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Post by John Tawa-VolleyballMag.com on Mar 29, 2009 22:05:59 GMT -5
Forgive me, but this business owner takes exception to the characterization of PrepVolleyball.com's content as primarily "user generated."
Here's an example of our work, the Wrap Up article from last week's Crossroads Qualifier, sans photos:
Wrapping Up Crossroads
TCA 16 Black came within four points of never being part of the story of the 2009 Colorado Crossroads Qualifier. But the Southern California squad battled through the adversity and some terrific opponents and not only ended up earning a bid to Nationals, they ended up as champions of the 16 Open division.
It’s a lesson to us all. Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.
It was Saturday, mid-morning, and TCA, with three players from the Long Beach Mizuno 15s from a year ago, including mesmerizing sophomore setter Jianna Bonomi, was going along swimmingly until it hit a speed bump in Game 3 versus Orlando Volleyball Academy. OVA, with OH Lauren Adkins making a name for herself, had defeated 2008 Junior Olympic 15 Open runner up Encinitas Wave to open the pool and would end up outlasting TCA, 17-15, thanks to a late kill and clinching block from Kirsten Watson.
The wins put OVA in control of the pool and TCA and Wave on a collision course that could end with only one team staying alive.
Wave, which overcame terrific OH Karlee Riggs and Saddleback Valley in three in its previous match, winning 15-8 on a slide attack from Lauren Birks, jumped out to a huge 10-3 lead, courtesy of a Maddie Rudnick block, to open Game 1 versus TCA. TCA chipped away at Wave’s advantage and forged ahead, 17-16, on a kill from Courtney Castle, one of three primary scoring options for TCA, which makes its living at the pins.
The game went overtime nip and tuck until Birks’ ace gave Wave a 26-24 win.
One more loss in the next two games and TCA would be out.
TCA, getting kills galore from Castle and freshman OH Cassie Strickland, dominated the second set to dodge one arrow, then hunkered down for a Game 3 that meant everything to both teams.
Birks opened the set with a scoring tip, but a five-point run, which began with a service error and included a kill and block from Strickland, helped TCA build a 9-4 lead. A Rudnick kill and terrific defense from Annie Francis and Mackenzie Gilbert helped Wave battle back. The San Diego-area club finally caught TCA at 11s.
First to four or else.
Wave had swings to take the lead but Ally Moskitis was solid from her libero position for TCA. That pivotal rally finally went to TCA, which added a block and kill from Castle to earn triple match point.
Hayley Hopper saved one with a kill assisted by Luci Hanley and a TCA hitting error saved another. Leading by a scant point, Bonomi turned to Castle on the right. Her booming spike won the match for TCA and eliminated Wave.
Bonomi said after the match that she never focused on the possibility of elimination.
“I don’t really have that mindset,” the sophomore said. “If you think too much about what might happen, then you don’t play your game. If you just play, you’ll win.
“I take every point at a time,” she added. “Even when we’re down, I’ve learned that being negative and focusing on your mistakes isn’t going to help you win the next point. I just prepare to win the next point.”
The win by TCA put it into one of three, four-team Gold pools with only one option: win the pool to get a bid. Anything less would not be good enough.
Opening the pool on Saturday night, TCA used the momentum from its Wave win to dismantle homestanding Front Range in two despite the terrific play in the middle from Fort Collins freshman Laura Steiner, a Frosh 59 member who displayed her ultra-fast arm. That was a disappointing start to Gold play for Front Range, which had swept through its pool earlier in the day. Bailey Karst, Morgan Gradishar, Morgan Bohl and the Dalton sisters, Karlie and Nicole, all played big roles in wins over Norco, Skyline and Dallas Premier. Premier finished second in the pool, thanks to athletic setter Bailey Clampitt and hitters Tiffany Baker and Marissa Olivares.
The next morning, TCA met up with Tampa Bay Juniors, which had emerged as a bid favorite after beating A5 to win its Saturday pool, then sweeping two close games from scrappy MAVS to open its Gold pool. The winner would have a massive leg up on taking the pool and earning the Open bid.
Tampa took control of Game 1 early behind freshman attack Jordan Burgess and grew its lead to as many as seven points behind the contributions of two other freshmen, setter/RS Mackenzie Dagostino and 6-4 MB Sarah Burrington. TCA did not cave, however, and used Tampa’s youth to help slice the lead to two points late before a Burgess kill off the block finally gave Tampa the set.
So here was TCA, again, facing do or die.
They did.
After winning Game 2, 25-19, TCA turned around a 5-4 deficit in Game 3 on a Castle kill and went on to the 15-9 triumph.
Had Tampa won that match, it would have won the pool, but TCA had more work to do after MAVS swept by Front Range to improve to 1-1. TCA had to beat MAVS to win the pool.
A few years ago, PrepVolleyball.com had a love affair with a MAVS team we dubbed the “Smurfs” because team members were physically outmatched against everyone yet always found a way. This MAVS team shares a lot of the same characteristics, with seven of the team’s 10 players standing 5-8 or shorter.
With setter Kieley Culbertson and OHs Morgan Voorhes and Anna Church leading the way, MAVS upended TCA in the first set. TCA got its revenge in Game 2, dominating to the tune of 25-15.
