Phoebe Madsen, left, with a stuff block while playing for the 15-Blue Team
Santa Barbara Volleyball Club teams competed in the second qualifying round for the SCVA last weekend.
On Saturday, Greg Novak?s 14-Blue team competed among the top 32 teams. Despite some tough fought sets, the team came away with a fourth-place finish for the day.
13-Blue’s Izzy Mallett keeps a point alive with a dig.
?The outcome of the day was a fourth place finish which doesn?t reflect the intense, close matches the team endured. Along with battling with some of the best teams and narrowly losing by a two point spread in two of the matches, it seemed the entire team was battling the flu. Both of our defensive players took turns shivering on the bench trying to muster up the strength to play. The scores were close and we will just need to find a way to finish off our opponents,? said Coach Novak.
The team lost to Coast 14s 14-25, 14-25, Saddleback Valley 14-Lisa 27-29, 24-26 and Sunshine 14-Westside 24-26, 23-25. ?We were mixing our line up a bit and which helped identify areas to improve to solidify a lineup. Kennedy Klusendorf did a great job stepping up to set and Sammie Slater was consistent hitting from the right side.?
The team remains in the Gold bracket for its final qualifying round.
The 13-Blue team had strong play and a bit of luck on its side in the Silver bracket. The team went 1-2 in a 3-way tie, and on a point-ratio took second for the day, bumping them into the Gold division for its final qualifying round. The team lost to Impact 14-Craig in 2-sets, but pushed to 3-sets with SCVC 14s losing 25-19, 11-25, 9-15 and Sunshine 14-Extreme winning 25-19, 18-25, 15-8.
?The team?s solid play earned them a 2nd place finish in their pool,? remarked Coach Ed Gover. ?The team?s tough serving kept them in every match. Two stand outs for the day were Abby Corpus and Addison Colburn.?
The 14-White team also bumped itself into the Gold bracket by finishing second for the day. The team started the day with a 2-set loss to Seal Beach 14-Roger, but finished with a nail-biter win against Laguna Beach 14-Hoff 27-25, 28-26 and a strong win over Mavericks 14-Green 25-17, 25-12.
Coach Katie Dolge had this to say: ?The team really fought hard to beat the first seed, Laguna Beach. I think we tired the other team out with our determination to keep the ball in play. The girls didn’t give up. Throughout the day, we had some key moments by everyone. Laurel Kujan and Zoe Maritorena played great defense, Autumn Rexford and Kate Mascari had some great kills and everyone served tough in each match.?
The 14-Red had a bumpy ride in the Bronze bracket, losing all sets in 3. The team lost to Beach & Bay 14s 25-17, 14-25, 11-15, T-Street 13-Raul 25-20, 20-25, 13-15 and Bakersfield 14-Sam 15-25, 26-24, 11-15.
According to Coach K.C. Collins, ?We met up with some tough competition, but it was great to see the team step up and rally. We were in every game, we just had some rough patches remembering rotations and getting a little flustered. But overall, there was much improvement in the players and our serving continued to be tough. Maggie Wilde played all the way around doing a great job both on passing and hitting. Lauren Lokre was steady on offense in the middle and Holly Tobias went on some crazy serving runs earning us a lot of points.? The team remains in the Bronze bracket.
The 13-White team moved themselves into the Bronze bracket by placing second for the day. The team went to 3-sets beating T-Street 13-Whiney and losing to SCVC 14-RX, then finished the day with a solid win over Fresh Start 14s. ?The team had a great second tournament, we couldn?t be more pleased with their overall improvement. All the players contributed equally!? Said Coach Jenna Boyd.
On Sunday, the 12-Blue team had an outstanding day of play in the Silver bracket going 2-1 and placing first for the day with a head-to-head tie breaker. The team opened up the day with a rocky start losing to Temecula Valley 12-Johnny 24,26, 16-25.
?The first match of the day was a little rough on the girls,? said Coach Laura Marcus. ?The lead at game point ended in a side-out for the other team due to out of rotation on our side. An error by the book keeper then led to an abrupt and unexpected end to the first game, which the girls had a hard time recovering from in the second, resulting in a loss of the match.?
After a little break, the team regrouped to play solid ball and sweep Club West 11-National 25-15, 25-21 and Bakersfield 12-Colean 25-15, 25-19.
?The team did a great job working together and staying positive to earn a first place finish. Libero, Taylor Robertson, showed great improvement this weekend tracking the ball and having many great digs. She also was one of our toughest servers of the day with several streaks of multiple points. Oliveya Leon played great quick defense in the front row and saved the ball in a few crucial rallies. Chloe Mauceri put up an aggressive block and got lots of touches on the ball, while hitting consistently and racking up kills through the day. This tournament really proved that they are a strong, cohesive unit.? Marcus continued.
This result moves the team into the Gold division for the final qualifying round.
The 15-Blue team competing in the top 32 bracket suffered a disappointing fourth place for the day. The team rallied to 3-sets in all the matches, winning the first set but unable to sustain the momentum and ultimately losing the matches in 3-sets to San Gabriel 15-Roshambo, West 15-Nike and 949 Athletics 15-Black.
?In our first sets of each match, the team came out on all cylinders and showed what it can do when at the top of their game ? communicating, passing well and running plays on offense. However, in the second set we?d let up mentally and have spats of passing breakdowns and unforced errors,? recapped Coach K.C. Collins. ?On the whole, the team played hard and our serving was tough, with Phoebe Madsen and Allie Sundara doing a great job setting and leading the team. It was a good learning experience, and the team is committed to work on these areas and come back stronger in our next round!?
The team remains in the Gold bracket for the next round.
The 15-White team had a strong showing in the Silver bracket with a 2-1 record. Due to a three-way point ratio tie-breaker, the team ultimately finished 3rd for the day. The team beat T-Street 15-Justin 29-27, 25-13 and Supernova 15-Nike 25-22, 16-25, 15-11 to start out, falling to San Diego 15s 23-25, 17-25 at the end of the day.
According to Coach Jacky Yao, ?The girls worked extremely hard since our first tournament and it showed. Unfortunately, we placed 3rd, but as far as progression goes, we are very proud of them. I applaud our setters Amara Parris, Taryn Stevens, and Quincy Kras for a great day of setting and keeping our hitters happy. Our primary libero Catherine Hogan was exceptional on defense all day making numerous point saving plays. I look forward to seeing this young team’s development over the course of the year.?
