Tawa’s Girls Club Volleyball Dots: SCVC pulls stunner; Storm wins second in three years

This is “Dots,” VolleyballMag.com’s weekly look at 10 things in club volleyball, past or present, that interest me and hopefully will interest you:

• Another season of club volleyball is in the books and it will rank as among the most memorable, in part because of what SCVC 17Roxy accomplished on Thursday. In a 17 Open division at Junior Nationals littered with players considered among the top 100 talents in their respective classes, a team with precisely no one in the top 100 came to Chicago and won the hardest division there is to win.

And the Southern California Volleyball Club didn’t backdoor its way to the title by finding a clear path paved with upset victims. SCVC did it the hard way, by taking down many of the elite teams in this division. It was a most impressive run by a most impressive team, one that teaches us that a team that believes in itself and works together can achieve at the highest levels even when no one else believes.

“Each SCVC player contributed to this championships run, having game changing moments throughout the four days of play,” noted coach Melissa Boice. “This team worked and believed. No one moment out shines all the moments that created the Gold Medal!”

SCVC, whose more touted 15s team lost just once in a ninth-place showing earlier at Junior Nationals, went 10-1 over four days. Its only loss came to national top five Colorado Juniors 17Kevin on Day 1 in pool play, but the team more than made up for it by knocking off top-seeded Dynasty 17 Black to secure first place in the opening pool. SCVC then won its Day 3 pool by defeating AAU national champion OT 17 T Aaron, then made the Gold Bracket with a convincing win over Triple Crown 17s champion NKYC 17 Tsunami.

On the final day, SCVC defeated ultra-physical, national top five TAV 17 Black in the quarters and No. 7 1st Alliance 17 Gold in the semifinals, coming from a set down in each, to set up a rematch for the title with Dynasty. After splitting two deuce sets, SCVC won the race to 15, 15-11, to capture the first Open national championship in club history.

Boice said that the title would not have been possible without contributions from the entire roster.

“Setters Thea Morris and Hayden Lin ran smooth, effective offenses,” she explained. “OHs Kendall Beshear and Sarah Hom were six-rotation rocks both passing, serving, and terminating. MBs Jade Dudley-Epps, Rachel Moglia and Siena Hertlien were workhorses the entire tournament blocking, transitioning and getting critical kills in every match. Libero Taylor Deckert was a smooth operator in the backrow making big digs and controlling serve receive continuously. Opposites Chloe Hynes and Kaila DeBeer were critical with kills, blocks and passing moments that turned matches around. DSs Alyssa Bauer, Logan Hunter and Malina Young each had momentum-shifting serves and digs that allowed us to continue on our winning path.”

• To give added context to SCVC’s remarkable achievement, the highest profile recruits on the team’s roster are Beshear (Cal Poly) and Deckert (USC). Only three others are committed to play at the next level, and they are bound for San Jose State, St. Edward’s University and NYU.

17 Open runner up Dynasty, by contrast, has junior outsides committed to Nebraska and Arizona, respectively, a libero headed to Purdue, middles committed to UNLV and Wake Forest, a rising junior setter recently pledged to Nebraska and another youngster, Ashley Mullen, considered perhaps the best recruit in the Class of 2025.

And SCVC defeated that team TWICE! The magnitude of the achievement cannot be overstated!

• Despite finishing second in 17 Open, Dynasty has had a nice little run the past couple of seasons. In 2022, the team won 16s at Triple Crown and tied for third at Junior Nationals. This year it adds a 17 Open Silver Medal to its treasure chest.

Brian Tate, who coached the team in Chicago, said that Dynasty went on a “magical run” in Chicago.

“We had gritty performance after gritty performance,” he said, “most notably against Club V on Day 3 and Metro in the quarterfinals. In those two matches we were dead in the water at points and our defense came up with massive stops that allowed our offense to get going. Facilitated by [setter] Reese Messer, Skyler Pierce, Abigail Mullen and Jada Ingram scored massive points for us. Every one of our players came up with a play at a key time to keep us pushing forward and eventually make the final. We are all extremely proud of this group and the accomplishment of winning second in the nation in a loaded age group.”

Tate coached the team because usual head coach Cassie Rockers, Tate’s significant other, delivered the couple’s first child just two weeks before Junior Nationals. Congrats to the burgeoning family, which has another magical run in front of it.

• 1st Alliance and Houston Skyline 17 Royal tied for third in the 17 Open division.

1st Alliance trounced SCVC, 25-13, in Game 1 of the semifinal, only to see SCVC rally to win.