With everything again on the line, Game 3 was a doozy. A block and kill from Kelle Carver helped MAVS knot the set with TCA at 7-7. RS Morgan Boukather’s kill gave TCA the lead at the changeover, but it was short-lived. TCA mistakes and a Church kill put MAVS on top, 13-12, late in the game. Castle tied it with a kill, but a TCA serving error gave MAVS match point.
If MAVS could convert, it would have a leg up on winning the pool and force TCA into cheering for Tampa to defeat Front Range in the pool’s final match for the chance to compete in a three-way 2-1 playoff.
TCA, again, came through. After a net violation on MAVS squared the set, Boukather’s shot off the top of the block put TCA in front. Another net violation secured the win, the pool and the bid for TCA.
Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.
TCA wasn’t the only 16s team pulling a Houdini act at Crossroads. Consider the tale of Club West 16 Elite. After breezing through its Friday pool, CW found itself Saturday in one must-win situation after another.
It started right off the bat versus Sports Shack. After Club West, a team that qualified in Open as 15s a year ago and then added four from Open qualifier Mavericks to create what should be a juggernaut, won Game 1, a crushing kill from powerhouse RS Tirah Leau put CW on top 10-9 in the second. Sports Shack, which relies heavily on OHs Christina Higgins and Camille Coffey, forged ahead 21-18 on an ace from Sydney Carfagno then got kills from Coffey and Higgins, assisted by Blake O’Brien, to seal the win that forced Game 3.
In the third set, Sports Shack, wearing the numbers listed in the program (coach Tim Nollan said that some players switched jerseys with one another before the season began but forgot to tell anyone), roared to an 8-2 lead. Club West got to within 12-10 on a kill from high flying Noelle Whitlock and a great snap from Leau. But Club West could not stop Higgins in the end game. The 6-2 attacker scored the final three points to give Sports Shack the win.
After Club Red, which features PrepVolleyball.com National Freshman of the Year Haley Lawless and several other very impressive youngsters, including freshmen Macey Gardner and Katarina Schulz, swept Spiral in a battle of Arizona, it was time for Club West to take the floor once again. The opponent was Spiral, which won Game 1 in overtime to put Club West on the brink of elimination early on Saturday morning.
With wonderful setter Ashley Maxfeldt providing leadership and great sets, Club West took Game 2, clinching when Leau delivered with extreme heat from the right. Game 3 was close early, but Club West closed on a 10-3 run, which included two kills from Jazmen Russell and a Whitlock ace, to survive and square its record at 1-1.
Club Red improved to 2-0 in its next match by sweeping Sports Shack, though not before having some moments that all young teams experience. After throttling the Shack in Game 1, Red was poised to sweep, leading 24-20 after a Schulz kill, until the wheels fell off. Sports Shack scored four in a row, tying the set at 24-24 on Natalie Kram’s ace.
Club Red regrouped and reclaimed the lead when Lawless took a Bianca Arellano set and split the defense for match point. When Schulz’s tip on the ensuing point eluded the Sports Shack defense, Red had the win.
Club Red would clinch the pool as a result of the next match, in which it did not participate. Sports Shack’s sweep of Spiral meant that Red would either win the pool outright with a sweep of Club West or emerge first from a three-way 2-1 tie if it did not.
Club West, on the other hand, HAD to win to avoid a 1-2 record, third place in the pool and elimination.
Club Red won the first set, 26-24, and led 7-5 in Game 2 after Gardner’s kill. But big efforts from Whitlock, Maxfeldt and Leau helped turn the set around. Club West closed with a roar, then dominated Game 3 behind Alyssa Young and Maddie Dreyer to force a playoff with Sports Shack.
Nollan, Sports Shack’s coach, was worried. He’d just witnessed an invigorated Club West team come back from the brink, he knew they were hot and his team would have to get focused quickly.
Alas, CW had too much momentum. In a battle of Southern California teams, Club West raced to a 15-5 lead and never looked back. Sports Shack tried to play “one point at a time,” but could only get within six. When Russell scored on the quick attack, Club West had the 25-18 playoff win and the improbable berth in the Gold bracket after going the distance, and then some, in Saturday’s pool.
Perhaps still feeling the effects of Saturday’s pool, Club West didn’t play with the same fire when Gold pool play opened Saturday afternoon. After dropping the first set to OVA, Club West used a Russell kill to take a 20-17 lead in Game 2, only to see OVA score eight of the final nine points, despite the strong play of CW libero Kassie Clark, winning on a dump from Carolina Rivas.
That made Club West 0-1 going into Sunday play. Nebraska Elite Tonka also found itself 0-1 after an extraordinary match with City Beach. Tonka, whose only loss to that point had been in three to Vision, overcame the Michelle Neumayr show to win Game 1, 26-24, on the strength of back-to-back kills from Ashley Hausmann, and led 21-20 in Game 2 on a Michelle Sicner ace before Neumayr again sparked City Beach, which won in overtime to force Game 3. Emilee Soucie was terrific for Tonka from her libero position in the third set and Nicki Gregory had her moments, but six Neumayr kills, including the game winner, took City Beach to Sunday still unbeaten for the tournament.
