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So Close! 17 National takes 2nd at Capitol Hill Classic in D.C.!

By Coach Chiang, 02/24/11, 3:59PM EST

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Attempting to improve on their 5th place finish at the MLK Kickoff Classic in Lancaster, PA, our Atlantic Valley 17 National team put up a great performance taking 2nd in 17 Open at the Capitol Hill Classic in Washington, D.C.  2nd out of 36 in Open, and 2nd out of 100 total 17's teams!
 
With pool play and challenge match victories over Infinity 17 Blue, CAVC 17 National, Valley Forge 17's, and Yorktowne 17 Gold; the "Wolfpack" found themselves in the Gold bracket. 
 
 
 
First playoff match was against an always strong MVSA Blizzard team.  Keeping up with their strong play all weekend, AVVC 17 National pulled out a tight one 25-23, 25-22.  Semi-Final match up ensued against an even stronger Triangle 17 Blue team who hadn't lost a match yet in the tournament.  An epic battled went on, point for point with our Atlantic Valley 17 National Team pulling out a victory in 2, 25-20, 25-20. 
 
This put the Atlantic Valley 17 National team in the 17 Open Finals against Piedmont Mizuno 17.  First set went point for point until a serving run for AVVC 17 National helped to secure the win.  First set 25-17 AVVC.  Second set, Piedmont came out with a 4-0 run forcing AVVC to play catch up all set long.  Down 11-17 in the second, the "Wolfpack" had some work to do.  Fighting hard to even up the score, AVVC battled but fell in the second 20-25.  3rd set in 17 Open was a doozy.  Point for point til Piedmont took a 8-7 lead at the crossover, then another point for point battle till 13-13.  AVVC 17 National scrounged out a 14-13 lead, with Piedmont coming right back to tie it with a great sideout at 14-14.  Piedmont then gained a 15-14 lead with a serve hitting tape and rolling over, then followed by a put away between 2 diving "Wolfpack" defenders.  16-14 Piedmont in the third.  What a match, it was an epic battle!  Congrats to both teams making 17 Open a thriller!
 
One heck of a run all weekend long by our Atlantic Valley 17 National Team.  With 6 Front Row players who play multiple positions for Coach Greg Chiang, it made for match up nightmares for opponents.  Great setting choices with multiple formations and plays by both Alana Aranjo and Annie Halbert (who also crushed a quick out of the middle, what setter does that???).  Huge physical presence and blocking efforts from Tori Brokaw and Macy Schwartz helped to neutralize many opponents offenses.  Keeping other middles commited to her was the high flying Kristen Gelenitis.  Commanding the defense with some beautiful passing and digging from libero Laryssa Schepel and DS Amy Lee.  And getting the benefits of 1 on 1 situations and scoring at will all weekend due to their teammates efforts were the trio of Lindsay Witt, Amber Evans, and Julie Monroy. 
 
Julie Monroy grabbed the Best Passer award for 17's at Capitol Hill Classic!

Who's next!?