The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club’s 12 Blue team, coached by Tina Brown, had an incredible Memorial Day weekend at Regionals. The team finished 11th overall and played its best volleyball of the season, competing and battling with every team it came up against.
The team started off with a tough match against Wave, one of the top teams in the SCVA, and barely lost 21-25, 24-26.
“Our girls played incredible. Paige Mascari was unstoppable hitting on the outside. She passed great, defended well and without a doubt had her best tournament ever,” Brown remarked. “Our setters, Lexi Rottman and Dane Miller, were solid from the gate, setting well and owning the middle back position.”
Brown went on to say, “Our middles, Hilary Bean and Hannah White, took their game to a new level this weekend, transitioning and getting up to make some great attacks. They stayed composed and in control when the set was not perfect, while our defensive players Phoebe Madsen and Emily Lafitte made things happen when they stepped on the court. Emily was our incredible serving specialist, coming up big with an ace when the score was 24-24! Nerves of steal. Tatum Vedder, Makayla Moore and Kristina Garcia are the most versatile players…I can put them in anywhere and they get it done. Tatum did a great job as libero, while Makayla and Kristina both hit and served consistent and solid and made a difference in each game.”
The team has completed their first club season finishing in the top 12 teams in the Gold division of their age group!
The 15 Blue team, coached by Greg Gibbons and assisted by Todd Garrett, had its ups and downs, but overall had a good weekend of competition. The team won the pool on Saturday beating Mavericks, Seal Beach, and Impact. On Sunday, the team finished 2nd in the pool beating Coast and Temecula.
According to Gibbons, “We were down against Temecula in the first game 21-24 and came back to win that one and then the next 25-20. We lost a very good match to Wave 15-1 25-18, 21-25, and 14-16. The girls played very tough, but we were a bit inconsistent.” In the first playoff round, the team lost to Saddleback 23-25 and 21-25. The team ended up 5th for the Regionals tournament, which earned them #3 ranking overall in SCVA for their age group. Gibbons gave accolades to his team, “I am proud of the girls for working so hard all year and now it is time to focus on ironing out some kinks and get ready for JO’s. Thanks to all our girls for giving us their very best. I am very proud of them.”
The 15 Red team had a good run for their two-day Regionals. On the first day, the team finished 3rd in pool play. Coach Desiree Partlow mentioned that their first game versus the second seed was their best match of the day, taking the team to three and lost 15-13 in the third game.
Partlow said, “Susie Weaver, Iris Campbell, And Sarah McKinney carried the team offensively and Caroline Stoll, Ayla Nelson and Leila Nathan made significant contributions on defense. Andrea Mullaney was solid both offensively and defensively and made some crucial blocks.”
On the second day, the team won its first two matches and lost the third to finish 2nd in pool play. The team ultimately lost in the first round of playoffs to Coast. Partlow continued, “Lindsey McFadden did a great job both days setting, and Courtney LaViale really stepped up when we needed her, as did Annie Thwing on defense which was a huge help to the team as well. Ella Corpuz served tough all weekend and did a great job playing opposite. She managed to stuff block the best hitter that we played against in the entire tournament. Iris Campbell finished the season with her best tournament performance of the season.”
The Regionals tournament marks the end of the regular season for the travel 12s and 15s age divisions. The 15 Blue team will continue through the month of June preparing to compete at the Junior Olympics in Miami Beach the first week of July.
This coming weekend, the 18s and 17s teams will compete in Regionals over the weekend.
