Last week 3 teams from the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club competed in the 43rd Annual AAU National Championships in Orlando, Florida. This marked the end of the 2015-2016 club volleyball season for all teams.

The 14 Blue team had a great tournament, finishing 15th overall in the Premier Division! On the first day of competition the team took 2nd place in its pool with a 2-1 record with wins over TCA Philadelphia 14-Magic (20-25, 25-10, 15-6) and Tri-State Elite 14-White (15-25, 25-23, 15-13) before their sole loss on the day to Maverick 14-1 (25-23, 25-13).

On the second day the team continued their strong showing with another 2nd place finish. This time the wins came over NC Elite 14-Black (25-15, 25-23) and CHAVC 14-National (29-27, 25-13), with the loss coming to Asics Team Indiana Elite 14-2 (19-25, 13-25).

The third day was by far the longest for the team – they came out on fire for a big win over A4 Volley 14-Purple (26-24, 13-25, 15-12), before losing a close one to Coamo ETVC 14U (22-25, 23-25). Another loss to Milwaukee Sting 14-Black (18-25, 18-25) set up a 3-way tie for 2nd place, with the right to advance out of the pool hanging in the balance. A 3-way playoff ensued – in the first round the team revenged their loss to Coamo ETCV 14U (25-23) pulling out the single set victory. That set up the rematch versus A4 Volley 14 Purple (15-25) in which the team just ran out of steam and suffered the single set loss. The third place finish for the day put them in the Bronze Division for the final day of bracket play.

On the fourth day, the team still exhausted from day 3, dropped their first match of the day to AP 14 Samurai (25-18, 25-18). Still, their hard work throughout the tournament earned them a 15th place overall finish!

Head Coach Jon Newton said of his team, “All the girls came out and played great through the entire tournament. Our middles Brynn Sofro and Danielle LaGrange were offensive forces for us and got us huge points when we needed it. Bella Johnson grew a lot during the tournament and scored while attacking at the net and from the service line. Grace Blankenhorn was solid from the libero position and helped lead the team through tough games. Grace Matthews was incredible on defense and used her athletic ability to make great defensive and offensive plays. Reese Kelley provided sparks of momentum during the tournament with her heavy arm swing, while Anabel Caesar played consistent throughout the tournament passing and hitting well under pressure. Alexa Osti did an amazing job setting, alongside Ellie Gamberdella, in a 6-2 and running a solid offense. As well as setting and keeping the offense going, Ellie also provided offense as a ride-side attacker and came in clutch on a lot of critical points. Lastly, defensive specialist Ingrid Blau not only helped out on serve receive with great passing but also brought a ton of energy all tournament. I am very proud of how hard these girls played for a long 4 days of volleyball!”