Lauren Suh of the SBVC 16-Blue bump sets for Phoebe Madsen (4) while Lucy Branch (19) looks on.
Two under-16 teams from the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club went undefeated in pool play at last weekend’s Southern California Volleyball Association tournament in San Diego.
The 16-White team, competing in Division 7, beat So Cal Juniors 16-National, Seal Beach 16-Jan and SoCal VBC 16-Tom all in two sets.
“The girls had a great tournament and everyone played very well,” Coach Jordyn Drury mentioned. “Karissa Mertens led the team in kills and passed well for us. Camille Cotter had her best all-around day of the season, blocking and serving consistently and got some crucial momentum shifting kills. Our setter, Taryn Stevens, ran a fast offense and went on multiple serving run.” The team will move up to Division 6.
The 16-Red team, coached by Sarah Amos, also placed first in pool play and will move up to Division 11.
Amos recapped: “We won our first two matches in two sets. Then we lost our first set of the last match by only a couple points. We rallied back and won the last 2 sets to win the match and place first for the day.”
The team beat Rincon 16-Swoosh, Starlings Oak Hill 16s and Revolution 16s.
“Rose Lebow had great stats on attacks and setter Maddy Niessen had a lot of assists,” Amos said. “The team played with heart and was relentless. We kept the other teams from getting more than a four point lead throughout most of the day. With determination and consistency, we were able to muscle out a 3-0 victory.”
The 16-Blue team had a tough and competitive weekend opening up the morning with a 3-set barnburner win over Surfside 16s 25-22, 13-25, 17-15, then subsequently losing the next two matches to Prime 16-Asics 25-21, 25-16 and T-Street 16-Traci 21-25, 25-20, 16-14.
“Despite the losses, every match was a battle and we saw some great play from our two setters, Gabi Peoples and Phoebe Madsen,” said Coach Tina Brown. “They not only ran a great offense but they were both taking solid swings to earn us points at critical times. And Ozzie LeSage had a career block in our last pool-play match to bring the team to within 1 point of victory. She continues to make great strides and will be a force to be reckoned with.”
The team entered into the “death match” playoff round and lost to Wave 16-Julianna 25-16, 25-15. The team finished with a 1-3 record on the day and will move to division 3.
Back in Anaheim, the 12-Blue team finished with a 1-2 record and a three-way tie for second. Based on a point ratio tie-break, the team took fourth for the day. The team lost to Bakersfield 12-Coleen and AGIA 12-Black, but bounced back to win its last match of the day against Rancho Valley 12-Premier. The team will move to Division 5.
