The girls travel teams from Santa Barbara Volleyball Club have been competing in the first of three qualifying rounds that begins the quest to qualify for this summer’s Junior Nationals.
A recap of the results is below.
Qualifying Round #1
Saturday January 4
The 16-Blue went 3-0 in the Gold bracket beating Genuine 16-Becka, Top Gun 16-Red and Orange County 16-Blue, all in 2-sets. “After a close first match (27-25, 25-16) against a very good opponent, the team really came together and stepped up their play the rest of the day,” said Coach Jake Hong. “The whole team played with a lot of pace and energy which caught the other teams off guard. Emily Allen played a critical role with her kills from the front row. She was able to score points consistently throughout the day. Anika Wilson passed in almost every rotation and was able to help us stay in system to be able to set all of our hitters. McKenna Goss was great both with her blocking and attacking, her slides were an attack that the other teams were not ready for and she provided kills consistently with that swing.” The team will advance to second round competing among the top 32 finishers.The 16-White team, also competing in the gold bracket, fell 0-3 on the day. “Although the final result may not reflect it, the team got better this weekend,” recapped Coach Kat Niksto. “Sarah Kang’s setting improved as she adjusted to running a fast paced offense and utilizing the middle attack in transition. Making it a tough day on the opponents, Sam Sander and Andie DeWerd led a scrappy defensive effort as well as aggressive serving attack.” The team lost to Laguna Beach 16-Hava, San Gabriel 16-Roshambo and Cal Heat 16-Inferno. “We hope to learn from some close losses and have better results next tournament.”
Megan Phillips’ 16-Red team finished 1-2 in the Silver Bracket, beating Laguna Beach 16-Seth and losing to AVA 16-Black and Reef 16-Brendon. “Sunday was a huge learning experience for our team,” remarked Phillips. “We had many personal victories within our team that allowed us to compete at a high level with all the teams we played. Avery Jones provided exceptional contributions to the team with her aggressive serving, consistent defense, and competitive attitude. Ella Deardorff was also incredibly effective from the service line, notching at least 1 ace in every set. We look forward to growing as a team.”
Sunday January 5
The 18-Blue team opened up in the Gold bracket with a 3-set battle and beat Temecula 18-Abbey, then breezed through the rest of competition with 2-set wins over Westside Warriors 18s and Sunshine 17-Hurley, to advance to the second round of competition among the top 32 teams. “It was nice to see our girls get better as the day went on,” Coach Jason Donnelly said. “Bailey Roach played great in the libero position, her serve receive passing was solid and she made some key digs throughout the day. Izzy Sagely was very consistent on the outside, playing well offensively, and stabilizing our defense from the middle back position. And Kristen Berlo established herself as one of the top middle blockers in the SCVA.”Saturday January 12
The 14-Blue team battled for a 2nd place finish in the gold division. The team rolled through its first match beating Protégé 14-Elite, then lost a tight match against Prime 14-TDS 23-35, 26-28. The team then lost a nail-biter to Sunshine 14-SB 19-25, 27-25, 11-15. The team entered into a 3-way tie and on point ratio tie breaker took 2nd earning a spot to compete with top 32 teams for the next round. “Early on the team was a little tentative but by the third match, they really got in a groove to play their best against Sunshine. Sam Slater’s tough serving got us extra points. Gabi Peoples led the team in kills, Liana Tacconelli kept the rallies going by playing great defense and passing,” commented Coach Greg Novak.The 14-White and 13-Blue teams both turned in a strong performance in the Silver bracket placing 2nd for the day.
The 14-White team opened up losing to the top seed in the pool Coast 14-R in 2-sets, then rallied back to beat Legacy 14-Elite and Beach-to-Bay 14s in 2-sets. “The team played well for their first tournament and had a great attitude throughout the day,” Coach Katie Dolge said. “They never gave up and fought through many rallies. The games that we won were dominated by our tough serving. Both outside hitters, Zoe Maritorena and Bella Gniadek, went on great serving runs with their tough jump serves. Isabel Bassi ran our offense with her good setting and dug a few tough hits from a big outside hitter on Legacy!”
The 13-Blue team began its day with two tight battles beating Pacific Jrs 14-2 (25-11, 23-25, 15-13) and San Monica 14-Bernard (25-10, 21-25, 15-7), before losing to Club Green 14-Angelica in 2-sets. According to Coach Ed Gover, “13 blue started the season with solid passing, serving and defense by every player. Ady Colburn and Kendall White did an excellent job at the setting position, while outside hitters Brynna Hodosy, Jenna MacFarlane and Josie Doughty provided a strong offense.”
The 14-Red team had a successful day in the Bronze bracket winning 2 of 3 matches. The team opened up to beat the top seed in its pool, Coast 14-Becky (25-21, 25-23). The team then lost a close one to a very strong West Wind 14s and finished with a win over Beach Cities 14-Manta (25-12, 25-18). Coach K.C. Collins mentioned the strong serving of her team. “We had been working on consistent tougher serves at practice and it paid off – we had a good day causing trouble for the opponent on passing. Megan Seabury provided great defense and offense all day, Maggie Wilde hit very well and recorded her first solid block in competition, and Tatum Vestal really took to the libero position and controlled the back court. Ally Drevo and Nicole Belton did a great job in their very first debut in the setting position!”
The 13-White also competing in the Bronze bracket finished with a 1-2 record. The team lost to Triumph 14-Christina and San Gabriel 13-Elite, but rallied a solid win over Santa Monica 14-Asics 25-14, 25-17. “Great first tournament against some tall 14 year olds!” remarked Coach Jenna Boyd. “The girls really pulled together and improved as the day went on, and we finished a win for the day.”
Sunday January 13
Laura Marcus’ 12-Blue team opened up their day in the Gold Bracket with a close loss against TCA 12-Black (25-17, 25-22) then beat Legacy 12-Elite 25-20, 25-13). The team lost the last match of the day against a tough Sunshine 12-Westside. “I feel we had a strong start to the season. Even though we only had one win, we played tough and were competitive with the top teams iIn the gold bracket. This team has so much potential and will be prepared to beat those teams next time around.” said Coach Marcus “Keara Rutz and Ally Mintzer were our strong servers of the day scoring lots of points for the team. Our liberos Taylor Robertson and Reese Kelly did a great job passing some tough serves. Chloe Mauceri is going to be a blocking force to be reckoned with.”
The 15-Blue team competing in the Gold Division went 3-0 to advance to the top 32 teams in the next round. The team rolled commandingly through its first two matches beating Long Beach 15-Rundbird and Elite 15s in 2 sets. In the 3rd set a passing break down led to a loss of one game but the team ultimately won the last match against a formidable Tustin 15-Mark (25-16, 20-25, 15-11). “The team played well, with everyone stepping up their play as the day went on. Although we had a bit of a passing breakdown against Tustin in the 3rd match, which ultimately led to our loss in the second set, overall our serving was tough and our passing consistent which led to a balanced offense and really making the opponents guess. Setters Allie Sundara and Pheobe Madsen did an unbelievable job not only at setting but were very affective hitting on the right side tallying a number of points for the team. Luisa Cameron is really coming along in the middle, in the second match she recorded 3 blocks, and 7 kills on 10 attempts!”
The 15-White team also competing in the Gold bracket met with a tough pool of competition and finished 0-3 for the day.