“After fighting to make it out of a very tough pool (3 of the 4 teams that made it out were in the top 8), 17 Gold brought their best on Days 3 and 4,” noted coach Danielle Mikos. “The team’s scrappy and tenacious effort to never quit led to some big wins; avenging early season losses to both Dynasty and Triangle. 17 Gold was led by setter/right side Calli Kenny, who had the best tournament of her career.”

• TAV, Triangle, Metro and Drive Nation 17 Red all made the Gold Bracket before dropping quarterfinal matches. Ping Cao, who coached Drive Nation the past two seasons, is departing the club to join Dallas Skyline.

• AAU champ OT Aaron recovered from a Challenge Match loss to Houston Skyline to win one of the two Silver Brackets.

“The 17 Open field was extremely strong and had a lot of great players in it,” noted OT coach Aaron Harrison. “You had to come out to play every match starting Day 1. With the field being as strong as it was, you had to play clean/disciplined volleyball every point if you wanted a chance to win.

“My kids fought hard all week, but we weren’t able to find our rhythm until the last day. Playing in AAUs the previous week took a lot out of the girls, but they still played hard. We had our chances in every match but weren’t able to capitalize when needed.

“If you look at the final standings, you will see two different types of team – Big/Physical and Small/Ball Control Teams… So game planning changed each match, which also adds to how difficult this tournament was.”

Wave 17-Juliana won the other Silver Bracket. The San Diego County team lost just once, 16-14 in the third, to Metro, but the loss came in the Challenge phase and knocked it out of Gold.

“Our team chemistry and ball control were our keys to success,” noted assistant coach Kara Hanes.

Middles Jenna Hanes and Camden Bolane and outside Fallyn Blotzer carried the offense, while libero Maya Evens passed exceptionally all tourney long to keep her team in system.

***

NKYVC, my national No. 1 in this age group all season, finished 5-5 and in a tie for 11th, a disappointing end to a memorable season.

“Nationals did not turn out as great as we hoped as we were not as smooth as we normally are,” noted club director Jill Hunt. “We definitely survived and advanced through the first two rounds but we fell short in the crossover.  I am very proud of this team for their fight and drive.  Alivia Skidmore brought her normal heavy arm, which, as always, was hard to stop. She finished the tournament with 70 kills.  Julia Hunt made her presence felt at the net with 65 kills and 20 blocks.  As a team, we played together and finished the season strong.”

***

Six Pack 17, a team I advocated for an Open At-Large bid, rolled undefeated through 17 National to win the highest of six club divisions. NORCO 17 Black also was undefeated in winning 17 Freedom, as was Actyve 17 Black in taking 17 USA.

Athena VB 17-1, featuring tall timber Elizabeth Andrew, prevailed in 17 American, with Mizuno Club North 17 Ang and Sky High Adidas 17 Black taking 17 Liberty and 17 Patriot, respectively.

• When I watched Arizona Storm Elite 16 Thunder at Triple Crown in February, the team had the look of a national championship contender even while being set to a tie for third place by a backup. On Thursday, Storm completed an 11-0 run through a brutally difficult division to capture 16 Open at Junior Nationals. The Phoenix-area team, my fourth-ranked team nationally, edged No. 1 1st Alliance 16 Gold in two deuce sets to take the title, its fifth Open national championship since 2013 and second for this core group (14 Open two years ago).

“Our theme for this Nationals was being ‘all in.’” Spann said. “Being ‘all in’ meant having to trust our teammates, put in for the extra work of microwaves, towel pushes, workouts with our trainer, Coach Nick, and high intense challenge drills by our coaches. It meant to win and have the grit and heart to be able to overcome any adversity and obstacles.”

Storm started its opening pool with a Game 1 loss to Premier Nebraska 16 Gold, but recovered to win. Spann’s team then swept its next four opponents, including qualifier winners ID Crush 16 Bower and Northern Lights 16-1, to finish pool play unbeaten.

“Our strong start in Pool 1 was essential to our success because we hadn’t had a tournament for so long,” Spann explained. “Being able to come in and work together, like we did, as a unit, helped us set a foundation for the week of play ahead. I honestly think the goal was to come in, play relaxed and just have fun, but strategy by our opponent woke us up in match one. We did a quick gut check, reminded the players to respect the system, and reinforced our strategy to outplay our opponent and the rest was history. Always respecting ourselves and our opponent was the most important approach. We never took a point for granted and our goal was to make minimal errors.”

