Regionals

We were looking forward to Regionals as we were only the 2nd 14 Silver team ever to make the top 16. With that said, I was concerned because everyone in the tournament would be good, and for us to get a win or two we would have to be at the top of our game and the opponent would have to struggle a bit. Our pool consisted of:

Rose City 14 Black---------- #3 in the region
Webfoot 14 Gold------------#6 in the region
Us-----------------------------#11 in the region
West Valley Jrs 14 Black---#14 in the region

While we didn't play poorly in pool play, we didn't play all that great and our opponents played as well as I thought they would. So while we were competitive, we couldn't find a win.

Our fourth place finish landed us in Gill Colosseum on day two, with Roseburg 14 Black up first. I had never played there so I was hoping that the courts would be large, allowing us to jump serve and chase down errant passes. As luck would have it, the court we were assigned was just the opposite. On the north side of the court was a bleacher that was about 2 ft from the side line... not the best situation and while there was room to jump serve, there was an overhang at the end of the courts that was a bit distracting. Despite those obstacles we actually played better than we had the day before. Unfortunately, Roseburg played better and took the match from us, putting us in the challenge bracket (lose and go home).

The loss pitted us against Pacific 14 Black, a team that had beat us a couple of Power Leagues ago. Being the incredibly consistent team we are, we played real solid... but not exceptional and lost to them in two games.

Although the finish was disappointing, there are some positives to take away from the Power Leagues/Regionals. First, we finished tied for 15th in our Region. The last time I was in the top 16, they didn't format the Regional tournament the way they do now so in that tournament, we ended up 16th... so another "first" for 14 Silver. Second - we are the #2 team (#1 in my heart!) in our club. There were only 3 clubs that put two teams in the top 16, OJVA, Rose City and us. That speaks volumes about 14 Silver.

From a coaching standpoint, we are weak in offense. While we pass-set-hit most of the time, the hits aren't screamers that hits the floor before anyone can get to it. We're going to concentrate quite a bit over the next couple of weeks to see if we can get some of the "oohhhh" kills. (Kills that make the spectators go "ooohhhh").

Individually, the girls and boy did some really nice things. Brighton continues to do a great job alternating between a Right Side and setter/backup setter. Her consistency is really appreciated by our hitters. Brighton also jumped up into the +90% in club, serving 93% in. Evan is really starting to get consistent with the jump serves and get aces out of them. Couple that with his strong hitting, he's an offensive force to deal with. While I thought he might of missed a serve over the 2 days, the book says he served 100%. Great job Evan.

Our setters are our unsung heroes of our team. They go out and chase down errant passes all day long and continue to put balls up giving our hitters an opportunity to do their stuff. If the hitters don't thank them enough, I will. THANKS SARAH AND BRIT!!!!!

Our middles, Victoria and Alexa, continue working on hitting what's called "shot boxes". Basically they are zones on the court that either are difficult to defend or if you hit them, it will disrupt the other teams' offense. Victoria is really starting to hit them and Alexa continues to wow us with hits that come out of nowhere. You think a ball is going to drop, but Alexa comes out of nowhere to not only gets to the ball, but attacks it successfully!

Our Libero, Anna continues to get praise from other coaches. Twice after matches the opposing coach would ask me "is she a 7th or 8th grader???" (They hope she's an 8th grader so they don't have to play against her next year). The attention is well deserved and feel we're so lucky to have someone like Anna anchoring our back row. Oh, she also served 93% in. :)

Emma, Rebecca, Delaney and Sara all did a great job... not only in their roll as outside hitters, but on serve receive, defense and serving. All four of these girls lead the team in passing out of serve receive, with Delaney leading again leading the way... scoring 1.74. Emma is not far behind at 1.71, followed by Rebecca at 1.62 and Sara at 1.52. Great job girls!

So next up, the Willamette Valley Classic, Mother's Day Weekend. We'll work on offense between now and then...I can't wait!

