On Saturday the 12’s and 15’s took to the court for another SCVA Mandatory season tournament. All 3 teams had a fantastic weekend going 8-2 across all three SBVC teams.

The 12 Blue team spent all week in the practice gym working hard to learn a new rotation, and it paid off! The team went 3-0 taking 1st place in their pool with wins over Impact 12-Lana (24-26, 25-16, 15-6), San Clemente 12’s (25-21, 25-17) and Sunshine 12-Premier (22-25, 25-20, 15-12). The win moves them up to the Silver Division 8 for the next tournament. Coach Tina Brown said of the day, “It was a true team effort in every sense of the word; with each and every player stepping up and doing things they have never done before.  Katarina Erickson had the block of her career, keep in mind though she is only 12, so this I’m sure won’t be her last! The 12 Blue team is a unique group of young athletes and they continue to work hard and improve every time they step in the gym. They are a joy to coach!”

The 15 White team also went undefeated on their day to take 1st place in their pool! With a shortened day due to one team in their pool not showing up, the 15 White team opened the day with an easy win over Icon Mizuno 15-Bolt Jeff (25-14, 25-15) before winning a close down to the wire match against OC Heat VBC 15-Richard (24-26, 25-18, 15-12). The win moves the team up to Silver Division 8 for the next tournament. Coach Katie Julian of her team, “We were down 2 players (a middle and a setter), but that didn't stop the team from success. Outside hitter, Avalon Gagnon, led the team in digs and kills getting 12 each; while Hannah Fabbre, usually an outside hitter, switched to opposite due to a lack of position players, and gave the team 8 aces and 8 kills.”

The 15 Blue team also took 1st place in their pool, coming from winning the head to head tie break after a 2-1 finish in pool play. Entering the day as the 4th seeded team, the 15 Blue opened play by upsetting the 2nd seeded Coast VBC 15-3 Sam (25-21, 25-23) before falling to the top seeded Icon Mizuno 15-Lightning (21-25, 23-25). In the last pool play match however, the team rebounded with a hard fought win over Wave 15-Marie (22-25, 25-21, 15-9) to finish 2-1 and as previously mentioned, secure 1st place. In the Gold Divisions you must win a playoff match to move up another level, so the 15 Blue battled OCVBC 15-Blue (25-20, 23-25, 15-13) to win and move up to Division 1!!! With the chance to earn more points, the team played one last single set match, but lost to Forza1 North 15-Asics (25-17). Coach Justin Hertlein said, “In pool play, the stellar defense from Josie Ulrich and near unstoppable offense from Kendall Williams made our side out game highly successful. Then in the playoff match, both setters, Ellie Chenoweth and Maddie Walker, controlled the pace of play and made great crunch time decisions leading to an exciting 3 set victory! The team is excited and hungry to see the level of competition at Division 1.”

On Sunday the 13’s age group took to the court. The 13 Blue team according to Coach Ed Gover, “Despite the match results, had one of their best tournaments. Being short-handed due to some medical injuries, the team did a fantastic job competing today.”  The opened their day with a disappointing loss to the top seeded Westside Warriors 13-1 (26-24, 22-25, 5-15). The team showed its fight coming back to beat the 2nd seeded team Impact 13-Brit (25-21, 25-11) before dropping their final match of the day to OC Heat VBC 13-Josh (25-22, 25-17). Coach Gover highlighted, “Maddie Oriskovich and Taylor Wilson played great in the middle, while Annabelle Tiller and Elise Guerrand-Hermes were solid on the outside.  Also Paige Doughty and Riley Borchardt did an excellent job of both hitting on the right side and setting throughout the day.”

The 13 White team held their seed with a 3rd place finish on Sunday. The team played in 3 extremely close matches over the course of the day, almost defeating the top seeded team Surfside 13-Gold (22-25, 25-18, 11-15) before knocking off the 2nd place team Coast VBC 13-R1 Brittani (17-25, 25-17, 16-14). In the final match of the day the 13 White lost another close one to SoCal VBC 13-JT (25-27, 25-16, 11-15). Coach Andrew Grimes said of his team’s performance, “we were led by Elie Largura’s passing and the middle play of newcomer Caroline Mikkelson (who joined the team from the 12 Blue team for the day). Overall the team improved throughout the day, but I know there is still room for more growth!”