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18 Red “Wolfpack 2.0” Finishes in 19th Place in Open

By L. Stevens, 01/24/12, 4:03PM EST

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 The Wolf Pack finished the MLK tournament improving on their pre-tournament 33rd place seeding by making the Silver division of the 18 Open Championships.

The weekend started with the team going 3-0 in the 1st pool beating TCA Philly Black 12-25, 25-17, 15-13. The team then had another 3 set barnburner defeating Club Delaware 19-25, 25-23, 15-2. The wolfpack then finished off the day by defeating NEPA 18s 25-9, 25-19. The 3-0 finish assured that the team would finish in the top 20 of the tournament and put them on a path that would guarantee them no worse than the Silver division playoffs.

Day 2 saw the team start off with a very good win against Highline 18s, winning in 2 games by the score of 25-14, 25-22. One more match win would propel the girls into the Gold division of the playoffs. The next match was against a highly touted NORLANCO 18s team. The Wolfpack started off hot by winning the 1st set 25-22. The team then dropped the next set 18-25, which meant that the team would have to win the 3rd set to guarantee them a spot in the Gold playoffs. The momentum shifted back and forth with AVVC taking the lead at the changeover 8-5. The teams continued to battle back and forth with neither team scoring more than a point or two before the other team would side out. With AVVC up 13-12, Norlanco got a kill, forcing Coach Stevens to use his second timeout of the game. Tied 13 all, it was anybody’s game. Unfortunately, 2 straight aces clinched the match for Norlanco, as they won 15-13.

The wolfpack still had a chance to clinch a spot in the Gold division with a win against a very solid Conn. Jrs. 18s team. Conn. Jrs also lost a tight 3 set match with Norlanco so both teams knew that it would be a tough match. In the end, Conn. Jrs relied on their stud RS hitter to secure the win and a spot in the Gold Playoffs by the scores of 25-20, 25-20. This meant that with a 1-2 record on the day, Team Wolfpack was going to the Silver division playoffs.

In the Playoffs, the team ran into a very strong Synergy Lehigh Valley 18s team and Team Wolfpack could not find their passing rhythm. This forced the team out of their usual flow and as a result, they lost in the 1st round of the Silver division playoffs by the score of 13-25, 18-25. Despite the setback, the team had a good tournament showing with a 4-3 record, and the knowledge that they were 2 points away from making the Gold division playoffs. The team and coaches vowed to continue to work and improve on their game to be ready for their upcoming GEVA tournament the following weekend.