Grace Crozier sets a ball to Marla Ochoa, left, for the 15 White Team. (Courtesy Photo)
Santa Barbara Volleyball Club teams had matches in Anaheim, Irvine and Torrance this past weekend and the 18-Blue and 17-Blue teams moved up to Division 2 in the Southern California Volleyball Association.
The 17-Blue team finished pool with a 2-1 record beating SoCal 18-Doug (28-26, 25-22) and Mavericks 17-Black (25-11, 25-16) and losing to San Gabriel 18-Roshambo (25-11, 25-22).
Coach David Haan said, “Lourda Weger was outstanding all day. Her passing kept us steady in every match, and her high efficiency on offense really frustrated our opponents. Peyton Shelburne also came up big for us with her blocking and timely kills.”
In the playoff match, the team beat T-Street 18-Randy 25-16, 25-23, boosting the team into Division 2 for the next tournament.
Coach Dwayne Hauschild added, “A very strong day from the service line with very few errors and the girls did a great job hitting targets and keeping teams out of system. Amara Parris and Cat Hogan were solid there. And we had a key contribution in a very intense point of the playoff match where Karissa Mertens steadied us and helped continue a rally to eventually pull out the win over T-Street.”
The 18-Blue team shook off a sluggish morning to also accomplish finishing second in pool. The team managed a needed three-set win over Legacy 17-Elite 25-21, 21-25, 15-11 but then fell to Bakersfield 18-Judy 30-28, 23-25, 15-11. After a 2 hour break the team came back to defeat Saddleback Valley 18-Ralph 25-21, 25-23 to take second in pool and gave the team the opportunity to move up by beating Legacy 18-Elite in two sets in the playoff match 25-22, 25-21.
“While we started out flat in the morning, I’m proud of how the team managed to find the fight it needed late in the day to reach its goal of moving into division 2. Everyone really stepped it up on the court toward the end of the day and our final match was very competitive and fun,” remarked coach K.C. Collins.
Meanwhile in Torrance, the 13-Blue team finished its day with a 2-1 record to remain in top 24 in its age bracket.
“Excellent outside hitting by Grace Mathews and Reese Kelley as well as solid middle play by Brynn Sofro,” said Coach Ed Gover.
The team opened the day with a three-set win over LAVA North 13-Adidas (25-22, 23-25, 15-2) then subsequently lost to Beach Cities 13-Smack (25-15, 25-17). The team finished with a win over Surfside 13s (25-20, 25-16) “Two other standouts were Grace Blankenhorn with an 11-0 serving run against Surfside and setter Ellie Gamberdella was solid all three matches.”
The team remains in division 3 for the next tournament.
Over in Anaheim, the 13-White team went 1-2 in its division 11 pool. The team lost a long three-set match to T-Street 13-Ryan (25-23, 25-20, 15-5) but bounced back to take a two-set win over Club Vegas 13-DJ (26-24, 25-19). The team subsequently lost another barnburner to Beach Cities 13-Platinum (25-19, 21-25, 15-12) to place third for the day and remain in division 11.
Competing in Irvine, the 12-Blue had a challenging tournament against some tough competition ending with 0-3 record for the day.
“There were many exciting moments,” commented Coach Deia Kidd-Kadlubek. “We had two very close matches, one game ending 27-29 and another nail-biter ending 15-13 in the 3rd set. We had the longest most exciting rally in that set, with multiple saves, bringing the crowd to a standing cheer.”
The team lost to Wave 12-Jeana (25-14, 25-18), Sunshine 12-Extreme (29-27, 25-20) and MMTSC 12-Monica (25-16, 12-25, 16-14). “Outstanding play came from Riley Borchardt running the offense as the setter and Taylor Wilson who dominated at the net. Ellie Largura had a solid tournament, playing great all day.” The team remains in Division 3 for the next tournament.
On Sunday in Irvine, the 15-White team went undefeated in matches for the day, finishing first and moving up to Division 7. The team started out with a well fought three-set win over Saddleback Valley 15-Katie (25-14, 25-27, 15-13). The team then accomplished beating Moonlight Crashers 15s and Seal Beach 15-Haylee in two sets each. Coach Cady Chow mentioned, “With help from amazing passing and digs by Jameson Baldwin all day, Ella Dore hit over a .500 all tournament, and Julia Fay had over 15 aces all tournament!”
Also in Irvine, in division 1, the 15-Blue opened its regular season among some tough teams with four tough losses.
“After a hard fought first match against Seal Beach, we ran into two other teams that were more focused and ready to play. Both T-street and Wave had our number. Lack of consistency was our downfall. We lost the serve and pass game today,” explained Coach John Sener.
The team lost to Seal Beach 15-Tony, T-Street 15-Chris and Wave 15-Brennan. In the playoff match, the team lost to Sunshine 14-Westside, relegating the team to division 2. “We have to regroup and set our focus to get back to division 1 at our next mandatory.”
The 15-Red team finished with a 1-2 record for the day in Torrance. The team lost to LAVA North 15-Black (25-15, 25-19) and Aviator 15-Aces (25-18, 25-15) then defeated San Gabriel Elite 15-Black (25-22, 25-15).
“The girls played with cohesiveness and determination,” said Coach Sarah Amos. “Our steady passing led us to great success in the last match. Everything came together perfectly and we swept the team in 2 games. We didn’t let them have a run against us. Emma Pringle led our team with the most digs, and Kate Willingham had a great game leading our team in kills.”
