Win after win keeps piling up. MLK came and went so fast we hardly had time to celebrate finishing 5th in the Gold, going 7-1 , and defeating the Jamaican National Team.

Before we knew it we were off to Hampton Roads, VA for the MAPL tournament.
Treacherous snow and ice as we traveled down to VA couldn't dampen the enthusiasm Inferno had for the competition they encountered. 

Entering the tournament ranked 8th, AVVC's 18's Red team had a memorable weekend.

Saturday started off nicely  vs. MAVBC 17's with a comfortable win 25-11. 25-17.  Onto the next against a competitive VA Elite, a three set match but we came on strong in the second & third, for a nice win. (21-25, 25-22,15-10)
Another win against Roanoke 18 Red (25-13, 25-12) proved to be just a brief stopover to the fight for first in the pool. 
A hard fought battle against Triangle 17 black was a different story.  Inferno's parents watched a bit nervously as the girls fought hard, point for point but losing in a match that could have gone either way (23-25, 20-25)
Saturday ended 3-1 and a second place finish in the pool, sent us right into the playoff to determine whether it would be Gold or Silver.

Sunday started off with a back and forth, all out battle against NVB Ice 17-1 team. They were tough, but not tough enough.  We won 26-24, 25-23.  
(They went on to win the Silver bracket but we had another close match to play against MAVBC 18-1 who came in ranked #1.)  With crowds surrounding the court, the battle was on in the Gold bracket.
We lost 20-25, and 19-25, and MAVBC eventually took 2nd in the tourney.

It was a weekend of fun volleyball, amazing plays and not enough adjectives to describe it all.  Close your eyes and imagine this;  If you could've been there you would have seen:
Ally moving pin-to-pin smoothly and with ease,  delivering significant blocks and beautiful key kills. 
Mckayla was pounding the one's and three's for key points.  Caroline was a blocking machine and crushing kills at middle. 
Allison was setting and serving like a maniac with a key dig to the face that was nearly impossible.
Annie was relentless and tireless with setting beautiful & accurate sets, making great choices resulting in kill after kill.
Lorraine had crushing back row hits and strong blocks at RS. 
Jet and Amanda, Rachel and Casey were jumping their highest and hitting their hardest and leaving an impression on the crowd as people kept asking how tall our outsides were. 
Eileen and Danielle receiving and passing the ball and great defensive positioning with consistency and solid play enabled the great sets and great kills.
One couldn't do it without the other!  All in all they did exactly what they were supposed to do, they played great volleyball.
Coach Samantha's keen eye and Coach Thony's strategy and leadership are continually bringing this team together with signs of improvement and strength showing up at every tournament.
We finished 5th in the Gold against some strong competition and the parents might have had more fun than the girls.