This weekend saw the 12’s, 13’s and 14’s take back to the court for their second Southern California Volleyball Association mandatory tournament of the season.
The 14 White team stepped up big time again this weekend in preparation for the Junior National Qualifier in April. The team started off beating United VBC 14’s (25-22, 25-19).
Coach Steven Crossland said, “We came out a lacking a little confidence in the first match and gave up three straight aces. Back-row passer Kim Rogers settled down and really provided some great stability and free ball passing to help get us into our offense and allow our hitters and servers to slowly grind down the other team. As it turns out, that match was a huge confidence builder for the challenges ahead.”
In the second match of the day, the team beat a team of superior size and strength, Supernova 14-All Stars (25-18, 12-25, 15-10). Coach Crossland praised the efforts of liberos Connie Connaughton and Becky McKinney for their ability to control the tempo of game three, allowing outside hitters Olivia Crossland and Macy Christal to score points and lead the team to an emotional game three victory. Finally, the 14 Blue finished the day with a win over Protégé CA 14-Becca (25-20, 25-12), led by some great middle attacks by Sage Streeter. The first place finish in their pool moves the team up to Division 4, and into the Gold Bracket!
Coach Crossland’s final comments: “We had some girls playing new positions this weekend. Maisy Lewis, Jane Lewis, and Becky McKinney made some great adjustments on the court and I could not be prouder of this group. They played very smart volleyball and really did an amazing job. We continually emphasize the basics and not giving up. The girls served and passed very solid this weekend and I was thrilled to see them get rewarded for their efforts.”
The 12 Blue team finished in a tie for first place with a 2-1 record. After dropping the first match to West Nike VB 12-Premier (20-25, 23-25) they fought back solids win over Aviator 12’s (12-25, 25-9, 15-12) and Sunshine 11-Fire Crackers (9-25. 25-10, 15-5). Coach Tina Brown commented, “Emma Zuffaleto did an awesome job running the offense along with Ava Cole and Megan McBride. Riley Green went on a 10-point service run, which put our team in a great position to eventually win the match along with some solid offense from Portia Sherman. Everyone on the team had moment of greatness and they played like a true team!”
The 13 Blue team finished the day with a 2-1 record to remain in their division with a second place finish. The day started with a loss to the eventual first place finisher, HLVB 13-UUA (18-25, 17-25). The team bounced back however with wins over Coast VBC 13-3 Casey (25-14, 25-16) and Pacific Jrs 13-Jeff (25-21, 25-22). Coach Ed Gover said, “The team was led by setter Riley Borchardt whose strong serving and setting created many scoring opportunities. Annabelle Tiller, Taylor Wilson, and Grace Johnson were also big factors, putting pressure on the opponents with strong passing and timely hits. Maddie Gunderson and Elise Guerrand-Hermes also played great roles in the passing and defense department.”
The 13 White team went 1-2 to finish 3rd in their pool this weekend. Opening their day with a solid win versus the top seed in their pool, LAVA-North 13-Adidas (25-17, 25-17), they went on the drop the next 2 matched to Forza1 West 13-Red (10-25, 22-25) and Impact 13-Rachell (20-25, 16-25). Coach Andrew Grimes said of their day, “Natalie Scharin returned from an injury and split setting duties with Allison Franzen. Lily Singhass set the tone with active defense while Kaiya Peters was the top threat on offense and from the service line.”
The 14 Blue team battled over the weekend, missing several players and playing with 2 call ups from the 13 Blue team. They won their first match of the day over A4 Volley 14-Black (21-25, 25-13, 15-11), before dropping tough matches to Surfside 14-MB Legends (14-25, 22-25) and Forza1 14-Asics Red (22-25, 25-22, 1-15). This put the team in the dreaded “death match”, that you must win to stay in your current division. The team fought hard, but lost in a close one to Vegas Aces 14-Black (21-25, 25-11, 13-15). That will send the team to division 3 for the next tournament. Coach Jon Newton commented on the great job Riley Borchardt (playing up from the 13 Blue team) did all day long, stepping in and up to the challenge of playing at the U14 level.
Next up for SBVC teams is the 18 Blue team travels this weekend to Atlanta for a 3-day tournament, the Big South National Qualifier, while the rest of the age groups get a weekend off for the start of spring break.