Drew Kenyon takes a swing for 18 Blue
The SCVA Holiday Classic was a long tournament 2-day event for the young men of both the 18-Blue and the 17-Blue teams, with five matches on Saturday and two matches on Sunday.
?After a long weekend of volley, the 18-Blue team came home very pleased with our results. We started the Holiday Classic as the 46 seed, and through some great balance and hard work we jumped up 25 spots and finished in 21st place!? said head coach Armen Zakarian.
The team opened up the first pool round with back to back 2 set wins over Seaside 18s and Epic 18-Trevor and a 2-set loss to Santa Monica 18Black. In the second round the team edged out BPowerhouse 18Black in a hard fought 2-set match and in their 5th match of the day, lost to a strong Manhattan Beach Surf 18s. The team then came back Sunday and finished the round beating Team Rockstar 17-1, which placed them in the Silver A Bracket. The team finished the day with a nail-biter 3-set loss to Balboa Bay 18-White placing 21st overall.
?We had contributions from all of our players including great play off the bench from Duffy Kerwin McElroy, Chandler Swift, and Dalton Smith. Outside hitter Drew Kenyon, middle hitter Jackson Wopat, and libero Carl Mendoza had steady play all weekend with Chris Newton running an efficient offense. We are steadily improving and looking to break into the top 10 of the 18 and under division,? remarked Zakarian.
The 17-Blue team also had a good run despite a line up never practiced. Normally an outside hitter, Nick Kvistad stepped into the middle position early on when Will Pulice was sidelined with an injury.
Baker Johnson rises for a high set.
?Nick stepped up big and played very well in the middle all weekend,? said head coach Dillan Bennett. ?Setter Nate Holmes was back in the lineup after missing the last tournament, and several other big contributors included Jack Skjervem, Niko Plesons, and Hayden Millington, who all did a great job of playing smart volley in the outside and opposite hitting positions. Jack also came up time and time again with big blocks at the right time.?
The team began the day with a 3-set loss to Team Rockstar 18-1 but bounced back to beat BCVC 18-Chris in 3-sets and swept Akamai 18-Paka in 2 sets. Heading into the next round that evening, the team met up with a scrappy Balboa Bay 17Hurly and lost in 2 sets, but ended the night with a solid win in 2 sets over Spectrum 18s. On Sunday, the team lost to Vegas 18-Red in the last match of the second round moving them into the Bronze B bracket for playoffs, where the team hung tough but came up short losing to Huntington Beach 17-Silva in 2 sets.
The team entered as the 63rd seed and finished 33rd for the weekend.
?Our most valuable player of the weekend was Ross Warden. He carried our offensive load and was a force at the net blocking. His improvement so far has been incredible.? Bennett mentioned.
The teams will take to the court again in a couple weekends as they continue to prepare for the National Qualifier in January.
