before their win over Neb Jrs 15-1 (25-11, 25-15). On the fourth and final day, in bracket play, the team lost their opening match versus Chicago Elite 15-Elite (25-20, 22-25, 13-15).
Coach Hertlein was proud of all his players, and how they continued to fight through a difficult tournament for them. “Georgia Brace stepped into a 6 rotation role (as Outside Hitter) she had not played this year and rocked it! While Kendall Williams was our go-to powerhouse right side the whole tournament; she showed a lot of skill by changing up her offense (swing, tip, tool, cut shots…). Jayne Wood went hard every game and became our pressure situation attacker; she never held back and was a huge part of our offense. Alison Minnich moved from Libero to Outside Hitter for the first time this year and showed she was more than capable of making the switch. She found ways to score and made countless great defensive plays. Taylor Robertson played full time Libero for the first time this year and crushed it. She was consistent in serve receive and made other teams work very hard to score. She took a leadership role and helped our team stay positive. Kristine Fimlaid was, as always, a scoring machine! She led the team in hitting percentage and aces; and her never say die attitude was impressive and helped raise the level of play for the rest of our team. Molly Kirkbride was so reliable; she was always out working the competition and scoring with her block through disciplined play. She set a great example for what it means to “do your job”. Ellie Chenoweth led the team with confidence and fire. Her high risk high reward choices from the setter position were impressive and pivotal in our successes. Maddie Walker not only ran the offense with consistent confidence, but played incredible defense. She was an all-around stud the entire tournament. Overall the team fought hard with the players we had available and showed everyone that they could hang with any team in the division.”
The 16 Blue team was competing in the 16 Club division and put together their best tournament of the season, earning them a 5th place overall finish! Coach Dillan Bennett said of his team: “It’s always such a tough task to get a team to peak at the right time during the season, and I believe we prepared very well for this event and did just that. Our best play as a team happened this last week in Orlando, and we couldn’t be more proud of how the girls represented our club and our community.”
In the first day of competition the team went 3-0, with sweeps over Legacy 16-Rockstar (28-26, 25-23), Mauloa 16’s Scott (25-10, 25-16), and Woodlands Revolution 16-2 National (25-8, 25-18).
The second day brought more success, with another 3-0 finish, again all in sweeps, with wins over Cincinnati Volleyball Academy 16-Elite (25-20, 25-15), USA Michigan 16-1 National (25-12, 26-24), and Illini Elite 16-Black (25-19, 25-22).
The third day saw a significant increase in the level of competition, the team went 2-1 for a second play finish in their pool. Their wins were again Choo Choo City VBC 16-Black (29-27, 25-18) and Asics KIVA 16-Black (25-16, 24-26, 15-10), before their first loss of the tournament to Power 16-1 (22-25, 25-20, 4-15). This set up a crossover re-match versus day 2 competitor Ilini Elite 16-Black (21-25, 25-17, 15-8) for which the team got pumped up for and played some amazing volleyball in the win! With that win, the team was in the Gold Bracket for the final day of competition, automatically guaranteed a top -14 finish.
On their fourth and final day of competition, the team came out determined and won their first round match up against COA 16-Red (25-21, 25-20). The next match against 1st Alliance 16-Black (19-25, 14-25) didn’t end as the team had hoped, as they ran out of steam against a bigger, strong, powerful team. The team’s strong tournament earned them a 5th place finish out of over 140 teams!
Coach Bennett had nothing but praise for his team after the tournament: “We were pleasantly surprised to see our offense produce at such a success rate, mainly due to how our serve receive was so strong. Sophia Fay, Caylin Zimmerman, and Danica Minnich did a great job keeping us in system, while Kelly Bickett ran a diverse offense, which kept the defense off balance. Caylin, Danica and Ady Colburn were our three offensive weapons, terminating rallies regularly. While our offense was a threat this week, our defense and serving kept us in most of the 12 matches we played. Ally Mintzer and Danica led us in aces from the service line, and Kate Willingham and Ady put up a wall at the net. Izzy Mallet, Kendall White, and Sophia were our three defensive scrapers all week, keeping many rallies alive and setting consistently in transition. In specialized roles, Jenna MacFarlane and Kendall came off the bench to provide solid ball control and defense in order for us to set up certain situations for defense against some of the stronger teams; Jenna at the net hitting and blocking, and Kendall in serve receive and defense. The progress this group has made makes our coaching staff very proud. I feel we challenged them on a physical and mental level all season long, and I think they will walk away with a better understanding of how to play volleyball, rather than playing volleyball.”