Norm

Power League 4/2

Here we are in Gold.... So I was really concerned about how we would play, we could play scared or loose with nothing to lose, or somewhere in between. Our pool consisted of the #1, the #4, the #5 and us at #8. Not only were we in Gold, we had our sister team, 14 Gold in our pool. 1 - OJVA 2 - Webfoot 14 Gold 3 - Rose City 14 Gold 4 - Us As it would happen, we got to play 14 Gold first. I kind of had a feeling we would play them pretty well since we just scrimmaged them and did pretty well. We also had a pretty good idea of their tendencies and what their strengths and weaknesses were. Our game plan was to stay away from their excellent Libero Courtney and exploit the middle hole (area 8). We also wanted to take them out of their offense by hitting area 1 and 9... where their setter camps out. Game 1 was pretty tight for the first half of the game, but we made a few more errors than they did and 14 Gold went on to win 25-16. We didn't play that bad, but we just needed to make a few more plays. Game 2 was a bit different in that not only did we step it up, 14 Gold struggled a bit. One thing I like about this team is that when they see an opportunity to take advantage of a team that is struggling, they step up their intensity and really put the pressure on. We jumped to an early lead and never gave it up and went on to a great 25-21 win! This was a great win in that I have never took a game from 14 Gold.... so it was quite an accomplishment. Unfortunately we never got it going in game three and 14 Gold went on to a three game win. Next up we had the overall #1 in the region, OJVA. This team just did not make mistakes. We would make a great pass or block and they would just keep bringing it until they would either get a kill or we would make a mistake. We lost the match in 2, 25-14, 25-10. I was semi-pleased that we didn't give up and played hard throughout the match... they were just way too much for us. Our last match in pool play was against Rose City's #2 team. There isn't a very big difference between the #1 and #2 team for Rose City, in fact the #2 team had beat the #1 team at the last Power League. We played exceptionally well in game one, and had a chance to win it, but just couldn't quite finish the game and lost 26-24. When you lose a close game to a supposedly better team it can lead to two different things. It can motivate you to know you can play with them, or it can discourage you because you gave it all you had and still lost. Unfortunately for us, we chose the latter and didn't put up much of a fight, losing 25-12. The crossover match was against the 3rd place team from the other pool, Excel NW Black. We had never seen these guys before, so we had no idea what they were like. We found out pretty quick that they were a very solid team that again... didn't make mistakes. We were competitive, but just didn't have enough and lost the match 25-14, 25-15. Our final match of the day was a one-game affair against 14 Gold again. We were pretty excited because we knew we could take them if all the stars aligned correctly. We started out pretty well, getting up a few points on them. Unfortunately for us, 14 Gold cleaned up a lot of there errors and finally put us away, 25-20. Even though we lost to them again, I was pleased with our competitiveness. So while we played pretty hard, we couldn't get a match win. I wasn't too disappointed since we had never been up in Gold before, so we didn't know what the play would be like. Now we know and we know that we can play with these guys... which we will do at Regionals! Individually, the girls (and Evan!) each found a way to help the team. Our setters, Sarah J and Brit did a great job distributing the ball to all our hitters. They had very few doubles (something I was worried about since we had "official" officials in Gold). Sarah J had a great dump against 14 Gold that dropped without a touch and Brit contributed by serving 100% for her third consecutive tournament. Our right sides Brighton and Evan are really important to us from both an offensive and defensive standpoint. Some team put their weakest players on the right side and then never set them, but with our talent on the right side they are so important to us. They adjusted well to hit line when I asked them to and Evan got more than one stuff block... including a couple against 14 Gold that went straight down. Brighton contributed with real solid play, making very few errors. Our middles Alexa and Victoria contributed positively as well, exploiting other teams weaknesses by tipping and hitting off-speed to area 8... then mixing it up with a deep attack or two. Nice job girls. Our Libero, Anna really was a warrior. She passes over twice as many balls as the rest of the team combined is always on the floor diving for ball after ball. She showed me her war wounds after the match.. the knees, wrists, elbows and hips all were banged up with floor burns and bruises. She really is an awesome asset for us, not only because of her defensive prowess, but her offense... hitting the "pipe" is an added bonus. That leaves our outsides who are kind of our unsung heroes. The only get to play every other game, but really take advantage of their opportunities. Rebecca bounced back from an OK tournament 2 weeks ago to a very solid performance this time. Emma also played well, passing well and only missing one serve all day. Delaney was out of synch with her offense, so I had a quick chat with her... challenging her to find a way to help the team. She responded really well by be the best passer on the team as well as serving really well, especially after pool play. Sara B had another outstanding tournament, serving perfect for the 2nd time this season as well as passing well and getting some real important kills. So, while we didn't win a match, I was pleased with our effort. We did have some lapses in passion and intensity, but I expected that knowing that getting discouraged would be likely. Timely time-outs usually took care of this, so I'm not too concerned about it. This is a team of "firsts" and they didn't disappoint this time either... I have never had a team take a game from Webfoot 14 Gold. I am continually impressed with what this team has done and can't wait to see what the future holds. So now what does our finish mean to us? Unlike all previous Power Leagues, team do not automatically move up or down based on their finish. We received Gold level points which will help us get a good seeding for regionals. The way it works is that at the end of every Power League, we get assigned points based on our finish. For Regionals, they add up all the points then rank the teams from top to bottom. The two-day Regionals allow the top 16 to compete for 1st place, while 17 thru 128 play a one-day tournament that is effectively just another Power League. Getting to the 2-day Power League is huge and only one other 14 Silver has done it... getting seeded 16th one time. The point totals have not been posted yet, but I'm pretty sure we'll be ranked somewhere in the low teens... 12-14. We will just have to wait and see. Next up is a special practice on Wednesday, 4/6... it is goofy dress day. The players need to dress as silly and goofy as they can. THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL! The winner of the goofiest outfit will win a prize! We will do a little athletic stuff, but not much. Instead we will do team fun games, each with a purpose. Parents - Bring your cameras and team.... be creative!!!!! Go Webfoot!