The 16s teams of the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club enjoyed a big weekend in a second-round Southern California Volleyball Association qualifying tournament.
The 16-Smack team went 3-0 to place first in its pool. It swept Tustin 16-Mike (25-16, 25-18), Supernova 16-Red (25-19, 25-14) and Protége 16-Elite (25-7, 25-21).
“Steady serving and key defensive moves by Savanah Tartler gave the team a kick-start when needed,” remarked coach Greg Novak. “Adding to the defensive wall was Emma Craine, Emily Lunt and Mia Cattaneo. Also, we had a very solid blocking performance at the net by middle Sammie Rhine and setters Emma Mascari and Frankie Lewis.”
Novak added that Charlotte Garratt stepped into the middle to add to the team’s kill ratio for the day. Outside hitters Colleen O’Conner and Izzy Sagely dominated with precision kills down the line.
“The performance displayed by the team at this tournament showed great promise for the season,” Novak said.
The first-place finish puts the 16-Smack team back into the Gold bracket for its upcoming final qualifying round.
?The 16-Blue, also battling to get back into the Gold bracket for its final qualifying round, put themselves in a very good position to do so by taking second for the day.
“Overall, we played pretty well and consistently the whole day. We came out ready to compete,” remarked coach Lauren Rinderknecht.
The team beat Surf City 16-Tim in two games and Club Vegas 16-Sam in a nail-biter match going to three games, pulling out the 3rd game 17-15. The lone loss was against Elite VBC 16-Elite.
“I was impressed with the team’s effort, beating Vegas in the third game 17-15,” Rinderknecht said. “On the day, Paige Lockhart had a good amount of blocks and kills out of the middle, and Marina Boulanger had some big kills and helped us defensively and offensively on the outside all day.”
Both teams will compete in a final qualifying round to earn their starting divisional rankings for the regular season.
