This past weekend was the second U.S. Volleyball Association qualifying tournaments for the 14’s and 15’s age groups at the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club, and the opening tournament for the 13’s teams.
In their second tournament of the season, the 14 Blue team went 1-2, beating Forza1 (25-16, 23-25, 17-15) and losing to Seal Beach (11-25, 25-20, 8-15) and Beach City (21-25, 25-21, 10-15). Coach Jon Newton said of his team, “Grace Blankenhorn did a great job on the day with some good defensive plays and did an amazing job covering her hitters. Danielle LaGrange and Ingrid Blau did an awesome job serving throughout the day. Ingrid ending the last match of the day with an ace serve.”
The 14 White team kept their winning streak alive, going 3-0 for the second tournament in a row. Beating Pacific Juniors 14-Mario (25-17, 25-15), Laguna Beach 14-3 (25-14, 25-12), and Coast VBCV 14-R1 (25-16, 25-16). Coach Crossland said of his team’s performance, “Today was a tremendous team win for the 14 Whites led by the dominant serving of libero Becky McKinney and setting of Samantha Crossland. We stress competing every point of every match and the team certainly did that today.”
The 15 Blue team had a successful tournament, finishing 3-0 posting wins over Wave 15-Grey (25-20, 25-18), Forza1 East 15-Red (25-22, 25-23), and SCVC 15-Roxy (25-15, 25-27, 15-12). Coach Hertlein said “The team averaged more than 6 aces per set today, led by Kristine Fimlaid who served 6 aces in a row to finish off Forza1 in the first set. Also a strength today both Allison Munich and Josie Ulrich who passed over a 2.3 each. Jane Wood also had an excellent day attacking, with 5 kills and 0 errors in a single set against Wave.”
The 15 White team went 2-1 on Sunday, beating Mavericks 15-White (25-16, 24-26, 15-13) and SDVBC 15-Adam (25-16, 25-14) before dropping the final match of the day to Aero VC 15’s (22-25, 25-27). Coach Julian commented, “Our passing improved since the last tournament and our tough serving gave all our opponents trouble. Middle blocker, Isabel Gira, played well racking up 7 kills, 4 blocks, and 7 aces. Outside hitter, Avalon Gagnon, contributed big in the back row with 5 aces, and 17 digs.”
The 13 Blue team opened their season on Sunday winning all 3 matches of the day, against Westside Warriors 13-1 (25-16, 25-23), West Nike VBC 13-Premier (25-12, 25-17), and Surfside 13-1 (25-10, 25-10). Coach Ed Gover said of his team, “We went 3-0 today to take 1st place in the first tournament of the year. Excellent setting by Riley Borchardt and Paige Doughty; while both Tiffany Medel and Tayor Wilson had 10-point serving runs. All around solid performance by Anabella TIller, Elise Guerrand-Hermes, and Grace Johnson.”
In their opening weekend, the 13 White team held their third seed by finishing 1-2 on the day against Mid-City VBC 13’s (16-25, 11-25), Rancho Valley 13-Select (1-25, 11-25), and Legacy 13-Black (25-23, 25-19). Coach Grimes commented, “We were led by strong passing from our libero Kaya Peters and great serving from Elie Largura and Natalie Scharin.”
Up next for SBVC teams, the 16 Blue team enters their second qualifier this upcoming Sunday, Jan. 31 at the ASC in Anaheim.