Sunday morning, chaos reigned in this pool. Nebraska Elite started it off by coming from 6-2 down in the third set to defeat OVA on Kendall Kritenbrink’s strong-armed kill off the block. Then it was Club West’s turn to get into the win column. Neumayr, Kelsey Williams, Elle Moffatt and Savannah Paffen were key contributors through two games for City Beach, but Club West was getting nice work from Leau, Dreyer and Deanna Dalton, whose kills late in Game 2 gave CW match point. But City Beach responded behind Neumayr to force a third set.
Once again, Club West’s back was to the wall. This was must win.
Tied at 7-apiece, a City Beach service error triggered a four-point Club West run, which included a kill and block from Dalton and Maxfeldt’s dump, that put CW on top for good. A three-point closing run, including City Beach errors on the last two points, completed the Club West win.
With all four teams now tied at 1-1, no team controlled its own destiny. Each had to win AND get help to take the pool and the bid.
Club West/Nebraska Elite was up first. Strong work in the middle stages of the first set from Kritenbrink, who missed the bulk of the high school season with an injury, saw the teams tied at 16-16, but a 9-3 closing run, culminating in Dreyer’s hot shot, gave Game 1 to Club West. Game 2 followed along a similar arc, with Tonka close, behind the play of Gregory, Hausmann and 6-3 Emily Wilson, who wowed college scouts, until a Maxfeldt dump helped spur a strong Club West finish. Leau’s power shot through the block completed a 7-2 run that gave Club West the sweep and eliminated Tonka and City Beach from contention.
The bid came down to OVA and Club West. OVA could close out everyone with a win over City Beach. Club West could only watch and hope that a team playing only for pride and final placement could take down a team playing for everything.
OVA came out hot. Madison Monserez and Jade Vorster helped spark a 25-13 rout in Game 1. Club West players were despondent.
City Beach made a setter change in Game 2, going with Taylor Formico, and she was a huge spark. Diversifying the offense, Regina Mullen and Diane Seely were among those helping Neumayr score in City Beach’s 25-10 win. Club West was hopeful.
Game 3 started with a Vorster block for OVA. She added a kill and combo block with Case Trimble, as OVA played even early in Game 3 with City Beach despite the shellacking of Game 2. But Paffen’s right side kill, assisted by Formico, started a four-point City Beach run. Club West was starting to get excited.
Watson began to dominate the net for OVA. Three kills and one block later, Orlando was within 9-8. Club West was nervous.
Caroline Walters stopped the mini-run with a slide kill for City Beach. Formico’s dump followed, part of a three-point run that put City Beach up four again at 12-8, a margin CB kept until it owned four match points. Club West was having a hard time containing its glee.
Adkins had one final kill for OVA to prolong the inevitable. The next pass was on target and Formico’s set choice was Neumayr and she knew what to do. Her finish finished off OVA’s bid hopes and completed Club West’s improbable run to an Open bid. Club West players exploded with joy and congratulated City Beach on its win.
Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.
“It was so nerve wracking,” Clark said. “You want them to play all out for you, but they’re just trying to win for themselves. After Game 1, honestly we thought it was over. But we just cheered on City Beach and they proved they wanted to win.”
TCA won two close semifinal sets with Club West to reach the final versus a Vision team that secured the third bid by winning Pool 1. Vision, which entered as the top seed, was 9-0 at that point, but had been extended to three sets on four occasions.
Twice on Saturday and the first match Sunday morning, Vision was forced to go the distance. The NorCal team needed three to get by Nebraska Elite to win its Saturday pool, then did likewise in its first Gold pool match that evening versus Dallas Premier. In that one, the play of Baker and Hayley Wehring sparked DP in Game 1, forcing Vision into comeback mode. Mission accomplished behind 6-3 freshman OH Brittany Howard, who will be one of the most sought-after players in her class.
It was déjà vu all over again for Vision Sunday morning, when it dropped Game 1 to an A5 team looking to go 2-0 after a riveting win the night before versus Club Red to open its Gold pool.
In that contest, A5 took the first set behind the blocking of Maggie Smith and Delaney Dameron and the hitting of Mary Hoey and had five match points in the second set, but could not convert any of them. A5 took control of the third, however, and won going away, the final point scoring when Ariel Shonk’s pass over the net was treated like dodge ball by several Club Red players (who were even redder after that play).
Game 1 versus Vision was tight throughout. The combination of setter Hanna Nielson to Howard clicked early for Vision and Nielson made a highlight save under the net that eventually resulted in a Vision point. A5 eventually slowed Vision’s attack and transitioned soft blocks into points. Down 22-21, A5 scored the final four points, two on Hoey kills, one from Sarah Morris, to go to Game 2 needing one more set to take control of the pool.
Vision came alive in Game 2 and won, 25-17, to force a third set. In that set, Allie Frappier’s kills helped put Vision in front and Tara MacLean’s net ace sealed the victory. Vision was 2-0, needing only a win over Club Red to secure its bid.
Club Red, at 1-1, was still alive. The defense of Shonk and Danielle Thompson had sparked A5 to a sweep over Dallas Premier. Club Red faced a must win situation over Vision to force a three-way 2-1 playoff.
It was not to be. Behind strong hitting efforts from Howard and Frappier, Vision swept past Club Red to win the pool and earn the Open bid.
“We got solid performances from everyone,” said Vision coach Joe Ripp. “I thought we won the serving and passing game and dug a lot of balls.”
Being the top seed, Vision got a bye into the finals and played TCA close. By this point, however, nothing could stop TCA’s momentum. With Bonomi dealing and Boukather asserted herself at the net on the right, TCA completed its comeback story with a sweep and the championship.
