The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club 12U and 13U teams competed in their second round of qualifying, while the 14U teams earned their divisional placements to start the regular season for the Southern California Volleyball Association.
The 13-Blue team had a goal set for this weekend’s tournament. After the team took 4th in the first round, the team came back determined to do what it takes to get back into the gold bracket.
“Reese Kelley brought her powerful serve to the court, while Brynn Sofro dominated at the net with her hitting. But it was with great overall team effort that the girls took first place…” said assistant coach Rachel Randall. The team beat Epic 13-Roni, Club H 13-Mik and LAVA South 13-Adidas, all in two sets.
Paige Doughty served eight aces for the 12-Blue team.
The 14-Blue team hung tough in the final gold bracket round of qualifying.
“We had tremendous hitting from Kristine Fimlaid and Georgia Brace who led us in kills over the day,” said Coach Lisa Gera. “They each added multiple aces as well to really contribute this weekend.”
The team started out its day with a win over San Clemente 14-Kersti, and finished 1-2, losing to Wave 14-Juliana and LAVA South 14-Adidas.
The team will start its regular season in Division 3.
“The team competed in both matches with Wave and LAVA. The future is bright for this team!”
The 14-White team just missed closing out wins by two points in the third set of every match in the silver bracket. The team lost to Forza 14-Black (25-13, 15-25, 18-16), Santa Monica 14-Asics (23-25, 25-21, 16-14) and Beach Cities 14-Smack (21-25, 25-12, 16-14).
The team finished 4th for the day and will start its regular season in Division 8.
“Both setters, Caitlin Gainey and Lily McWhirter played well this tourney,” mentioned Coach Katie Julian. “They are both showing great improvement and more confidence on the court. Lily was strong at the service line getting us some key aces and Caitlin made smart sets and got kills with her tricky dumps. Caitlin also made a couple key ups with her foot during two long rallies, she plays soccer so they came up off her foot with control!”
This past Saturday, having finished with a 1-2 record in round 1, the 12-Blue came back to flip that into a 2-1 finish for 2nd on the day. In the first round, the team lost its first two matches of the day to Sunshine 12-Westside and Surfside 12s, but pulled out a three-set win over Bakersfield 12–Coleen to end the day.
Coming back to Anaheim for a second round, the team opened its day with a close loss to Offshore 12s (25-22, 25-21), but rebounded to beat San Clemente 12-Gretchen (25-21, 25-8) and Bakersfield Jamba 12-Kathy (25-23, 25-15).
Coach Deia Kidd-Kadlubek stated that the team played great. “Paige Doughty had strong serving with more than 8 aces for the day, while Taylor Wilson contributed 4 aces and was hitting well on offense. Noelle Rutz passed well all day long, and Riley Borchardt led the team in a strong win over Bakersfield at the end of the day to capture second place.”
The 13-White team met with tough competition in its second round and finished 4th for the day. Coach Ariana Garner praised middle Grace Hay who contributed 3 blocks and Hannah Ziouani who had one block and five kills. The team lost to Forza 1 13-Asics, Legacy 13-Elite and Mavericks 13-Black. Garner also mentioned, “…and Jane Wood led the team in digs as well as went on a spectacular serving run in our second match.”
