The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club’s 16-Smack team was missing four players due to injury or illness and had just one sub at the Regionals in Anaheim, but it managed to pick up some wins in preparation for Junior Nationals.
The team won its first match again Golden West thanks to some nice setting in the 5-1 offense by Hannah Porter. Sarah McKinney also thrived as a fill-in at the opposite hitter position.
“We had some great plays and great rallies but just like the Lakers, we couldn’t rebound from some unforced errors late in the game, allowing just enough room for our opponent to take the victory,” said coach Greg Novak.
Holland Crenshaw came alive to help pull out the next two victories against Orange County and Club Impact, giving the team second place on the day.
Sunday began with the bad news that Nicki Brown’s fever would keep her off the court. The team went 1-2 in pool play was good enough for third place, putting the team in the lower bracket of the Gold Division playoffs. An injury to Dani Rottman in the next match left the team with just seven players.
In their second game of the playoffs, Jaimie Mayner and Amanda Harvey paved the road to victory, with Harvey serving 13 consecutive points. However, the team was out of gas heading into the semis and decided to forego the rest of the day.
“All in all the weekend was a success since we are fortunate enough to have players versatile enough to play multiple positions,” said Novak.
