Keara Rutz (right) of Santa Barbara and Sarah Waters celebrate after their victory at the Huntington Beach Pier.
Moving from unrated status to AA rating in a single weekend is a pretty unlikely scenario, yet that is exactly what Keara Rutz of Santa Barbara did last weekend at the Huntington Beach Pier.
Rutz played 15 matches over the course of the weekend, finishing with a 14-1 record. On Saturday, Sept. 13, she won the California Beach Volleyball Association unrated tournament before winning an A tournament on Sunday to earn her AA rating.
The 8th grader from Providence Middle School was a setter for Santa Barbara Volleyball Club’s 13-1 team last year.
On Saturday, Rutz played with Camille Burman of Granada Hills. Rutz and Burman went 3-1 in pool play, and then swept through the quarters and semis to set up a rematch with Victoria Bowman and Rachel Chalermsopone, the team who handed them their only loss of the weekend in pool play. In a game to 28 points, Rutz and Burman battled neck and neck with the former San Diego State club players, and at 24-all pulled away to win 28-24.
The next day Rutz entered the A tournament with Sarah Waters of Chatsworth. While finishing a perfect 8-0 on the day, the road was not easy. Rutz, and Waters, an outside hitter for SG Elite during the indoor season, found themselves behind in 4 of their 8 matches, but worked their way back to victory every time.
In the first round of playoffs, they were down 14-19 before reeling off 7 straight points to win 21-19. The quarters and semis were more comfortable wins, but in the finals against the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed Diane Johannson and Deborah Samson-Aguila, Rutz and Waters were in a 2-9 hole and running out of time. Displaying the grit that brought them back from several deficits throughout the day, they chipped away at the lead and finished with a kill from Rutz down the middle for a 21-18 victory.