Ripp told team after that they didn’t have energy or focus for this match.
Yes they’d accomplished their primary goal of qualifying but there had been more work to be done.
Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up. And don’t ever be satisfied.
TCA lived those this weekend and emerged as champions.
Some other players I enjoyed watching in 16 Open over the weekend included the following:
Nebraska Elite setter Meghan Zimmerman. Sicner is bigger and gets a lot of recognition. Zimmerman, the “other” setter, is a terrific assist maker in her own right.
Impact middle Rachel Jensen, who played big at the net.
San Diego’s lean left-handed RS Karsta Lowe. She can score points in bunches and when she adds strength, look out!
OH Nikki Glass of Colorado Juniors, one of a half-dozen standouts for a team that will one day make loud, loud noise in their division.
Skyline MB Olivia Okoro. I wrote about her in Friday’s story, but her quickness off the floor and athleticism merit another mention. Wow!
Virginia Elite MB Simone Antwi. Athletically, she has few peers.
17 Open
The theme we’ve developed of “don’t give up, don’t ever give up” holds true for two-thirds of the 17 Open qualifiers as well, not because they stared down elimination at Crossroads on multiple occasions, but because they overcame difficult personal circumstances to thrive in Denver.
Consider the Young Guns, one of the favorites to medal in 16 Open at JOs a year ago before a subpar effort in Dallas. The Amarillo club boasts just one team of nine players. So if a key player is sidelined, there’s no one else to turn to.
So, when setter Tori Jobe got sick Tuesday night before Crossroads with food poisoning, Young Guns had to improvise, tabbing 6-0 RS Carly McCracken to do the setting. She did well enough to get the Guns unblemished through Day 1. Jobe, who’d dropped 10 pounds on her “Dr. Pepper diet,” struggled onto the court on Saturday to try to set the Young Guns in a much tougher pool, which included Team St. Louis, Nebraska Elite and El Paso Wildfire.
Wildfire was first and Jobe found the going rough.
“I was so scared I wasn’t going to be able to play,” she said. “Every other point I got on my knees and had to take a break.”
Jobe persevered and so did Young Guns, which won a 27-25 Game 1 and eventually took the match in three. Team St. Louis, playing with purpose, pounded Young Guns in their second match, but the Guns came back to sweep Nebraska Elite to take second in pool and stay in contention. TSL, getting excellent work from setter Emma Brydels, libero Jamie Mathieu and hitters Andrea Beaty, Julia Whitfield and Samantha Haegele, won the pool without dropping a set. Alexia Heist and Jillian Davis were among those playing well for Wildfire. Freshman Lauren Sieckmann and OH McKenna Reagan had some nice moments for Nebraska Elite.
Sometimes a loss can be a good thing. In the case of Young Guns, the loss took them out of a Gold pool with imposing Northern Lights. Lights didn’t lose to a 16s team until JOs a year ago and hadn’t dropped a set to a 17s team so far in 2009. Instead, Young Guns found itself in a pool with a familiar foe, Texas Advantage, as well as Norco and Colorado Juniors. Young Guns drew TAV first, a match up the Dallas-area squad, which hadn’t dropped a set to that point, should have savored considering Jobe’s weakened state. Andrea McQuaid and Deidre Pajares had been playing at a high level for TAV, but no one played well in this one for Texas Advantage, save perhaps for libero Shelby Tamura, who hurtled into the court divider to save one ball from hitting the floor. Raegan Shelton and Aubree Piper set the tone with some quality swings and McCracken’s big block helped Young Guns pound error-prone TAV, 25-15, in Game 1.
Game 2 was no better for TAV. MB Meredith Hays, one of four sophomores on this squad and fast emerging as a force with her lightning quick attacks, hit over the TAV block to give YG the sweep. TAV would win its next two matches, but in a format where you had to win your pool to get a bid, that would not be enough. Young Guns took out Colorado Juniors in straight sets the next morning to clinch the pool and the bid, then did the same to Norco for good measure to sweep through the pool unscathed. Kylee Hoagland is a strong, impressive player for Norco. Brianne Vande Griend and Shelby Schacher, a black belt in Tae Kwan Do, just like her coach, impressed for this unheralded Colorado Juniors squad.
Jobe celebrated the bid with a bit of real food, some broccoli and cheese soup from Jason’s Deli. How apropos, considering that her sets the last two days were deli-cious.
“It killed me not to be able to play that first day,” Jobe said. “But the team stepped up. I’m very impressed, especially Carly, who did an amazing job. I knew they could do it and they did.”
KC Extreme was a wreck at MEQ two weeks before. OH Jill Barrett twisted an ankle sliding into third on a triple days before the event and did not make the trip. Marianne Beal and Laura Skaggs were slowed by injury and Kaitlyn Drawe hurt herself during the tournament. I wondered privately whether this team, which was second at National as 15s and 11th a year ago, might spend the entire year battling afflictions that would prevent the team from playing to its level.
Seeded 10th, Extreme showed up in Denver with its 10-player roster intact and everyone healthy enough to play. Five sweeps started their Crossroads experience before TAV swept two close ones to win their Saturday pool.