Led by the dynamic hitting duo of Teraya Sigler and Devyn Wiest, clutch setter Avery Lim, steady and spectacular libero Izzy Mahaffey and huge dual threat middle Kenna Cogill, Storm built on its success by sweeping its Day 3 pool, which put it into a Challenge Match versus tall, talented Houston Juniors 16 Elite, one of two teams to beat it at Triple Crown. HJV won the first set, 29-27, but Storm was able to rally to win to make the quarterfinals.

“Playing HJV was nothing new to us,” Spann said. “We’ve played this team before and we knew how strong and lethal HJV can be. In the past, the battle between this team was always close but HJV would also end up pulling out the win in the end, in KC at Triple Crown and in Dallas at Lone Star. But unlike all the times we’ve played this team, this time was different. This time so much more was on the line then just the win. MOTIVATION was remembering our losses to them. Our opportunity to play in the gold bracket in Open was on the line. This game meant so much more to us and we immediately knew the importance of respecting them and remembering when they beat us. We refused to have that feeling of loss again!”

Storm reached the finals on Day 4 with sweeps of Madfrog 16’s National Green and Nebraska ONE 16 Synergy and took on a 1st Alliance team in the final whose path to the championship match included Gold Bracket wins over athletic Drive Nation 16 Red, in Jason Nicholson’s last match with the club before heading back to TAV; and a Tribe 16 Elite Cardinal team playing as well as anybody.

The match could have gone either way, but Storm prevailed, 27-25, 25-23.

“This game was a DOG FIGHT,” Spann stressed. “No point was easy and rallies would be intense and tiring. We were down multiple times by large point margins, but we never gave up! We even had an injury scare, yet we were ‘all in’ to play for each other. 1st Alliance was a big physical team but we consider ourselves fearless and we wanted zero regrets except to leave it all on the floor earning the gold!”

• The Silver Medal ended an outstanding year for 1st Alliance. Indeed, it’s been a strong three-year run for this core group, which included a long, long unbeaten streak as 14-year-olds and the 15s title at Triple Crown.

“While Silver is always tough, especially when you are that close to winning it all, I am so proud of this team and all they accomplished all season,” said coach Trish Samolinski. “They won two qualifiers and finally got that well-earned USAV National medal around their necks. Ultimately, we finished our season 79-7. Not many teams can say they have a record like that.”

Samolinski said that a Day 2 loss to scrappy OT T 16 JP helped the team refocus for the rest of the tournament. The team was determined to take care of business to the end and that resolve showed in the semifinal, when 1st Alliance found itself down 12-9 in the third to Tribe and its dynamic outsides.

“I called my final timeout and told them to believe and lay it all on the court,” Samolinski said. “It was probably six of the best points we have played all season. They gave it everything they had and it was a true team effort.”

1st Alliance’s offense was led by tall pins Abby Vander Wal and Addy Horner, who both hit over .400 on the season and continued that excellence in Chicago. Setter Hannah Kenny ran the offense with confidence but also defended like a libero. Libero Aniya Warren, new to the team this year, played some of the best volleyball Samolinski said she’s ever seen.

“She was relentless in defense and smooth and consistent in serve receive,” the coach added. “I feel the best moments came when we all trusted each other and did our jobs. It was a complete team effort.”

• Tribe, on the heels of an 11-1 showing at AAU Nationals (T-3), went 8-2 at Junior Nationals to match its finish.

“It is a team with an exemplary work ethic and incredible talent,” said coach Jorge Rivera. “Their game improved a lot during the season; they never gave up. They trusted the process and the culture, which was the key to getting positive results.”

Outsides Tekoa Barnes and Kelly Kinney and setter Charlotte Glass were Tribe standouts.

***

Nebraska ONE shared the Bronze Medal. The team lost twice during the first pool, but ran off four straight wins, over the likes of Tribe, Northern Lights and Circle City 16 Purple, to make the semifinals.

“Against Tribe, I loved how they came out fearless, calm, and played at a very consistent level,” noted coach Christina Boesiger. “The Circle City match was a dogfight. After the first 2 points, I knew we would be in for a battle. We lost the first 19-25, cleaned up a few things on our side and won the second 25-21, and came out strong in the 3rd and won 15-9. I thought our net play set the tempo. Our backrow was really scrappy and allowed us to run a quick offense in transition. I thought our outside hitters hit some amazing shots in that game.

“The final day we were excited about our match up against Northern Lights. We knew that aggressive serving and ball control were going to be really important in this game. They have some big tall hitters so we need to try to get them out of system and get hands in their face. Our girls played with a lot of heart and passion and wanted to advance so badly to the final four. We got a close 2 set win, 25-23 and 25-20.”

More physical Storm eventually knocked Nebraska ONE out in the semifinals, ending an amazing run.

