The Smack and Blue teams from the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club have begun their quest to reach the U.S. Volleyball Junior Nationals.
The 18-Smack team, which won the gold medal at the Junior Olympics last summer in Atlanta, started its new season on a high note, advancing to the Gold Bracket final qualifying round at a Southern California Volleyball Association Tournament at Rolling Hills Prep.
The team, which returns almost all of its players from the Junior Olympics squad, won its three pool-play matches.
Coach Jason Donnelly said everyone contributing and was especially pleased to pull out the last match against Wave in three sets.
“Holland Crenshaw played very well all day long,” Donnelly said. “She was consistent on the offensive end, hitting .380 for the day, and set the tone of our defense with a very formidable block. Katie Spieler was all over the place defensively. She is constantly making plays, and doing whatever she has to in order to keep the ball from hitting the floor.”
The 18-Blue team also competed in the Gold Division for their first qualifying round at Cypress College.
According to Coach Jacky Yao, the team played hard and competed well, but suffered a 0-3 loss in matches for the day losing to Orange County 17-Blue, Golden West 18-Asics, and the No. 1 seed overall, Sports Shack 18-Asics.
“Grace Halleck played phenomenal defense all day and Lina Kleinschmidt anchored our front row with her leadership and play at the net,” mentioned Yao.
At the American Sports Center in Anaheim, the 14-Smack team came out strong with a 2-1 finish for the day in the Gold bracket of the 14s division. The team needed at least second place on the day to remain in the Gold bracket to earn a bye for the second round and guarantee themselves a Gold bracket finish in the final qualifying round in February.
“I was really pleased with the teams overall play; the day showed great promise and potential for the 14 Smack team,” mentioned Coach Greg Novak. “Peyton Shelburne led the team with great serving and back row defense. Michelle Garratt had a solid performance in the middle with an amazing stuff block and running the quick attack.” Novak said.
The 14-Blue team took a match from SCVC 13-Roxy 25-17, 25-22 before succumbing to losses against the top seeded teams Laguna Beach 14-Quon 10-25, 16-25 and Mizuno West 14-Rockstar 18-25, 18-25.
“We were up against some big girls from opposing teams, but the girls dug in and made some great plays,” mentioned Coach Katie Julian. “Lauren Suh played great defense against some hard hitters, Madison Niessen contributed aces at the service line and Quincey Kras made the play of the day blocking Laguna’s right side hitter!”
The third-place finish puts the team in round two with a chance to get back to the Gold bracket for the final qualifying round.
At Rolling Hills Prep, the 13-Smack, competing in the Silver bracket, had some very close matches finishing 1-2 for the day.
Coach Ed Gover praised the team’s overall play and hard work.
“Great setting all day by Tak! (Alessandra Tacconelli)” Coach Gover said. “In the last match, Gabi Peoples went on a 7 point serving run with 3 aces to close out the first set against Oakley, and Kobie Jimenez added 3 aces at the end of the second set to win the match!”
Cal State Fullerton saw a very persistent 13-Blue team in the Bronze bracket. All of the matches went 3-sets with the team going 1-2, entering into a 3-way tie for second place and ultimately finishing third on a point ratio tie-breaker.
“The girls did a great job and had a lot of fun,” Coach Kim Buktenica said. “Isabel Bassi played well all-around, setting, defending, serving, and hitting for us, while Kate Mascari had a great serving day with many aces. And Soleil Hallig did a great job in the front row attacking at the net and scoring many kills for us.”