Unlike Young Guns, whose loss benefited them, Extreme’s loss put them in a brutal pool, the most brutal imaginable. Top-seeded Vision, Tampa Bay Juniors and local rival MAVS, which all finished T-5 at JOs a year ago, would join them in Pool 1. Only one team could emerge with a bid.
Vision reached this pool by defeating three Saturday opponents, suffering only a slight hiccup against a Rockwood Thunder team that took the first set off of the Viz before succumbing. Joan Caloiaro, Katie Walters and Jordy Shaw, who committed yesterday to St. Mary’s, played well for Vision in its win over IPVA, which boasts attackers Amber Aschoff and Lindsey Petersen. IPVA, Rockwood and Circle City all finished 1-2 in the pool (Shelby Crncic had an amazing dig for CC when I watched; Morgan Lehmkuhl and Aubree Cook put up big blocks), but IPVA won two playoff games to gain the second advancing spot.
Tampa Bay also dropped just one game en route to winning its Saturday pool to land in this Pool of Death. Chelsea Parker on the right was an able complement to Tampa’s strong left side attack in wins over athletic Dallas Premier, scrappy Advanced Volleyball Amarillo and Texas Assault.
Texas Assault, a Dallas-area club, would go 0-3 on the day, but that didn’t stop a parade of college coaches marching to the court anytime the Assault was on. The reason? Sophomore middle Katherine Bell, who emerged as a top 10 national recruit in her class over the weekend, exhibiting a combination of skill, athleticism and tenacity that had coaches drooling.
Bell, who stands 6-2 and glides effortlessly from pin to pin, was the reason Assault had a chance to knock Dallas Premier into a playoff. Her back to back blocks gave Assault an 8-7 lead at the switch in Game 3 against Premier, coached by former Tennessee associate head coach Mike Minnis. Two aces from El Kale and Jordan Flemmer’s overpass kill were part of a three-point run that helped Premier finally pull away. They won, 15-13, on Maggie Brindock’s tip.
We caught up with Bell afterwards and asked if she saw all the eyes on her.
“Yes,” she said. “It makes me feel excited and good.”
Bell averaged 22 points per game for Mesquite this past winter, but her basketball prowess shouldn’t deter college coaches.
“Basketball for me is something to do, a time to be with my friends,” she said. “Volleyball is my life.”
And while it may be too early to think about making a college commitment, Bell said her college plans are uncertain but that she hopes to go out of state for school, someplace where it’s warm.
MAVS reached the Pool of Death by winning twice before being swept by Colorado Juniors in a surprise. MAVS almost didn’t get out of Saturday. It went to 15-13 in the third with Force before winning. Force was led by Maddy Lozano and Zoe Nightingale, the latter a sophomore middle who recorded 15 kills in 18 swings in the match, the personification of “unstoppable.”
Pity poor Vision, which entered as the top seed, did nothing other than win its first six matches and then had to face the prospect of defeating MAVS, KC Extreme and Tampa, in that order, in order to win the pool and earn a bid.
MAVS was first but, in light of their Saturday struggles, shouldn’t have been too tough for powerful Vision.
As Chris Berman says, “That’s why they play the game!”
Strong serving from Chelsea Cook helped the Kansas City-area squad topple Vision in Game 1. After the Viz squared the match at a set apiece with a workmanlike win, Game 3 was knotted at 8-8 after Vision’s Kristina Graven delivered a kill. That’s when it started to get a little nutty for Vision. After Lauren Brown scored to gave MAVS the lead, Vision’s attack was touched by a MAVS blocker before sailing out of bounds.
Only no official saw the touch, which was obvious. What should have been a 9-9 game was 10-8 MAVS. The non-call changed the complexion of the set, as MAVS led the rest of the way, winning 15-12 when Cook collaborated first with Lindsey Biggs and next with Liz Gohde on back-to-back blocks.
Sensing the opening created by Vision’s loss, Tampa and KC Extreme played their hearts out in the next match. Lindsay Young’s kill gave Tampa a 27-25 win in Game 1, but Barrett, Beal and Drawe played well in the Game 2 equalizer, overcoming strong efforts from Maddie Martin and Nicole Dunn. Game 3 was tight, with Extreme clinging to a 9-8 lead, until the Kansas City squad closed with a flurry. Sparked by MB Lisa Henning and RS Margaret Clark, Extreme scored the final six points to go into Sunday with a 1-0 record.
Vision’s bad luck continued Sunday morning in its first match versus Extreme, a must-win match given the loss to MAVS the night before. With Beal and Korie Thompson scoring often, Extreme routed Vision in the first set, putting the NorCal’s club on the brink of elimination. Vision fought back to win the second set, had match point in the third set and thought it had the match won when KC Extreme was whistled for being in the net. But after a conference, the officials determined that two Extreme players had made contact with the net outside the pin and called a replay, the second such replay in Game 3 to hurt Vision. Vision coach Will Yuen argued, but the only thing it accomplished was the icing of his server. The serve flew long and KC Extreme went on to win, 20-18, to eliminate Vision.
Tampa won the next match, 15-13 in the third, versus MAVS to stay in the hunt – Martin played well for Tampa; Kelsey Sullivan had some highlights for MAVS – but it would be meaningless unless MAVS could stop its area rival.
Two weeks before, at MEQ, MAVS took no mercy on injured Extreme, winning in straight sets. This time it was Extreme’s turn to be merciless. Behind the unstoppable Beal, KC Extreme swept MAVS to win the Pool of Death and claim an Open bid to Nationals.
