Luisa Cameron of the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club’s 15-Blue team hammers a ball in the middle during the final SCVA qualifying tournament.
Santa Barbara Volleyball Club?s 15-Blue team will start the Southern California Volleyball Association regular season in the top division.
The 15-Blues won their pool at the final qualifying tournament.
?The success of the day was a total team effort and it was great to see all the players rise to the challenge and contribute,? said Coach K.C. Collins.
The team came out swinging against Impact 15-Matt, winning 25-20, 25-14 and then kept itself warm by engaging in three-set wins over Pacific Jrs., 15-1 25-16, 14-25, 15-4 and TCA 15-Black, 25-16, 22-25, 15-8.
?Our match against TCA was a biggie, it meant division 1 for either team and it was a dog fight,? Collins said. ?Our team responded well to a defensive game plan, working hard both physically and mentally on each point. The middles Luisa Cameron and Dani Abrams were instrumental with blocking in that match, while our defenders Emily Robertson and Lauren Suh did a great job digging behind that block. Lourda Weger was also steady on defense and led in both digs and kills for the match.?
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The 15-White team also went 3-0 for the day in the Silver Bracket, putting themselves in Division 5 to start the season. The team swept West 15-2 25-15, 25-14 and New Wave 15-Gold 25-22, 25-10 to start its morning. Then the team stayed steady point for point in a 3-set barnburner against LAVA 15-Brandon, winning 20-25, 25-15, 15-13.
?We stressed on taking care of the ball and limiting our own errors while playing aggressive volleyball at practice,? Coach Jacky Yao explained. ?Emily Lafitte, Karissa Mertens, Peyton Shelburne, and?Taryn Stevens were all extremely consistent hitting all day. ?Setters Quincey Kras and Amara Parris did a great job distributing the ball, in and out of system. ?Our defense was pretty stellar as well due to our liberos Catherine Hogan and Maddie Minier.
?Our middles worked really hard all day in transition, Kaitlyn Connelly touched a lot of balls in the middle and the breakout star of the day was definitely Savannah Benz, who consistently outplayed the other teams? middles and connected very well in transition with our setters.
?All in all it was a great day for the girls who has worked extremely hard in practice.?
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The 12-Blue team met up with some top team competition in the Gold Bracket and finished with a 0-3 record. They lost to Starlings 12-Rex, Seal Beach 12-Maria and San Gabriel 12-Roshambo. The team will start in division 4 for the season.
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Greg Novak?s 14-Blue team shined in a 2-1 finish and will start its season in Division 2. The team quickly disposed of Rincon 14-Nike 25-10, 25-12 and moved on to edge out Coast 14-Andy, 23-25, 25-21, 17-15. The team lost to Temecula 14-Kat,15-25, 25-21, 13-15.
According to Coach Novak, ?It was another day of close matches and tough opponents. Delaney Mayfield really shined in the middle racking up 14 kills and no errors on the day. Solid passing by Liana Tacconelli and Delaney Werner helped setters Gabi Peoples and Kennedy Klusendorf feed great sets to the team. The team has improved so much and has had fun learning new plays and defense.? ?
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The 14-White team, coached by Katie Julian, seeded fourth in its pool, earned third for the day and a division 3 start for the season.
The team lost its first match to SCVC 14-Roxy in 3-sets, 25-16, 22-25, 8-15, and its second match to Rancho Valley 14-Premier. The team came back with determination to pull out a 3-set upset over Reef 14-Michelle, 28-26, 18-25, 15-12.
?It was a roller coaster kind of day with ups and downs. Our middles, Stacia Pederson, Laurel Kujan and Autumn Rexford, put up some good blocks and served very well. Opposite, Bridgette Tmur, played hard and got the team many kills.?
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The 13-Blue team will start in Division 4 after a 0-3 finish on the day. Coach Ed Gover was pleased the team competed hard in the Gold Bracket to get its division 4 start.
?The team is starting ?the season in Division 4, which is the highest starting point of any SBVC 13’s team in the past 5 years!? Coach Gover said.
The team lost to Wave 14-Brennan, LAVA 14-Aaron and San Gabriel Elite 13-Roshambo.
?A combination of the flu and playing in the toughest pool, the team battled throughout the day …? Gover continued. ?Highlights were strong hitting by Jenna MacFarlane, setting by Adyson Colburn and Kendall White, along with solid defensive passing by Sophia Fay and Brynna Hodosy, and blocking by Caylin Zimmerman.?
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The 14-Red team had a stellar day, finishing 3-0 in the bronze bracket. The excitement came early in the morning when the team eked out a 3-set nailbiter over T-Street 14-Megan, 25-19, 18-25, 18-16.
?This was a fun match to coach because the team really came together, focused on each play, and put it all out on the floor,? said Coach K.C. Collins. ?I think this win gave the team a lot of confidence and they played even better the rest of the day, passing well, taking swings on the ball. They have really been working hard in practice on all the little things.
?Nicole Belton, working on her back sets in practice, put it into effect, giving Allie Drevo the spotlight with 15 kills for the day from the right side. Poppy Brittingham tallied her first two blocks while Adrienne Kowblansky stepped in each match to either rocket a service ace or make a timely save on the ball.?
The team also beat Cal Coast 14-Black and Seal Beach 14-Melody, and will start the regular season in Division 9.
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The 13-White team battled in the Bronze Division, finished 1-2 and will start in Division 11. The team won its first match of the morning against Elite 14s, lost a 3-setter against Pacific Jrs 13-1(24-26, 25-22, 11-15) and lost its last match against San Gabriel 13-Premier.
Coach Jenna Boyd gave kudos to her team for battling in the matches. ?At one point, Jameson Baldwin made a heroic save from outside the court?nearly the entire length of our side, she chucked the ball all the way over,??said Boyd.
