Hope Stewart was a standout performer for the SBVC 16-Blue team on Saturday in Long Beach. (Jourdi Dewerd Photo)
Santa Barbara Volleyball Club’s girls 16s teams competed in last weekend’s SCVA mandatory tournament in Long Beach and Anaheim. The 16-Blue team won in division 4 and will move up to division 3 in the next tournament.
In the Goldmine gym of CSU Long Beach, Dillan Bennett’s 16-Blue team started in a two way tie for first, taking second in their Division 4 pool by beating TCA 16-Black and Edge 16-Black before losing to T-Street 16-Katie.
With a successful morning behind them, the team proceeded to win through the afternoon playoff brackets to finish first and move up to Division 3 for the next tournament. The team beat Tustin VBC 16-Brie, 25-17, 14-25, 15-11, South Bay 16-1 25-19, and Commerce Crush 16-1 25-20.
According to Coach Bennett, “We had to adjust our lineup without much practice due to a last minute loss of an injured player Cha Cha Fisher. Hope Stewart did an excellent job moving to the outside for the team and Maddie Swenumson provided steady play switching to opposite, both for the first time in these positions for both of them. It was a good day, we won the mandatory…the girls were stoked.”
On Saturday in Anaheim, the 16-Smack team competed with a skeleton crew in division 2, missing several players due to injuries. “The team played well even though we had to make some lineup changes due to injuries.” Said Coach Jake Hong. The team placed 3rd in pool play with a 1-2 record beating Mizuno West 16-Rockstar in 3 sets and losing to Club West 16-National and Bakersfield 16-Charlene.
The team entered into the “death match” needing to win to maintain their division 2 foothold and they did just that beating Golden West 16-Black 28-26, 25-18 in the first round of playoffs.
“Sydney Riegert played great in a brand new position where she had to not only hit on the left side, but also be a primary passer in all 6 rotations. Both setters Sarah Scarminach and Andie O’Donnell also performed well in a new offensive system and led us to victories in key matches,” finished Coach Hong.
The team lost its subsequent one-set playoff match to Legacy 16-Elite 17-25 and will remain in Division 2 for the next tournament.