“GJNC in Chicago was a great finish to this amazing season we had,” said Boesiger. “I could not be more proud of our team. In all 3 NQ tourneys, Triple Crown, and GJNC we were in gold on the final day.”

“When I look back on the season, there are so many things to celebrate. Most importantly we had girls that worked hard for each other. We had two girls named to the All- Tournament team, Anna Jelinek and Malorie Boesiger, but it took everyone. Lots of our players had some of their best games during GJNC. They bought into the process, trusted us coaches, and made a heck of a run.”

• Like Tribe, both Northern Lights and Michigan Elite 16 Mizuno backed up impressive runs at AAU Nationals with strong showings at Junior Nationals. Lights, which went 12-1 in Orlando, made the quarterfinals in Chicago.

“The back to back of AAUs and USAV Nationals was exhausting,” admitted Lights coach Andy Guggisberg. “The team played as hard as possible for the four days in Chicago.  They gave 100 percent of whatever they had.”

OH Mesaiya Bettis was particularly deadly on Day 3 as the team made its push to the Gold Bracket.

***

Michigan Elite, which placed second at AAUs, went 8-2 in Chicago and won one of two Silver Brackets (along with OT Tampa).

“I was worried to see how they would hold up from AAU to USAV with not much time for rest,” said cach Neil Rucinski.  “But these ladies (like all season) have grit and passion to push themselves.  We came off a little slow on Day 1 with AVC having a great performance against us.  From there, that triggered our play and refocused ourselves finishing Day 1 and 2 with a 4-1 record.  Day 3 against Nebraska One and KIVA, we knew that pool was going to be challenging. Two hard battles ensued that we persevered through, especially Kiva getting the best of us at AAU Nationals.”

Michigan Elite got eliminated by Drive Nation in a Challenge Match that could have gone either way, but how the team responded showed everything about the character of this group.

As Rucinski noted, “Day 8, knocked out of Gold, it could have been really easy to end our last fight against Drive Nation.” Instead everyone got to see what this team was all about.

“They used that loss as fuel mentally and physically and ended their season the way they wanted with an amazing performance, finishing our last day 2-0,” Rucinski said. “I could not be any more proud of this group.  We ask a lot from these athletes, and I could not ask for anything more.  Their future is bright, and I look forward to their next steps.”

Rucinski also shared that Izzy Busigani, Ella Craggs and Mckenna Payne were All-Tournament picks at AAUs. Payne authored some huge digs, Craggs made great decisions setting the team and Busignani came up with big kills. Add three dynamic middles and this team has a bright future indeed!

***

One final Open note: Surfside 16 PV Legends, the Triple Crown champions and national No. 1 heading into the event, won two close matches to open Junior Nationals, but then dropped three straight and failed to advance out of the first pool, a shocking result. The team finished 6-5 and in 26th position.

• Colorado Juniors 16Shannon, a team under heavy consideration for an Open At-Large bid, took care of business by winning 16 National, the highest of six club divisions.

“This team showed grit and grind all week, coming back from two huge deficits to win sets, including being down 17-9 in the finals,” noted head coach Shannon Krug. “This team just doesn’t quit. Bridget Malone was named MVP, carrying a big load passing and swinging for this team, but she couldn’t have done it without her teammates. Erika Sayer and Anna Blamires had great weeks making the All- Tournament team. But the supporting cast is really where it’s at, with Chloe Elarton dishing balls and getting her teammates solid looks, Avery Gibbs holding it down in the middle and banging balls with a heavy arm, and, most of all, Ashlynn Reilly at libero passing nails and digging huge balls with her 6-3 range. What a week and such a fun, dynamic group to watch!”

MVP United 16 Red won 16 USA, SG Elite 16 RoShamBo took 16 American, AZ Storm Elite 16Lightning captured 16 Freedom, MVA 16 Pedro won 16 Liberty and NORCO 16 Black prevailed in 16 Patriot.

***

ECJVC 17 National competed in the 17 USA Division at Junior Nationals. The club started with a 4-1 first pool and finished 6-3 in the Silver Division, led by the defense of Reagan Stoop, Madi Mirra, and Savannah Whaley…

***

Nadia Ewton, a 6-0 OH in the Class of 2025, was the point scorer for JJVA 16 Teal, which went 10-1 in the 16 Freedom division. Ewton scored over 80 points in kills, blocks and aces and made the All-Tournament team.

Until next time …

The post Tawa’s Girls Club Volleyball Dots: SCVC pulls stunner; Storm wins second in three years appeared first on Volleyballmag.com.