16 Red packed up their bags and were headed to Penn State for Memorial Day weekend to compete in their annual Happy Volley tournament. With a regional bid already accomplished, the team knew they would have to finish strong in gaining momentum towards our July trip to Dallas. 16 Red finished in 5th with a quarterfinal loss to 3rd place DRVC 16U.

The trip couldn’t have started better with a win over an international opponent K-W Purple Predators 16U. Nearly blanking their opponent in the first set 25-1, the Predators gave AVVC a run early, but 16 Red closed the gap and won 25-15. Moving forward to Revolution E 16 White, the team won with steady ball control 25-14, 25-15. The last match of the day was BAVA 16 Breakers, and strategic serving ultimately won this one for us at 25-20, 25-19. The first day of pool play was a great boost with a match play record of 3-0, 6-0 set play.

The next day, we played another Canadian team (Niagara Rapids). Offense proved to be the winner in this match, and AVVC was on top 25-18, 25-16. The next match was Revolution S 16 White and the defense stepped up big and got us the win at 25-10, 25-17. Consistency was the key throughout pool play and with a 5-0 match play record, 16 Red moved on to its final pool play opponent: Synergy LV 16-1 Orange. Momentum played a huge factor in this match, because the girls got the first set at 25-23, then the next set, nearly played perfect to a 25-6 match win.

With another gold bracket clinched in 16 Open, the girls were looking forward to playing their quarterfinal match on Memorial Day Monday (as well as Berkey Creamery I’m assuming). DRVC 16U was the first roadblock, and unfortunately the girls rallied, but couldn’t close the deal. DRVC won the first set at 18-25. 16 Red made a few key service errors, but weren’t going to let one set dictate their whole weekend. The girls put on a show for the crowd in the second set with unbelievable defensive blocks and digs, as well as huge hits offensively. AVVC came out on top 19-25 in front of many to push to a third set. Hoping that momentum would stay on their side, the girls traded point for point early, but ultimately lost in a 6-15 effort.

Thank you to our chaperones for taking care of our kids on such a huge campus as well as the parents who came to support us again with their volunteering of services and great cheering. Our next tournament will be in July for the 2013 Girls Junior National Championships where the team will be flying to Dallas, TX for the week.