Teams from the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club kicked off their seasons at the Southern California Volleyball Association Qualifiers in Anaheim.
In the first qualifying round in the Silver Bracket, the 18-Blue team won all three matches, giving them a chance to compete for a Gold Bracket spot in the next qualifying round. The team beat SAMO 17-Elite in 2 games, and beat Club West 18-Red and OVC Bakersfield 18-Blue in three.
Jacky Yao, head coach for the 18-Blue team, and assisted by Todd Garrett, was pleased with the day.
“Overall, it was a very exciting day,” Yao commented. “The girls have worked hard over the past month to prepare and it showed in their ability to play as a team in tight games down the stretch. Kira Schleich set an amazing day for us. Her choices of sets were phenomenal and ran a very efficient offense. Both our middles, Lina Kleinschmidt and Remi Pulice, hit great and anchored our blocks tremendously. Katie Shea was an intricate part of our wins with key kills and digs down the stretch of the close games.”
The team will next compete in Qualifying round 2, shooting to stay in the Gold Bracket.
The 18-Smack team competed in the Gold Bracket, and finished second for the day securing a golden start for the regular season and receiving a “bye” for Qualifying round 2.
The team beat Impact 17’s and San Gabriel 17’s, before losing to Surf City 18’s.
Jason Donnelly, who just returned from New Jersey after three years as the assistant coach for the Rutgers women’s volleyball team, is the head coach for the 18-Smack, and is assisted by Courtney Preston.
Jason praised his team by saying, “It was a good first day for this group. We are able to bypass the second qualifier, so we have some time to work on some specific things. Nicki Brown played well throughout most of the day. Her ball control and defense were solid, and she got on a couple of nice serving runs. Holland Crenshaw put together a good effort in the middle. She’s adjusting to the speed of the game and I look forward to seeing her development throughout the course of this season. This is a pretty young team on the whole, so I think their learning curve will be pretty good.”
The 17-Smack team competed in the Gold Bracket of the 18s division and went 1-2 for the day. The team, coached by Dwayne Hauschild and assisted by UCSB Gaucho Charlene DeHoog, suffered losses to highly ranked Wave 17-Brennan in 2 games, Laguna Beach 18-Tuan in 2 very close games, and then finished the day with an exciting 3-game victory over California Heat 18-Eclipse to finish third for the day.
They will compete in Qualifying round 2, where they will have a chance to hold their Gold Bracket placement.
“Not a bad day overall for this young team,” said Hauschild.
Also, competing on Sunday in their first qualifying round, the 12-Smack team took second for the day in the 12s Gold Bracket.
Coached by Westmont alum Erin Dohm and assisted by Jessie Forster, the team lost their first match to New Wave 12-Platinum, but bounced back to beat T-Street 12-Mitz and Sports Shack 12-Laura.
“Our second match was a nail biter, the team won in the third game and I was proud with how they remained consistent in a clutch situation,” remarked Dohm. “And our last match was great, they won in two against the fourth-seeded team. Our setters, Liana Tacconelli and Bella Gniadek, did great and were strong servers for the day. Their reliability helped the rest of the team run plays and stay consistent.”
The team remains in the Gold Bracket for the second qualifying round.
