18-Blue Clara Madsen (#8) delivers a ball to Carly Yarnell (#21)
On Saturday, the 16-Blue team has another successful weekend finishing 5th?overall again in Division 1.
Losing a tight battle first thing in the morning to LAVA 16-Trevor (25-17, 18-25, 15-13) the team rebounded sweeping Jamba 16-Parker in 2 sets (25-14, 25-23) and eeking out the win over Mavericks 16-Black in 3 sets (22-25, 26-24,15-7) to place 2nd?in pool.
?With some incredible defense all day by Dane Miller, we rebounded and had two good wins,? said Coach Tina Brown. ?Anika Wilson and Jackie Starnes were solid on the outside coming up big at critical times to score for us and Lexi Rottman set a great offense keeping our middles Emma Harrah & Caroline Anderson involved especially versus Jamba.?
The team then lost a heartbreaking 3-setter to a very strong Long Beach 16-Rockstar 27-29, 27-25, 16-14. ??McKenna Goss and Anika Wilson crushed some balls against them, but it was Dane Miller that kept us in the competition with some awesome defense.?
The 16-White team had a rough time in Division 3 pool play dropping all three matches to T-Street 16-Katie, Wave 16-Chris, and San Gabriel 16-Elite, and subsequently lost its first playoff round to Epic 16-Bert.
?Unfortunately our team struggled with inconsistency this weekend – and although we played amazing at moments, we couldn’t seem to put an entire match together for a win. A highlight of the day was Katie Gallivan?s offensive presence at the net – she had some big transition kills, overpass kills, and some big blocks,? recapped Coach Kat Niksto.
Megan Phillip?s 16-Red team finished second for the day going 2-1 in Division 8.
?This past weekend was an awesome tournament for the girls. Coming off of a frustrating tournament the weekend before, the girls came out very motivated and focused and their results showed just that,? mentioned Phillips. ?The team truly competed for every point and never gave up even when we were down. Camille Cotter had a stellar day providing the team with 8 blocks, 14 kills, and 1 ace. Summer Soto, Avery Jones, and Ella Deardorff were incredible on defense and serve receive all tournament.?
On Sunday, the 18-Blue team turned in a positive score card finishing second in pool and winning the cross-over playoff round to move up to Division 3.
?After falling short in the match to move up at the first two Mandatories, we got over the hump, beating a solid Bakersfield team in two game to move up,? Coach Jason Donnelly said. ?It was nice to have Kristen Berlo back playing at a high level.? She made a few key blocks which gave her some confidence and it translated into her offensive game.?
The team lost its pool opener to Rancho Valley 17-Premiere 18-25, 25-23, 15-4, but bounced back to beat TCA 18-Black and Coast 17-Harry.
The team finished the day with a 2-set sweep over Bakersfield 18-Rachel to move up.
Donnelly continued, ?Katie Kim played great this weekend, putting up a solid block on the right side and was dynamic on the offensive end. Bailey Roach displayed some much needed leadership this weekend?and from the service line she did a great job getting our opponents out of system with her serve.?
