Dani Abrams, right, communicates the blocking plan with teammate Chloe Allen
The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club teams took to the courts in their first regular season Southern California Volleyball Association “mandatory.” The teams are now earning points for overall positional ranking over the season, and for some of the top teams, it also could mean a run at trying to earn a regional bid to the USAV Jr. Nationals in Minnesota this year.
The 16-Blue had a competitive day, competing against some of the top teams in Southern California in Division 1. After sustaining a two-set loss early in the morning to Laguna Beach 16-Kevin, “the great all-around play of Chloe Allen, Lourda Weger and Phoebe Madsen, led the team had an epic battle against the top-seed Long Beach Mizuno and came out on top with scores of 25-27, 29-27, 15-8.
The team then suffered a tight 2-set loss to West 16-Elite, to finish fourth in pool play. Needing to win the first playoff to maintain its Division 1 standing, the team lost the 3-set match, 28-30, 25-22, 15-10, to Mavericks 16-Black.
“We lost a tight playoff match against a solid team, but saw some excellent play from both our setters Gabi Peoples and Phoebe Madsen,” said coach Tina Brown.
The team will move to Division 2 for its next mandatory in San Diego.
Opening with a 3-set thriller against Golden West 16-Black (25-13, 11-25, 17-15), the 16-White team engaged in two very tight battles and lost to Club West Pasadena 16s (25-20, 25-22) and ECVBA 16-Elite (25-23, 27-25) to finish with a 1-2 record in division 6. Coach Jordyn Druary said: “In the first match, we were down 6-14 in the 3rd set and Taryn Stevens went on a serving run and we ended up winning the set 17-15.” Druary also mentioned that setter Amara Parris ran a great offense and middle Savannah Benz was the killer leader for the day.
The 16-Red team went the distance in each match losing to Tustin 16-Alana 26-24, 25-17 and Ridgecrest Elite 16s 26-24, 25-19 before turning things around and taking the last match of the day over DSVC 16-Dana 26-24, 11-25, 15-7 to finish with a 1-2 record on the day.
On Sunday, with a 9-0 match record in qualifying rounds behind them, the 15-Blue team had to fight for every point in its first Division 1 mandatory to beat Impact-15 Cory 25-22, 25-22 and T-Street-15 Kass 26-24, 25-21.
In the last pool play match, John Sener recapped: “Against the top-seeded Laguna Beach 15s, we got our hats handed to us in the first set. I challenged the girls to think about what just happened and what they could do as a team to respond. The result was 40 points of volleyball excellence on the way to 13-25, 25-23, 15-10 win to clinch the top spot in the pool.”
In the playoff round, the team then entered into a thrilling first set against TCA 15-Black losing 31-33, and then subsequently losing the next set 12-25. “We lost our legs in the last match and have to learn at this level we need to be both physically and mentally ready for these extra playoff matches,” continued Sener, “Our setter Kennedy Klusendorf was on roller skates, making play after play all over the court. Delaney Mayfield moved to the outside position against Laguna Beach and had a steller match. Aubrey Knight took over in the middle and had a break out day sealing the net and making key kills throughout the day.”
The team remains in Division 1 for the next mandatory.
The 15-White team competing in Division 4 finished 3-1 throughout the day to stay in the division. “The girls proved that when we play steady and assertively, good things happen. Everyone contributed to our success this tournament,” commented Coach Lisa Gera. The team finished with a 2-1 record in pool, but due to a 3-way tie break on point ratio, the team came out third. The team had to win the challenge playoff match (aka “death match”) to keep itself in Division 4, and did just that by beating Pacifica Jrs 15-Rox 17-25, 25-23, 15-12.
“We had great defensive play by Kate Mascari, who was hustling and showed lots of tenacity throughout the day, while Bridget Jellison had numerous blocks per set and showed great competitive spirit. Autumn Rexford finished our day with two aces to win our playoff match in the third set to win 15-12.”
The 15-Red team shined with a first-place finish in pool play of its first mandatory. Coach Dino Garcia gave accolades to Joan Curran and Fiona Flynn for an excellent job in the back row.
“Our middles Olivia Epstein and Holly Tobias had solid matches defending well on the net all day,” he said. The team beat SoCal United 15s and So-Cal Juniors 15s both in two sets, and battled in a three-set match to end the day against Saddleback Valley 15-Katie. “Last match, the team was down 9-14 in the 3rd set, I called a time out. We never gave up after that and went after every ball and took the win.” exclaimed Garcia. The team moves up to Division 8.
“Although we did not win a match, the girls definitely showed much improvement all-around and fought hard for every point,” said Coach Laura Marcus of her 12-Blue team. “Brynn Sofro dominated at the net leading the team in kills and also had many momentum changing blocks throughout the day. Elyse Moropoulos had as many as 8 aces and proved her tough serving skills going on multiple point runs in every match. Grace Matthews owned her new libero position, refusing to let anything past her on defense and had many aggressive point-saving digs. Overall, I am very impressed by the level of improvement these girls are showing.”
The team will move to Division 4 for the next mandatory.
