AVVC 17 National Team Wins GEVA Regionals and Bid to Nationals!

Holding true to their number 1 ranking for more than half the season, our 17 National team went undefeated in matches at GEVA Regionals on Sunday , April 29^th at DAC! By winning Regionals, we once again send at least one of our Atlantic Valley teams in USAV Junior Nationals!

 In 4 GEVA events this season, the “Knights” went an impressive 45-5 in sets and 24-1 in matches.  Overall, our 17 National team went an impressive 52-8 in sets in GEVA sanctioned matches throughout the year.

Demanding  more from their players, Coach Chiang and Coach Titus buckled down and forced the girls to

work hard on all the intangibles for the last 4 weeks before Regionals.   It certainly paid off!  Their motto of “Hard Work beats Talent when Talent doesn’t Work Hard” kept them focused on their goals for the year. 

With the #1 Ranking going into Regionals, our AVVC 17 National Team knew that they had teams gunning for them.  With an extremely competitive 17’s division this year, getting through pool play was even going to be tough.  Though the “Knights” started off slowly, they got into a better rhythm as the matches went on.  First match of the day was against a local rival, Allegro 17 National with our sluggish “Knights” winning in 2, 25-17, 25-21.  With some questionable calls by the referee, our  17 National team had a tough match against CALI 17 Caitlin, pulling out the victory 25-23, 25-23.  The final match in pool play pitted the “Knights” against LHVA 17 who had been playing pretty good ball all day.  Finally our 17 National woke up and played ball like they had the past few weeks and disposed of LHVA 25-15, 25-16.  3-0 in pool play and a first round bye in double elimination playoffs!

Watching an intense battle and awaiting the winner of the first round between LIVBC 17 Blue and DIGS 17 Red, our AVVC 17 National Team knew they were going to meet a difficult foe in the semifinals of the winner’s bracket.  With DIGS winning, there was a much anticipated battle to occur between DIGS 17 Red and our AVVC 17 National team.   With friendly jawing back and forth between Coach Chiang/Coach Titus against Coach Bill Lee/Coach John Kwon of DIGS, an intense match ensued.   The “Knights” put together a well balanced attack and some stellar defense to neutralize a big hitter from DIGS.  Timely and accurate serving helped our 17 National team prevail in 2, 25-20, 25-16. 

In the winner’s bracket final, AVVC 17 National faced off against a very familiar foe in AllStarr 17, whom they had beaten most recently in the finals of GEVA 17 Open #2 a couple weeks prior.  Matching each other point for point in the first set, the “Knights” took a 24-23 lead but couldn’t finish out the first set and eventually dropped 25-27. (Our 17 National team’s first set loss to a GEVA team in over 2 months).  Second set was another point for point battle with our “Knights” pulling it out 28-26.  In the third and final set, our 17 National team went on a few serving runs to close out the match 15-10, and guaranteeing them a spot in the championship match.

Staying in the winner’s bracket certainly had its advantages in a double elimination tournament!  With our AVVC 17 National team undefeated thus far at 5-0, they waited for the winner of the loser’s bracket final of AllStarr 17 vs CJVA 17 Black.  AllStarr 17 prevailed meaning a rematch of the winner’s bracket final for the GEVA Regional Championship.  The matchup also determined which team would receive the National and American bid to USA Volleyball Junior Nationals.

Exhausted but excited, the GEVA 17 Regional Championships began play at 9pm.  Battle of the fittest team meant some ugly volleyball at times.  With focuses on smart simple play, our AVVC 17 National team put together a few nice serving runs, safe passing, incredible digs, timely blocks, well placed sets, and focused attack placements to win the Championship and National bid to USAV Junior Nationals!  A win in 2 to seal the deal, 25-21, 25-17! Holding true to their #1 ranking in GEVA!

Grabbing All-Tournament Honors were Allison Edelstein and Alexandra Karle!  Tournament MVP went to Jet Manzi!

What a tremendous day and year thus far for our Atlantic Valley 17 National Team.  Stellar passing and digs from our Liberos: Danielle Olcese & Ariel Schwalb; well placed sets and command of our offense from our Setters: Allison Edelstein & Annie Halbert; dominating attacks from our outside hitters: Jet Manzi , Amanda Borges and Casey DeSa; shut down blocking from our right sides: Jamie Schneck & Lorraine Mackiewicz; and dominating offense and control of the net from our middles: Alexandra Karle, Lindsay Leiter, and Caroline Laton. 

Next up for our Atlantic Valley 17 National Team “Knights”: Happy Volley at Penn State, AAU Nationals in Orlando, FL, and USA Volleyball Junior Nationals in Columbus, Ohio!