Three teams from the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club managed to stay in their same Southern California Volleyball Association divisions, while three others suffered some tough defeats and were relegated during mandatory tournament play over the weekend.
Dwayne Hauschild’s 17-Smack team, competing in Division 4, started their day with a win over Golden West 17-Asics, then fell to Legacy 17-1s in two games. The team ended pool play with a close three-game loss to Baja VBC 18-1s 25-21, 29-31, 16-14.
“We played spectacularly and had our chance in that match, but it didn’t fall our way.” Hauschild commented.
Although the team went 1-2 for the day, due to a three-way tie, they placed second in pool play. In the playoff round, the 17-Smack lost to Temecula 18-Brian in a close battle, 25-23 26-24. The team will remain in Division 4 for the next tournament.
“I was very impressed with the play of our middles, Jaimie Mayner and Amber Wiswell. Additionally, Sierra Hofstatter had a strong offensive and passing day,” said Hauschild.
In Division 1, the 18-Smack met up with a tough pool of competition. The team opened up with a marathon match loss to Sports Shack 18-Asics 25-20, 16-25, 10-15, and then was defeated by Long Beach 17-Rockstar in two games. The team bounced back to beat SVVC 18-Kelli in another close three-gamer, 25-22, 20-25, 15-8.
“Dani Rottman played great all day both defensively and offensively, but it was her defense and blocking that played a significant role in the win against SVVC,” said assistant coach Courtney Preston. “Amy Lanski also played a critical role for us all day, with several kills in the slide attack and tough serving. Both Dani and Amy have been working really hard in practice to focus on the little things that make a big difference, and it definitely showed on the court this weekend.”
Placing third in pool play for the day put the team in the position of having to win the first round of playoffs to maintain Division 1. In what is coined as the “death match”, the team unfortunately lost a hard-fought match to TCA HB 18-Black and will move to Division 2 for the next mandatory tournament.
The 18-Blue team placed third for the day in Division 5 and will remain for the next Mandatory tournament. The team defeated Channel Islands 18-Shock, and lost to Protégé 17-Elite and OCVBC 17-White.
The ball just didn’t cooperate for the 15-Smack team in San Diego.
“The girls really played hard all day long but the ball just didn’t bounce our way on Sunday,” said coach Jake Hong. “In pool play, both of our losses came in tight three-game matches.”
The team started off with loss to Epic 15-1 (25-23, 17-25, 9-15), but turned it around and beat Club Troy 15s (25-22, 25-18).
“Katie Kim had her breakout tournament playing middle blocker and being able to get multiple kills throughout the day both in front of the setter and also running slides,” said Hong. The team ended pool play with a barn-burner loss to Gene’s Team 15s (26-24, 12-25, 14-16) to place third. The team subsequently lost the first playoff round (death match) to Golden West 15-Asics and will move to Division 2 for the next Mandatory.
The 15-Blue team hung on to their Division 3 standing by winning the right match at the right time. The team went 0-3 for the day in pool play, losing to Flintridge 15-Anne, Pacific Jrs 15-Jess and Wave 15-Trevor. The team rebounded to beat Formula 1 15-Sara, 26-24, 25-22, in the first playoff round, which was enough to maintain its Division 3 standing for the next tournament.
“The highlight of the day was the play of Erin Graf, a younger player who has worked hard at practices all season, and the reward was seeing her play solid defense all day,” said coach John Sener.
In Anaheim, the 12-Smack team competed in Division 2, having just moved up after winning the previous weekend. The caliber of the teams was a big step up and it was the first time the team had playoff rounds after pool play.
“We just couldn’t manage to pull out a win against these teams, but I was proud of how they stepped up their defense against some tough offensive teams,” said coach Erin Dohm.
The team lost to SG Elite 12-Roshambo (18-25, 21-25), Rancho Valley 12-Premiere (17-25, 24-26), and Sunshine 12-Elite (20-25, 23-25). The team lost the playoff round to New Wave 12-Platinum (11-25, 23-25), and will return to Division 3 for the next tournament.
