On March 16th, 2013, team Riptide traveled to Bethpage, NY to play in the Sportstime 16 Mix tournament. The first 3 matches in the pool play was eventless and the girls beat CT Impact, Legacy and Allstarr Blue all in 2-0. For the final match of the pool play, Riptide met with Bayside Vipers which was a very good defensive team. However, team Riptide demonstrated that it was as good a defensive team as its opponent, plus a much better offensive team, especially from the middle of the net, beating Bayside in 2 straight sets.

In the quarter final match, team Riptide played against OCVBC. Continuing with very solid defensive play, team Riptide broke the opponent's passing with tough services, leathel attacks from the middle, and smart placement shots from the bins, winning the match with an attitude. The momentum continued into the semi final match against Allstarr 16 Red, the first 16s team of that club, a bigger (size-wise) team. This was basically a middle vs middle battle on the offensive side, but Riptide prevailed with better defense, less errors and more positive energy, took the match in 2 straight sets.

13-0 overall record so far for the day.

In the final came Academy 16-2, the #1 seeded team in the tournament. They took the first set with powerful ouside attacks and effective blocks, but Riptide responded with tougher serves, targeted blocks and unrelenting defensive plays, and took the second set 25-23. At this point, all players on team Riptide had played 15 sets, and fatigue finally set in during the final deciding game. Various players started to make unforced errors that gave the oponent an easy lead. Team Riptide was unable to repeat the turn-over as they did in the second set and lost the final in 3. However, it was a great fight, and indeed another fantastic tournament for this fantastic group of girls!

Go Team Riptide!