2/15/2007

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

It was a big weekend for the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club as two teams won their pools at the final qualifying tournaments to earn spots in Division 1 for the regular season in the Southern California Volleyball Association.

The 15-1 team of Jake Hong will start the season in the top division.

"The whole team really played well together, to get these big wins that puts us in Division 1 to start the year," said Hong. "Everybody on the team played a key role in our success during this last qualifier."

Also playing in Division 1 is the 14-1 squad of Liz Towne-Gilbert.

"The team continues to improve each time we play, which is nice to see," Towne-Gilbert said of going 3-0 in the last qualifier. "We had strong serving from Lauren Capritto, Megan Smith and Paige Craine. Carly Wopat did a nice job of blocking and hitting all day."

Ed Gover's 13-1 squad went 2-1 in pool play and will start the season in Division 2.

The standouts for the squad were setters Kira Schleich and Tristan Racich, along with outside hitter Amanda Harvey and middle Page Hawkins. Gover praised the defense of Nicki Brown, Dani Rottman and Anna Dwyer, as well as the serving of Taylor Racich and Katherine Crook.

The 15-2 team of Greg Novak will start in Division 3. Novak lauded the serving of Rosie Lewis and the hitting of Alyssa Dobrotin and Florence Chardon in the team's latest tournament.

Three teams will play in Division 7: SBVC's 13-2, 14-2, 15-3.

Courtney Preston, the 15-3 coach, singled out the play of Hannah Warwick and Nikki Klobucher.

The 14-2 squad got solid play from Jordan Roberts, Caitlin Sullivan, Addison Mayfield, Kari Garcia and Holly Emerson, said coach K.C. Collins.

Tina Brown of the 13-2 team got good play from Fiona Jessup, Emma Craine, Paige Sleep and Katie Spieler.

The 12-under squad played in a non-qualifying event and went 3-0. Coach Collins praised the team for its solid passing and coolness under pressure.