“We knew we had to go 3-0 in this pool even though I didn’t think anyone could do it,” said an excited coach Amy Drawe afterwards.
Drawe said a healthy Beal was the big key. Beal played some in Indianapolis with a bad back, and her back, which had sidelined her for three months, was none the worse for wear.
“Beal knew she was going no matter what,” said Drawe. “Knowing she came off Indy with no pain, she felt confident coming into this one. She only had three practices to get back in the middle for this tournament. She doesn’t look like she’s been off for three months.”
The third bid in 17 Open went to Northern Lights. Lights had a little excitement when its tremendous setter, Molly Kreklow, had some gastric distress that caused her to miss some games. Norco played them tougher than anyone, two deuce games. But alas, not even smoking hot Team St. Louis could take a set off of Lights in its Gold pool. Behind hitters Ashley Wittman, Danica Mendivil and Lauren Grant and middles Tori Dixon and Natalie Walseth, Lights simply overpowered everyone it faced.
That was true in the semifinals against a Young Guns team whose goal was to play Northern Lights in this tournament. Wittman and Dixon were so so good in that one. And it was true in the finals, a sweep of KC Extreme, Northern Lights’ 11th sweep in as many matches.
“The final was pretty tough,” said Kreklow, despite a scoreboard that read 25-19, 25-16. “We were tired after winning the game before and going back to back.”
Kreklow said that winning, no matter how easy, never gets tedious.
“We realize our bigger goal is Nationals,” she said. “We’re going to work on our game and get ready.”
One other player I must mention in this age division is Virginia Elite setter Elysse Richardson, She is five-foot-nothing, but her ever-present smile makes her 10 feet tall. She is a true joy to watch and represents everything good in this game of ours.
18 Open
The story of 18 Open is the dominance of four teams, Nebraska Juniors, Colorado Juniors, Club Utah and Skyline Juniors.
Only two of the four would end up qualifying.
I did not pick Nebraska Juniors to qualify at Crossroads, reasoning that with only a few practices together since the end of basketball season, Gwen Egbert’s team wouldn’t yet be ready to play to its full potential.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Nebraska not only won every set, it also was the team to hand the other three dominant teams their first (and in the case of Skyline and Club Utah and only) loss of the event. And it won every single match, including the final over Skyline, in straight sets.
Andi Collins winner Lauren Cook and Gatorade National Player of the Year Gina Mancuso are on this team and they were tremendous, but they weren’t the only ones to stand out. MB Jamie Straube was scary good and Jessica Fey, playing on the right, struck gold with every swing.
“We thought we could qualify here and would have been really disappointed if we didn’t,” said Fey, who said the team had two good weeks of practice preparing for Crossroads.
“When we did practice we were focused and did what we needed to do to get ready,” she said. “We worked really hard. Everything we did in practice really showed.”
Of the four dominant teams, only Club Utah didn’t get the chance to play for a bid. Club Utah had the misfortune of being in the same Gold pool with Nebraska Juniors. Sparked by a Cook ace in a long serving run to open the match, Nebraska took Game 1 easily in the battle of unbeaten teams that would send the winner to the semifinals. Game 2 was different, with Club Utah, sparked by OH Brooke McAlister, setter Lori Mendenhall and 6-6 junior RS Jen Hamson, racing out to a 16-10 lead and threatening to send the match to a third.
A word about Hamson, a player I’ve been hearing about for years but only saw for the first time last weekend. The word I’d heard was she was tall and not much else. I’m happy to report that the tall part is accurate. She’s at least 6-6 and towers above even her tallest teammates. But this kid can play! She’s gone from being a body on the court to a focal point and go-to player in crunch time. Look for her in the Senior Aces next summer because this vastly-improved player has earned her way in there!
Anyway, down six in Game 2, Nebraska started on the comeback trail with a Mancuso dunk shot. Lindsay Barker scored for Utah, which had a 21-18 lead late until Straube’s kill and ace sliced the lead to one. McAlister, a senior headed to Utah, pounded one through the block to give Club Utah a set point. But Utah could not get the game winner despite strong defense from McKenna Tait. Alex Armes snuck a shot deep into the corner over Tait’s head to tie the game at 24-24. McAlister gave Utah another game point, but Mancuso crushed the line to knot the game once more. Tied at 26-26, Nebraska earned its second match point on a Fey kill, then won on a double contact call that eliminated Club Utah. Club Utah’s only dropped sets came in the loss to Nebraska Juniors.
While Nebraska was handling its pool, Skyline and Colorado Juniors were doing likewise in their pools. Indeed, until these teams played in semifinal matches, neither had dropped a single set through three pools.
The key for Skyline, besides the tremendous setting of Olivia Bailey and steady back row play of Meghan Mannari, was starting quickly with a great serving game. Tori Mellinger, Sarah Bullock and Haley Wessels were among the Skyline players I witnessed serving passels of points.
Colorado Juniors won on the strength of three tremendous players: 6-4 setter/RS Morgan Broekhuis, who proved she is a top five national junior this weekend; Purdue-bound OH Ariel Turner, who passed, served, blocked and killed with great effectiveness; and Nichole Riedel, who used her speed and snap to score repeatedly out of the middle.
