Five teams from the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club attempted to earn berths into the USA Volleyball Juniors Nationals at a national qualifier last week.
The 18-Smack had the best finish of the local teams, placing 14th in the Open Division with a 5-4 record.
“Overall, for us it was a great tournament,” coach Jason Donnelly said. “We finished 14th, and while we didn’t earn an Open bid to Junior Nationals, we turned a major corner as far as the direction our team is headed. We were able to compete with some of the best teams in the country, and had a legitimate shot to eliminate the eventual tournament champion, losing a one-game playoff, 30-28.”
USC-bound Eve Ettinger and Holland Crenshaw played solid at the net for the team.
“Crenshaw gave us a much needed blocking presence and made some great strides with her offensive game. Ettinger has been aiming for a little more consistency to take her game to the next level, and when she’s on like she was this weekend, we’re playing very well as a team,” Donnelly said.
The coach also praised the passing and defense of Emma Campbell and Katie Spieler
Donnelly said setters MJ Keffury and Amanda Harvey have showed the biggest growth throughout the course of the season.
“They are both improving in every aspect of the setting position, and forcing the coaches to make a difficult decision on who’s going to play,” he said. “Fortunately, for our team, they have both been ready when called upon, and each bringing a little something different in helping us to get to the next level.”
The 18 Blue team, competing in the Club Division, finished in the top half with a 3-5 record. The team placed first in pool the first day, beating DSVC 18 Smack, and 18-Inter Gold and losing to Starlings HH-18s.
Day 2 saw three pool losses against SUVA 18s Darice, Arsenal Kaepa 18 Kris, and Point West Mizuno 18s. Going into playoffs for their Flight 4A bracket, the team beat Quest 18s, and lost to Excel VBC 18-1 to finish 45th overall.
“Overall, the effort from the girls all weekend was phenomenal,” Coach Jacky Yao said. “However, we were just not able to execute when we needed to.”
The 17 Smack team competed in the 17s Open Division and finished 23rd with a 5-5 record.
Greg Novak’s 16 Smack team remained in contention through Day 2, going 6-0. However, returning for a late evening “challenge match”, the team lost to tournament finalist Nor-Cal 16-1, which dropped them out of contention for a bid.
The team came back the third day and went 2-0 to win the silver bracket and finish 17th overall in the 16s Open Division.
“Everyone played so well over the three days and finishing with an 8-1 record is a great finish,” Novak commented. “Our only loss was to one of the eventual finalists — that one loss knocked us out of contention for the top 16 playoffs. The exciting part about the team is the way they continue to excel in their skills at practice and then being able to watch them transfer the skills to live matches. We had a great weekend and we now have new goals to set as a team.”
The 16-Blue team went 5-3 for the weekend in the 16s Club Division.
“This was a good tournament for our team to play and win competitively,” coach Lauren Rinderknecht said. “Also, everyone contributed with the absence of our outside hitter Grace Halleck due to a strained hamstring. Karly Lawrence and Marley Miller on defense were aggressive and high spirited all weekend. Marina Boulanger was great all-around and Jenny Swanson saved us on many occasions with her versatility.
On the first day, the team beat Crosspoint 16 Tim, but then lost to Temecula 16-Tommy and NCVC Blue 16-2. On day two, the team had three wins against Zona 16-Red, AZ HEAT 16-1 and 951 Elite 16-2 Baden. The team on day 3 beat SportsWorld 16-1 and lost to Starlings HH 16s to finish 89th overall.
