The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club’s 18-Smack team won the Open Division of the Southern California Volleyball Association’s 3-day Junior National Qualifier Tournament this past weekend, earning a bid into the Open Division (top 32 teams across the nation) of the Annual USA Volleyball Junior National Championships which will be held in Reno, Nevada this year in July.
The team was seeded 7th and went 10-0 for the three days, finishing things off with a 26-28, 25-21, 15-9 win over Coast 18-Ozhan.
“The girls really came together as a team this weekend and everyone contributed to the victories over the three days,” said assistant coach Todd Garrett.
The blocking came alive against a very good Wave team (out of Encinitas) in the most important match of the weekend, advancing Santa Barbara to the semifinals. After beating Laguna Beach in the semi-finals to secure the bid, they beat a very competitive Coast team in the finals.
The victorious 18-Smack team.
Garrett said that Paige Craine and Sammie Brown did an amazing job running the offense and consistently delivering juicy sets to the hitters. They made great decisions to confuse the blockers, resulting in an open net for the hitters much of the time.
Eve Ettinger, Amy Lanski and Sally Yingst took advantage of the great sets and added key kills in important games. Ettinger’s powerful arm intimidated the opposition and kept the defenders on their heels. Along with some heavy hitting, Yingst stabilized the back row defensively. Lanski ripped balls from the right side and had some key blocks adding to the momentum.
Emily Rottman, Sarah Mendoza, and Katherine Keller played incredible defense all weekend behind a solid block courtesy of Aly Squires, Carly Wopat, Taylor Racich and Sam Wopat. Squires and Carly Wopat were unstoppable in the middle, creating chaos on the other side of the net. A constant barrage of thundering serves and spikes from Racich and Sam Wopat further frustrated the opponent.
Mendoza made the setter’s job easier by consistently passing the ball on target while contributing some amazing right side digs. Keller was all over the place, scrapping for tips and digging everything the opponents sent over the net. Rottman went on several service runs, keeping Wave, Laguna and Coast out of system much of the time.
“The coaches couldn’t be more proud of how the girls gave 100% effort all weekend to accomplish our goal,” said Garrett..
The other Club teams came very close, but did not secure a bid.
The 18-White team, coached by Shalen Williams and Jacky Yao, competed in the 18s Club division and placed 9th overall. They made a great run through two days of pool play, but unfortunately met with their sole loss of the weekend in the challenge match Sunday evening, knocking them out of bid contention. They went on to beat the rest of the teams, going 9-1 for the weekend and placing 9th out of over 100 teams.
The 17-Smack team competed in the 17s Club division, going 5-4 over the weekend. The team, coached by Angie Erdmann and Kat Niksto, came in ranked 46 out of over 75 teams, and finished 13th in the Silver Bracket. Coach Erdmann commented, “It was an amazing weekend and some of the best volleyball we have seen out of the Santa Barbara 17-Smack yet. It is great to see the team gel and come together with so much positive energy. They have improved a ton and are only going to continue to achieve.”
Coach Dwayne Hauschild’s 15-Smack team, competing among 28 teams in the Open division, suffered a couple losses in pool play on the first day, knocking them out of contention for an Open bid early on. Despite the losses, Coach Hauschild felt it was a good tournament for the team.
“Great matches with long rallies and great atmosphere made the weekend fun, and gave the girls an opportunity to prepare for the top division in SCVA in a couple of weeks,” said Hauschild.
The team wrapped up the weekend with a 4-4 record.
The 15-White team, coached by John Sener and Desiree Partlow, competed in the 15s Club division and placed 5th overall.
After two days of undefeated pool play and two rounds of playoffs, the team was in a group of the eight teams vying for a bid.
“Smaller in stature, but larger than life, this team played with such tenacity and heart all weekend long. This is not a team with one star but rather a dedicated group with each one knowing what they have to do to win,” said Sener.
The team ultimately lost to Middlebrook (out of Texas) 25-17, 25-15 to finish tied for 5th out of 35 teams.