The only semifinalist that did not have an easy road was Central Cal. They dropped a Saturday set to Jodi Purdy and IPVA, then had to survive a playoff on Sunday to advance.
In that Sunday Gold pool, Colorado Performance, which was awful Saturday morning in a rout at the hands of Skyline, was brilliant Sunday morning versus previously unbeaten Spiral, one of three Arizona teams in the final 12. Setter Devon Rice did a great job of finding her hitters, like Bethany Shepard and Kelly Miller, in the straight set win.
Performance could have won the pool, and begun authoring an improbable tale of qualification, with a win over Central Cal, the combo of Melody Mandelbaum to Chloe Ferrari was clicking for Central Cal. Holly Franks and Mikayla Pierce, who made “headlines” with a shot off of a Performance noggin, also performed well in the Central Cal sweep.
So here was Central Cal, needing only to defeat Spiral to get to the semifinals. True to form, Spiral, with OH Ashley Kastl taking one quality swing after another off of sets from Chanel Brown, swept Central Cal to force a three-way playoff that proved to be all about revenge. First, Spiral got revenge on Performance, winning 25-18 to eliminate the locals. Then, Central Cal exacted revenge on Spiral with a 25-23 win.
In that playoff, a block from Betsi Metter gave Spiral a 16-15 lead, but two Lindsie Petersen kills turned the advantage around and gave Central Cal the lead for good. Kastl and Jacqui Cason kept Spiral within reach with strong play at the net, but Central Cal would not relinquish the lead. A Pierce kill gave Central Cal triple set point. It could not convert the first two, but did on the third, as Mandelbaum dumped a tight pass by an unsuspecting defense to give Central Cal the pool and a spot in the semifinals.
Both semifinals were sweeps. Skyline got off to a fast start versus Central Cal, fresh off the playoff win, and never took its foot off the throttle. Big offensive efforts from Caroline Adams, Madie Jones and Katherine Culwell helped Skyline earn the Open bid and sweep into the finals.
Meanwhile, Nebraska Juniors had a tougher time versus white hot Colorado Juniors, but still controlled both sets in the 25-22, 25-21 win. Back to back aces from Cook and three Fey kills in Game 2, including the clincher, sealed the sweep and the bid for Nebraska.
As good as Skyline had been in every match leading to the finals, the Dallas club had no answer for Mancuso and the Nebraskans, who jumped out to a fast lead in Game 1 and led big until Skyline mounted a late comeback behind Adams and Mellinger, something that made coach John Rye proud. With the game on the line, however, Nebraska turned to Mancuso. Her first swing at game point Mellinger dug up. Her second exploded down the line and in front of the Skyline back row for the 25-23 win.
“We didn’t have an answer for Gina [Mancuso],” said Rye. “She played like the Gatorade Player of the Year.”
Mancuso, Cook and Fey were terrific in Game 2 for Nebraska, which also got a contribution from 6-4 MB Hayley Thramer. Thramer, who won a state volleyball title for Ewing in the fall, added a state basketball crown this winter and had yet to practice with the team. The Nebraska signee showed some rust from time to time, but contributed a stuff block and a long serving run in Game 2, which sealed the championship for Nebraska.
Rye said afterwards that his team wasn’t complacent going to the finals with Open bid in hand.
“The girls were saying, ‘We’re not done,’” he explained. “Nebraska Juniors did to us what we did to other teams. They attacked us on the serve – we’d been serving so well all tournament long and passing well – all of a sudden we couldn’t serve and we passed badly and they did whatever they wanted to do.”
The third bid would be decided between Central Cal and Colorado Juniors. CJ was my favorite for numerous reasons: 1) they’d been playing better; 2) they were at home; and 3) they were resting before the match while Central Cal was pulling down reffing duty on Center Court.
Sure enough, once they finally got underway, Colorado Juniors took charge early on a booming spike from Broekhuis off of the Vanessa Gemignani set. A kill from Franks, however, sparked a 7-2 Central Cal run that gave it the lead for good. Down 19-14, CJ tried to rally, scoring four straight, including a block from Ellen Miks, but Colorado could not get the equalizer. Ferrari’s kill off of one foot in the middle completed the 25-21 Game 1 win.
Central Cal parlayed its success in the first set into an early Game 2 lead, but Turner and Broekhuis brought Colorado back into the lead at 20-19. Central Cal, however, was better in the end game. Petersen’s kill knotted the set at 20-20 and jumped started a four-point run that turned the momentum irrevocably in Central Cal’s favor. Amanda Michael was strong defensively late for Central Cal, which got two Franks kills and a final Pierce poke for the win and the third bid.
After the match, we spoke to Ferrari, who was terrified of the microphone, claiming that she wasn’t a good interview. We promised to make her look good in print.
”Gee willickers, that was some super duperly good volleyball,” she said. “I’m still no believing that they didn’t do to us what they could have done to us, because if they had done it to us, we would have been done, you know?”
For the record, Ferrari didn’t say any of that. But I know her teammates would appreciate my messing with her, just as they mess with her after a big point, but fussing with her hair after every big point.
“Oh my gosh it gets us pumped up,” said Ferrari, actually. “We’ve been doing it since 14s. It gives us momentum to win.”
Ferrari said blue collar work ethic helped Central Cal gain the bid. “We had just gotten killed by Skyline, but we just came together as a team and pulled it out,” she said. “Our team wins because of how hard we work.”
