The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club’s 15-White and 12-Smack teams placed first in the second-round qualifying tournaments to advance to the Gold Bracket for the final round of qualifying in the Southern California Volleyball Association.
The 15-White team competed in its second qualifying round in the Silver bracket in Huntington Beach and finished 2-1. Based on a 3-way tie and higher game ratio, the team placed first for the day.
The team opened with a 3-set loss to Club Troy 15-Halie.
“The first game we had some trouble with our serves and made a lot of unforced errors,” coach Jeff Minc said. “The second game we played much better and won easily. In the third we were up 8-3 but gave it back and ended up losing that match.”
The team then beat Sport Shack 15-Billy in two sets for the second match. The third match against Surf City 15-Tyler proved to be the team’s toughest, and the team won thanks to great defensive play from Ale Tacconelli and Maddie Becker, and the solid setting by Avery Jones.
“Phoebe Roberts contributed some big blocks in the second set, while Lauren Johnson came up with some key attacks from the outside to close out the match for us.” Minc pointed out.
At the American Sports Center, the 12-Smack team also ended on a winning note, placing first for the day in their second qualifying round.
“After our last tournament, the girls were really motivated to work hard in practice and learn their positions and rotations,” Coach Laura Marcus said. “The hard work paid off!
Danica Minnich, Julia Fay and Abby Corpuz were the star servers of the day, going on runs of points each time they stepped back to the line. The team beat Bakersfiled 12-Ashley, San Gabriel 11-Roshambo, and Newport Lightening 12s.
“We were very impressed at the ball control on our side of the net We had many long rallies and the team did an excellent job of … ending rallies with kills,” said Marcus.
Marcus thanked the support of the parents.
“Their support really helped push the girls to victory. The whole team was ecstatic and full of smiles at the end of the day.”
On Sunday, the 18-Blue team competed in the second qualifying round of the Gold bracket and placed fourth.
“It was another tough weekend,” Coach Jacky Yao pointed out. “We struggled at the pins to put the ball away and we didn’t give ourselves too many ‘second chance’ points.”
The team lost to Legacy 18-Elite, LAVA West 18-Jeff and Redland Tigers 18s.
“We have 2 weeks before our last qualifying round and we believe in the process and will continue to work to get better.”
