The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club 15 Blue team won the Open division of the 3-day Southern California Girls Junior National Qualifier this past weekend.
This team is no stranger to winning one of the tougher Junior National Qualifiers around, as last year, the team also won the SCVA Jr. National Qualifier in the 14-Open division and went on to place 15th overall in the nation in Dallas.
Looking for a repeat performance, and coming off the previous weekend with a win in the SCVA Mandatory #2 tournament, the team was primed and hungry to compete for a bid for 2009 Junior Olympics. Coach Greg Gibbons was ecstatic about the triumph:
“What a weekend! Talk about a team coming together and playing hard. They followed three simple principles this weekend; they played hard, they played smart, and they played together. Everyone had a role on this team and they all came together to be champions. The leadership of setter Amanda Harvey kept the team together and playing hard when our backs were against the wall in tough situations against Wave, where we had to win to advance on as the #1 seed, winning 25-13 in a playoff match on Saturday. Then, once again Harvey kept the team focused and playing hard where we had to beat Club West in two games 25-16 and 25-22 to advance onto the championship match. Our passing and digging was solid with Dani Rottman and Nicki Brown passing most of the court and Katie Spieler digging just about every ball hit on our side. Taylor Racich led the attacking from all areas of the court and put away every critical point in almost every match we played over the weekend. Middles Ciena Colburn, Lina Kleinschmidt, and Remi Pulice balanced the team out with their quick attacks and strong blocking presence. Tristan Racich’s serving led us with the #1 seed on Sunday where she scored five straight points against Coast on Friday and Wave on Saturday. Also, our young buck Danae Theiler added an ace, a kill, and control block against SMBC on Saturday. In the championship match against a very strong ball control team, Sunshine, we pulled out game one 25-22 and followed it up with our physical play to win the final game 25-15 to win the tournament!”
With a bid solidly in hand, the team will now work to prepare to compete in the 2009 USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior Olympic Championships, which will take place in Miami Beach, Florida in July.
“Overall, everyone was a shining star and all their contributions led to back-to back tournament wins at the Mandatory #2 and the Qualifier,” Gibbons added. “Congrats to our girls and assistant coaches, Todd Garrett and Jake Hong, for giving their best effort.”
Also competing in the Qualifier this past weekend, the 15 White team finished 1st in the Bronze A bracket of the 15s Club division. The 18-Blue team competed in the Open division of the 18s bracket and unfortunately lost a playoff match early on Sunday which resulted in a 7th place finish for the team. The 18-White team finished 5th overall in the 18s Club division while the 17-Blue team ended the weekend 3rd in the Silver bracket of the 17s Club division.
These teams will compete again this coming weekend, along with the 12-Blue.
The 13s, 14s and 16s team will compete in the Junior National Qualifier for their age divisions the first weekend in April.
