The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club’s 17s and 18s team completed their regular season at the two-day Southern California Vollleyball Association Regionals.
The 18-Smack competed in the Gold Bracket and finished 13th overall.
“As a team, we had a great tournament and can really use this as a stepping stone to Junior Nationals in Atlanta,” said coach Jason Donnelly.
The team placed second on Saturday, beating T-Street 17-Joaco and Orange County 17s, and losing to the overall No. 1 seed, Rancho Valley 18-Premier, 15-25, 22-25. This put the team in the top 16 for Sunday.
In Sunday’s pool play, the team beat Club Troy 18s, but suffered two very close losses to Coast 18-1 17-25, 25-27 and Wave 18-Krystal 16-25, 27-25, 15-17.
“Katie Spieler had a fantastic weekend in her first extensive action at the libero position,” Donnelly said. “She kept many a rally alive with a little extra defensive effort and is often times the loudest person on our side of the net.
“Amanda Harvey has been working really hard at becoming a consistent setter at this level. She did a nice job of running our offense this weekend.
In playoffs, the 18-Smack put up a good battle against Sunshine 18-Westside, losing 20-25, 25-19, 12-15.
Competing in the Silver Bracket, Dwayne Hauschild’s 17-Smack team bounced back from a loss to Rancho Valley 17s and beat a strong Club West 18-Elite in three games, and TCA 18-Blue in two. The team finished with a 2-1 record on Saturday and, due to a 3-way tie, placed third.
On Sunday, the team played inspired volleyball beating Sports Shack 17s, Epic 17s, and TCA 17-Black (a qualified Jr. National Open team) to go undefeated in pool. The team then finished up by going undefeated through playoffs with wins over Cal Heat 18-Eclipse and Legacy 17’s to win out their bracket.
“I am very impressed with our team this weekend,” Hauschild said. “All players contributed well, Tristan Racich set very consistently, and I believe this was a great way to prepare the girls for the task ahead in competing in the Junior Nationals in June. An 8-1 record for the weekend is a new best effort for this team and not too shabby.”
The 18-Blue team placed second in pool play on Saturday in the Bronze Bracket. On Sunday, the beat So-Cal Elite18s in two games, and subsequently lost in two very close three-game battles to Eclipse Heat 18s, 26-24, 20-25, 10-15, and Top Gun 17s, 24-26, 25-21, 12-15.
“During the afternoon playoffs, we played our best match of the weekend and beat a very athletic T-Street 17-Traci,” said Coach Jacky Yao.
The team ended the day with a loss to a scrappy Nevada Jrs 17s, 24-26.
“Megan Leiphardt stepped in and played some tough defense and our serve receive was fairly strong all weekend,” Yao said. “Lina Kleinschmidt and Arika Johnson paced our offense and allowed our setters, Kira Schleich and Madelon Leiphardt, to consistently find open hitters. Danica Smith and Katherine Crook played steady volleyball all weekend and gave us attacking options out on the pins.
“Rachel Szeyller joined the team on Sunday after her CIF track final, came in and gave the team an offensive boost. Overall, all the girls contributed on the weekend. I believe we are still improving and with four weeks before the Festival, we are looking to peak at the right time.”
The 18-Smack and 17-Smack teams will be heading off to the USA Volleyball Junior Nationals Championships in Atlanta, while the 18-Blue team will be competing at the Volleyball Festival in Phoenix at the end of June.
