The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club’s 14-Smack team was tested in its first Southern California Volleyball Association tournament of the season on Saturday, but still pulled off a perfect 3-0 finish for the day in the first qualifying round of the Gold Division.
The team beat Nevada Jrs 14-Black in 2 games, opening up with a jittery 25-23 victory in the first game a dominant 25-12 showing in the second.
Lucie Simmons’ 4-point service run helped to finish the match on a high note.
The team then beat Culver City 14-Eric in the first game 25-12, but blew a 22-14 lead when the opponent’s server went on a hot streak, driving Santa Barbara into a loss of 23-25.
Trailing in the third game until the side switch, Coach K.C. Collins noted that a well-timed block from Melissa Scott and a serving run by Teah Burdick sparked the team’s momentum and confidence to come back and win the final game 15-9.
Ending the day against 951-Elite 14-1, the Santa Barbara squad gave a suffered a passing letdown. Opening with a 10-2 deficit, it went from bad to worse when hitting and serving errors followed and the team lost 25-10
“This did not sit well with the team,” said Collins. “Especially with Haley Hodson, who came out in the next two games with a fiery attitude and a blistering offense.”
Hodson earned 11 kills on 14 attempts in the last two games, while Mariah Bell added five kills on seven attempts and Tessa Dewell added three kills on four swings. Both Bell and Hodson passed especially well at the end, and Hodson also finished off game three with a run of five aces.
The team won the second game 25-8 and the third game 15-7.
“The best part of it all was to see the team band together under the pressure, and everyone doing something remarkable to change the momentum to our advantage,” said Collins.
The team earned a bye for the second qualifying round.
The 13-Smack team, also competing in the Gold Division, went 2-1 and earned first place for the day. The team started the day by beating Sunshine 13-Southbay in two games before taking on the No. 4 seed overall, Sports Shack 14-1.
Santa Barbara won in two very tight games, with Emily Allen’s prodigous serving sparking a big comeback.
“Being down 22-11, Emily Allen made 12 straight serves to stage a great comeback and beat the team 27-25 for the game and match,” said coach Ed Gover. “That victory allowed us to finish first in the pool.”
The team then lost to T-Street 13-1, but placed first based on a head-to-head tiebreaker with Sports Shack.
The team will also earn a bye for the second round.
“An excellent performance by Dane Miller in the setting department and consistent outside hitting by Jackie Starnes,” Gover commented.
Matt Schroeder’s 14-White team also took first place for the day, going 3-0 in the Silver Division
“Stellar defense and near-perfect ball control proved to be the key ingredients for a successful 3-0 sweep in their first round,” said Schroeder. The team’s first match was against a team called 900sqft 13-Steve, a reference to the total area on one side of the court.
“Led by the tremendous backcourt play of Andie ‘Miss Automatic’ O’Donnell and Evanne ‘The Secretary of Defense’ Jimenez, the team’s high-powered offense was able to dissect all of the 900 square feet on the other side of the court with surgical precision and artistic flair,” said Schneider eloquently.
Schroeder continued, “In match two, the crowd was treated to a magnificent serving run put on by Katie ‘The Sultan of Serve’ Kim, who shelled off 15 aces in a row, give or take a few, to win in two straight sets over Torrance 14-Kim.”
The last match would prove to be the toughest challenge for 14-White, pitted against a familiar foe, Commerce Crush 14-1.
The team came out strong and pounced on the Crush for an early 8-0 lead and never looked back, winning again in two straight sets. This finish gives the team a chance to move into the Gold Division at its next qualifying round.
The 14-Red team, coached by Deia Kidd-Kadlubek, went 3-0 in the Bronze Division. Despite a slow start, the squa beat So Cal Athletics 14-Swamis in three games, then beat Golden West 14-Red in two games.
“Our final match against T-Street 13-2 was a thriller,” exclaimed Kidd-Kadlubek. “We made a spectacular comeback in the second game from 11-22 to 26-24. We then won the final game for the match win! This was the first time any of the girls had played on a travel club team and they did a fabulous job stepping up and competing the whole day.”
The 13-White team, also competing in the Bronze Division, had an exciting match against Bakersfield 13-Emily, the top seed in its pool. The team won the first game, but unfortunately lost the next two games to lose the match. The team also lost in two games to both Impact 14-Jessica and SMBC 13-Shannon to finish fourth for the day.
“Emily Stevens stood out all day with her consistent all around play, while Mikayla Werner also had a great day with her serving and hitting,” said coach Malinda Reese.
On Sunday, coach Jessie Fahey celebrated a 3-0 day with her 12-Smack team in the final qualifying round.
“The team came together for a big win,” she said.
The team beat Beach Cities 11-Gold, ParkCenter 12-1 and Sunshine 12-Premier.
Fahey noted that setters Phoebe Madsen and Gabi Peoples “showed some serious heart” on the court. She also cited Lourda Weger, mastering her swing, had several kills for the day, and Ava Dore showed confident and aggressive offense in the front row. This finish puts them in Division 5 to start the regular season.
The 17-Smack team finished second for the day in its second qualifying round, beating SDVBC 18-JK in 3 and New Wave 18-Platinum in two sets.
The team lost a close 3-game battle to Velocity 18-Black 22-25, 25-23, 15-10.
Coach Angie Erdmann mentioned that outside hitter Rachel Szeyller led her team on offense and defense throughout the day.
“And Morgan Riegert made some incredible digs to carry the back row,” she said. “Bianca Castro sparked the front row with solid blocking and quick hits out of the middle. The girls had great energy on the court all day and played like a team.”
Next up this coming weekend, the 15-Red will take to the court for the second qualifying round while the 15-Smack and 15-White teams earned a bye, and the 17-Smack, 18-Smack and 18-White teams will complete in the final qualifying round to gain their starting divisions and rankings for the regular SCVA season.
