Jackson Wopat hits a quick set
Last weekend the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club Boys teams completed the initial qualifying rounds of the Southern California Volleyball Association.
Both the 18-Blue and 17-Blue teams, competing in the Gold bracket, opened up Saturday with three tough matches against some great teams, ultimately falling in all three to move them into the Gold/Silver pool for Sunday.
The 18-Blue team finished 4th in its pool on Saturday losing to MB Surf Nike 18-1 and Huntington Beach 18Greg in two sets, and finishing the day with a three set nail-biter to Vegas18Black 25-21, 20-25, 13-15.
?On Sunday, it was a different story, however, as we came out and won our pool with steady and consistent play,? commented Head Coach Armen Zakarian. ?Stand out players were Quinlan Dougherty, Baker Johnson, and Jackson Wopat. Dougherty and Johnson were great on the outside, playing with consistent energy and earning us a handful of points. Jackson Wopat dominated the middle, hitting balls harder than I’ve seen in a very long time!?
The team pulled out a three-set win over Club Wood 18-1 25-16, 20-25, 16-14, and beat Koinonia 18-1 29-27, 29-27 and Ohana 17BZ 25-5, 25-21. The team then lost yet another tight battle one-set match to Seaside 17-Black in the divisional playoff round. ?We are making some great strides very early in the season and I really like the direction the boys are headed in!? Zakarian pointed out.
Quinn Denkensohn (9) and Chris Newton (2) double block Vegas
The 17-Blue team worked hard all weekend against some tough competition. The team took San Gabriel 18Black to 3 sets before getting edged out 15-10 to lose the match, then subsequently lost in two sets to Santa Monica 18Black and Balboa Bay 17White. The team faced another tough round of pool play on Sunday and lost to Vegas 18Red, Beach Cities 18s and San Clemente 18s. Entering in to the divisional playoffs, the team beat Akamai 18Fred 26-24 before dropping its final match of the day to Seaside South 18-1 23-25.
The teams will next compete in the Holiday Classic the first weekend of December.
