It may be spring break for schools, but there’s no break for the teams from the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club. They were busy playing in Southern California Volleyball Association tournaments over the weekend.
The 15-Smack team finished second overall in its Division 1 tourney in Anaheim, beating nemesis Club West in its first match of pool play, but losing to them in the finals.
The 15-Smack opened with a 2-set barnburner to Club West 15-National. The team trailed the entire first set, but at 18-24, with Lexi Rottman back to serve, the team chipped away point by point to come back and win 26-24. It jumped out to small early lead which it kept in set 2 to win 25-22.
The team then had another highlight, beating Wave 15-Katie in 2 sets 27-25, 25-22, an opponent they had to lost to in a previous tournament.
Playing back to back matches, the team worked hard to keep the energy up to beat Goldenwest 15-Asics in 3 sets, with another spectacular comeback at 18-23 in the first set but lost 27-29, then winning the match 28-26, 15-12.
“What a day, the girls put it all out on the floor in pool play with Emma Harrah having another good tournament both offensively and at the service line,” coach K.C. Collins said. “Dane Miller and Jacqueline Starnes did a phenomenal job on defense in the back row, making some incredible digs to keep us alive, especially in those comebacks.”
In the playoffs, the 15-Smack pulled out a win over LAVA 15-Brad 25-19, 26-24, then topped Sunshine 15-South Bay in a one-set playoff match, 25-23, to earn a spot in the finals. The team could not overcome a Club West hot hitter in the second half of the final one-set match and ultimately took second for the day.
“We’d obviously have liked to beat Club West again, but taking second was a huge success for us and we were very pleased with the team’s performance all day.”
This result will boost the team up in overall rankings.
Also on Sunday, the 15-Blue team finished 3-0 in pool play of Division 3, beating South Bay 15-1, Reef 15-Jason, SCVC 15-Roxy, to give itself a chance to move up a division in playoffs.
From Coach John Sener; “The team had a great morning in pool play. But then we battled against Wave 15-Jon in the first playoff round for three tough sets only to lose 13-15 in the third set.”
The team will remain in Division 3.
“Delaney Jellison and Hillary Bean were a force on the pins, and a timely setter switch with Camryn Kneip who came in and sparked us when we needed it. It was team defense that really made the difference. The girls got so many balls up we stayed in rallies to win many points,” said Sener.
The 15-White team had a rough go of it in Division 4, finishing fourth in pool play and losing the “death match” and will move to Division 5.
From Coach Jeff Minc: “We had a rough tournament. Some close games but we had a lot of trouble siding out. Both Maddie Becker and Alessandra Tacconelli played really well on defense and kept us in the game, but unfortunately our offense just couldn’t put the ball down. Sarah Butler and Avery Jones both set and served well and Siena Goggia had some good kills from the right side.”
Competing in Division 4, the 12-Smack team placed third for the day beating Westlake 12-1, and losing to Beach Cities 12-Gold and Seal Beach 12-Marcelo.
From Coach Laura Marcus; “Sunday’s tournament provided some tough matches for the girls. Definitely the toughest competition yet this season. They played very well and maintained high spirits throughout the day. Although we only won one game, we came very close in all the match-ups and they could have gone either way. The deciding factor in every game were the points we forfeited with missed serves. The player of the day awards go to Kendall White and Izzy Mallet. Jenna MacFarlane also deserves an honorable mention for her bullet serves and some incredible plays of the ball out of the net.”
On Saturday, the 14-Smack team had an exciting morning in Division 2 pool play. Entered as the fourth seed, the team tied for first, beating DSVC 14-DR and Wave 14-Janna, and taking the first seed TCA HB 14-Black to 3 sets before losing the match. The team had a chance at moving up to Division 1, but unfortunately could not topple Orange County 14s in the first round of playoffs and will remain in Division 2.
From Coach Greg Novak: “Being the fourth seed in pool play, we knew we were going to have challenging matches. Some pretty steady play from the entire team gave us the upper hand when needed in order to pull out the close matches. Taylor Nation and Lourda Weger had a great day on the outside and the defense of Emily Lafitte and Emily Robertson helped keep us in the game. Things got a little bumpy in the playoffs where our passing broke down which allowed Orange County to create a significant lead. Though the team held strong we couldn’t make up the margin in time to pull out the win. Overall it was a great day and once again, the team advanced in the overall seeding.”
The 13-Smack team went 2-1 for the day in pool play and placed first in a 2-way tie to advance the team to Division 7. The team beat Tustin VBC 14-Alana and Epic 14-2 before losing to So-Cal Juniors 13-Elite.
Coach Ed Gover: “Gabi Peoples had an amazing 17 in a row serving run. We had solid team effort, with Bella Gniadek doing an excellent job coming off the bench and executing some very timely digs and kills. Liana Tacconelli continues to improve as the starting setter. Delaney Mayfield was a force at the net registering 8 blocks throughout the day, while Brynna Hodosy and Kobie Jimenez had a great day in the serving and passing department.”
The 14-Blue team beat Club Jamba 13-Candice, then lost to LAVA-South 14-Aaron and Oaks 14-Carrie to place third for the day and remain in Division 7.
“Lauren Suh was our MVP of the day making great digs on defense and passing well on serve receive. Taryn Stevens took control of many games at the service line getting the team multiple aces throughout the day,” said Coach Katie Julian.
The 13-Blue team lost its three pool play matches to place fourth for the day.
“It took us a little while to wake up and get going, but when we did the girls played great. We are a good team but unfortunately were not able to win one this weekend,” said Coach Kim Buktenica. “We had a really great serving day. Ally Drevo has been working hard on her serve and she did a great job. Isabel Bassi had a great setting day and both our outsides, Zoe Maritorena and Soliel Hallig were connecting well with those sets. The girls are getting better all the time and had a lot of fun.”
In San Diego on Sunday, the 16-Smack finished second in pool play, beating Sports Shack 16s and Temecula Valley 16-Costs and losing to LAVA South 16-Trevor in a heartbreaker 3-set match, losing 13-15 in the deciding set.
The team was then defeated in the first round of playoffs by Baja 16s in an extremely close match 30-32, 23-25. The team will remain in Division 2.
The 16-Blue team beat Coast 16-Harry in its first match of the day, but subsequently lost to LAVA North 16-Chris and Long Beach 16-Runbird to finish third in pool. Entering the “death match” against Orange County 16-Blue, the Santa Barbara 16-Blue won and will remain in Division 4.