Some other players I enjoyed watching in 18 Open over the weekend included the following:
AVA 18 Mizuno pin players Sarah Clause and Amy Waitkus. They brought the heat.
Club Arrowhead RS Kelli Dallmann. A breathtaking athlete.
Mikinzie Moydell of Front Range. Back from injury and as good as ever. Should star at Penn State.
Shayne Brown of Juggernaut. The Dayton-bound middle brings intensity in spades to the court.
Spokane Splash’s Oceana Bush. Because a 5-6 OH isn’t supposed to have that kind of success in 18 Open.
Tampa United setter Ariel Ley. With only one middle because of prom, Ley had to block middle and set and did a nice job.
Team Nevada’s team. Tae Kim’s scrappy team played tough with everyone and was a few serves in away from pulling off a major upset or two.
15 Open
Sixteen teams toed the line to start Saturday’s Second Round in 15 Open.
TAV and Premier advanced from Pool 1. Sutton Sunstrum and libero Caitlin Nolan, who also was offensive, with several kills, set the tone defensively for Texas Advantage, while setter Tanna Aljoe connected well with OH Kayla Reinhart. Premier managed to advance despite the absence of MB Sydney Hunsley, whose back spasms would not permit her to play beyond Friday. Twins Amber and Kadie Rolfzen sparked Premier. Nicole Edelman was awfully impressive at setter for Juggernaut despite her team’s winless Saturday.
The highlight of Pool 2 was a showdown for the pool between Colorado Juniors and Front Range, two local teams and rivals who rarely play one another. CJ, 2-0 at the time, had clinched advancement to Gold. Front Range, 1-1, needed to win to clinch its Gold spot. A loss would yield a three-way tie with KC Power and Colorado Performance.
Setter Sarah Kosbab and 6-5 MB Claire Felix helped Colorado Juniors win Game 1 in overtime. Front Range got even with a Game 2 win, then used strong passing from MacKenzie Marlowe and Elizabeth Ginley, nice setting from Hannah Schmidt and clutch hitting from Taylor Sturns and Morgan Wilkening (we think -- #6?) to pull away in the third set. KC Power, which finished third in the pool, got a stupendous dig from Rebekah Cazares in its match with Front Range. Dallas Gardner, Leah Starks and Abby Hill all had strong showings for Power.
Victory and Vision advanced, in that order, out of Pool 3. Laura Jones and Peyton Werra impressed for Victory. Whitney Hunt and Thea MunchSoegaard impressed for third place Advanced Volleyball Amarillo.
Because of second-seeded Austin Juniors’ tough Friday, Saturday’s Pool 4 was brutal, with Austin, Northern Lights and MAVS doing battle along with Dallas Premier.
AJ feel meekly to MAVS to open its Saturday but fought hard before losing to Lights. The pool came down to MAVS and Lights, with MAVS prevailing in three, 18-16 in the third. Megan Spencer, Megan McGehee, Kathleen Vogel, Jess Hendin and setter Paige Brown were all exceptional for MAVS.
MAVS would go on to win Gold Pool 1, sweeping Colorado Juniors on Saturday behind Spencer, Vogel and Sheridan Zarda, then overcame Sarah Daschbach and Vision in two on Sunday morning to get to 2-0. TAV, which rattled off the first eight points of Game 3 to cruise by Vision Saturday night, used strong offense from Liz Fortado and Reinhart to sweep past Colorado Juniors Sunday morning.
The 2-0 teams met to determine who would get the bid and a berth in the finals and who would have to win the third-place match for the final bid. The teams split the first two sets, but MAVS took an early lead in Game 3, thanks to a McGehee block, and never looked back. The game was close throughout, but three late Vogel kills, including the clincher, sealed the win for MAVS.
Northern Lights, which lost its last match of pool play on Saturday, did not lose again. Behind tremendous OHs Leah Pudwill and Haley Bodway and physical middle Monica Turner, Lights was pretty dominant in wins over Front Range, Victory and Premier. Premier got in the win column with a sweep of Front Range, a match highlighted by successive net aces and celebrations from Kathryn Von Kerens. But after losing to Victory, Premier needed Front Range to come through versus Victory to create a three-way 1-2 playoff. It was not to be, however. Victory’s size in the middle was a big factor in the Victory sweep that put it in the third-place match versus Dallas rival TAV.
We wrote Sunday about TAV’s win over Victory for the third bid. Lights got revenge on MAVS by sweeping to the title.
“Their outsides destroyed us,” said MAVS’ coach Scott Dowis. “We didn’t have an answer. I don’t know if we were tired. We didn’t play up to our potential. They played awesome and beat us. I told the girls if you want to win you have to play your best volleyball. We’re not going to win playing our ‘B’ game.”
“Our outsides are a big part of our offense but I told the team that I really like our depth,” said Lights coach Chad Becker. “We’re 10 deep: two great defensive players, three great middles, two great right sides with a great setter and two great outsides. We went 10 deep in the finals and beat a good MAVS team.”
Asked where his team goes from here, “We’re going to talk about not resting on our laurels,” said Becker. “It’s not about winning a qualifier; it’s about winning a championship. So we’re going to go back into the gym and get better. We certainly don’t want to peak here. Hopefully we don’t.”
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