Dane Miller of the SBVC 18-White shows good passing form.
The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club’ 18-White team had a very productive weekend in San Diego. Competing in division 3 of the Southern California Volleyball Association, the team went 2-1 in pool play and then won the first playoff match that boosted them into division 2 for the next regular tournament.
“Despite losing a match early, the girls bounced back and won out the rest of pool play and earned a shot at moving up to D2,” Coach Jacky Yao said. “And it was nice to get a shot at SG Elite and be able to beat them to move up, as they had beaten us at a tournament earlier this year.”
The team opened up the morning with a 2-set loss to Mavericks 17-Black (25-13, 25-17) but after a two-match break, regrouped to beat So Cal Spitfire 18s 25-18, 25-19 and SCVC 18-Roxy 25-17, 28-30, 15-10.
“Dane Miller was the anchor to our defense and Lexi Rottman got our offense into a consistent rhythm and was the spark to our offensive sets all day long,” Yao said. “We moved McKenna Goss to the outside and she was spectacular by scoring for us consistently in and out of system and was also our top passer.”
The team finishing second in pool play gave itself a chance to move up a division. The team went on to beat San Gabriel 17-Elite 25-21, 25-21 in the first round of playoffs.
“Our middle blockers, Emma Harrah and Carly Yarnell, have been working tirelessly all year long and it showed as they consistently scored when we needed; they also provided solid net play for us especially during our playoff match,” Yao said.
Danica Minnich hits through the block as 14-Blue teammate Ady Collet looks on
The 14-Blue team battled hard in division 2 for the opportunity to move up, but it just couldn’t quite pull out the necessary pool play win despite its tenacious defense.
“It was the best I’ve seen this team pass! We’ve been working on it in practice and the entire team shined with almost flawless serve-receive passing and some really amazing defensive action,” Coach KC Collins said. “Unfortunately, we just made too many crucial hitting and service errors to get enough match wins.”
The team opened up with a 2-set loss to Epic 14-Bert (25-23, 26-24), but rallied back to knock off San Diego 14s (25-20, 25-14). Needing to win the next pool match for a position to move up division, the team had it within its grasp, handily beating Wave 13-Brennan the first game but then faltered with too many offensive errors and lost the match 13-25, 25-20, 15-10.
“That was just too bad. We passed nearly perfect and had numerous digs, but in the end we hit into the negative by set 3,” said Collins.
With its back against the wall, the team had to win the first playoff match to prevent moving down a division. The team continued recording a record number of digs with a combined hitting percentage of .320 and swept TCA 14-Black 25-15, 25-18.
“The team really came together on this match. Jenna MacFarlane had her best match against TCA on the outside, just unleashing on the ball,” Collins continued. “Julia Fay showed her versatility and steadiness over the day as she stepped in to play the right-side, but especially hitting a .500 against TCA. Josie Doughty, Brynna Hodosy and Sophia Fay all topped the charts on digs in various matches. Things we are painstakingly working on at practice are really starting to come together, now we need to focus on how to stay consistent to close out the matches.”
The team subsequently lost in the second-round playoff game to T-Street 14s 25-18. The team remains in Division 2 for the next tournament.
The 14-White team finished 0-2 on the day.
“One of our teams didn’t show up for the tournament so we had a pretty short day,” coach Kim Yao said. “Grace Crozier did a really great job setting for us and Mia Barton had a great hitting day getting many kills for us. We also have been practicing running quicks in the middle and made contact on a few of them.”
The team will move to division 8 for the next tournament.
The 13-Blue, competing in Division 6, sweated out a 2-1 finish in pool play to take first for the day on a head-to-head tiebreak. The team beat Sunshine 13-Elite (23-25, 25-17, 15-4) and Westlake 14-Prime (25-21, 22-25, 15-10) and lost to Laguna Beach 13s (25-13, 23-25, 16-14). The team will move up to Division 5 for its next tournament.
The 13-White team place second in its pool with a 2-1 record, beating Pursuit 14-Admiral 26-24, 25-18 and Santa Monica 13-Asics 25-23,25-16 and losing to Coast North 14-Julie in a tight 3-set battle 26-24, 19-25, 15-10.
“Molly Kirkbride stepped up this tournament taking control and doing everything she could for the team … serving the other teams off the court and staying aggressive at the net,” said Coach Lindsay Schwartz. The team remains in division 14.
