4/11/2008

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club's 15 elite team earned a berth in the Junior Olympics by placing fifth in the Open Division at the Southern California Volleyball Association's qualifying tournament.

The 15 Elites went 7-3 in the tournament. They'll travel to Dallas in late June for the Junior Olympics tournament.

"I am very proud of how our team handled all the pressure situations that they had to face throughout the three days of competition," said coach Jake Hong, who is assisted by Jared Godinez.

Members of the team are Emma Campbell, Lauren Capritto, Paige Craine, Eve Ettinger, Cheyenne Godinez, Amy Lanski, Megan Smith, Aly Squires, Samantha Wopat and Sally Yingst.

In other results from the qualifier, the 18 Elite placed ninth overall in the 18s open division; the 17-1 team finished 15th; the 18-1 squad finished 27th out of over 120 teams in the club division and the 15-1s placed 36th in the club division.

Individually, Paige Craine of the 15-Elites was selected for the SCVA High Performance Youth Team that will compete in Tucson, Arizona, this summer. Also, Aly Squires of the 15-Elite was selected for the SCVA High Performance Global Blue team and Michelle Cuttrell on the 16-Elites was picked for the High Performance Global Juniors. The Global teams are going to play in Croatia this summer.

In regular SCVA play, Santa Barbara's 14-1 squad finished fifth in Division 1 competition. Coach KC Collins praised the play of Tristan Racich, Amanda Harvey, Page Hawkins, Taylor Racich, Dani Rottman and Nicki Brown.

The 14-1's missed qualifying for the Junior Olympics, finishing seventh in the qualifying tournament over Easter weekend in Spokane, Washington.

The 14-2 team won its pool to boost it back into Division 4. Coach Tina Brown lauded the play of middles Hannah Harris and Remi Pulice and the defense of Iris Campbell.

The 13-1 team went 2-1 to remain in Division 4. Coach Roger Kuntz gave special mention to Katherine Crook and Sierra Hofstatter for their offense.

The 12-1 won its pool, but lost the first round of playoffs to remain in Division 2. Coach Jordyn Druary gave kudos to the overall play of Sydney Riegert and Danielle Baeza.

In other results, the 15-1s placed second in pool play and lost in the first round of the playoff; the shorthanded 15-2s were relegated to Division 6.