ON THE HORIZON      updated 05/15/2013

CURRENT NEWS

        

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2013 SEASON NEWS

AND 18's MAKES TWO... 18 Elite Black goes undefeated and secures second NW Juniors Bid to Nationals!

The 18 Elite Black team took everyone's best shot and emerged champions of the PSR Bid tournament thus securing their spot in the National Division of the Girl's Junior National Championship tournament.  They have now joined the 14 Elite Black team in punching their ticket to Dallas! The tournament format was pool play, and the top two teams in pool advance to bracket play.  In pool, they defeated a scrappy South Sound team and a very athletic Club Wahine team (avenging a loss in Spokane).  First round of playoffs matched them against a vastly improved ITVC team -- and the victory guaranteed them a spot in Nationals.  The finals pitted them against Sudden Impact, with the winner earning a bid in the National Division, and runner up earning a bid in the American Division. Both teams battled hard and after three hard-fought sets, the 18 Black team defeated Sudden Impact and earned their National Division Bid.  A special thanks to several members of the 14 Elite Black team that came down to support the 18's. CONGRATULATIONS 18 Black!

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NW Juniors Introduces Spring Training for 5-8th Graders -- MORE INFO

With our U11 and U12 seasons coming to an end in April, we are offering an opportunity for 5-8th grade girls and boys to train (or continue to train).  The program is an opportunity for club players to continue practicing and for players that did not get to play club to begin training or preparing for summer camps.  It's an 8-week program beginning May 6th. Training will primarily take place at Northshore Junior High School.  Limited openings exist so register quickly.

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Click HERE for a comprehensive recap on how our teams did at Regionals and other region events this season.

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16 Elite Gold wins the Silver Championship at Regionals:

The 16 Elite Gold team went 5-2 during Regionals, going undefeated on Sunday.  All 11 girls played well.  Marit Thorkildsen continued to dominate in all facets.  Cailey Kudrna was a huge factor for us, raking in the kills out of the middle.  Maggie Orse's blocking and Kessie Danielson's attacking was amazing.  Overall, our defensive efforts, our consistency and our serving is what won us our Championship.  Nice job ladies!

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18 and 17 Elite teams  find success at Regionals:

The 18 Elite Black team went 6-1 for the weekend on their way to a third place finish at the U18 Regional Championship tournament at Washington High School.  Their lone blemish was a loss to the PSVBA 18-1 team in the first round of the Gold Championships.  They went onto defeat SIVA 18 in the 3rd place match, marking their second win over SIVA 18 in the tournament. After a tough 3rd place finish in pool on the first day, the 17 Elite Black team went undefeated for the rest of the tournament to win the Silver Division at the U17 Regional Championship Tournament at Curtis JHS.  They defeated High Velocity 17 in the Silver final, marking their second win over High Velocity after defeating them earlier in the day in Pool play.  Congrats to both teams!  Next up for the 18's is the Bid Tournament May 5th as they make their final attempt at qualifying for the National Championship Tournament.

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14 Elite Black takes third at PNQ -- Earns a bid for the second year in a row!

Pictured at left, 14 Elite Black celebrates after taking set two from Austin Performance in the 14 USA Gold Semifinals. Austin Performance would go on to win the match and the tournament.  14 Elite Black finished third and learned Wednesday that they earned a bid to Nationals in the USA Division. This marks the second consecutive year this team has qualified for Nationals, as 8 of the 10 players on the roster were on the 13 Heat team that qualified last season. For the weekend, the team finished 8-2, losing only to the first and second place teams.  Significant wins included a convincing win over #2 Seed VIP Juniors of Spokane on the way to the semi-finals.  Many players had good performances, and they were led in hitting by MB Calli Loan, she hit .341 over the weekend and led the team with 41 kills.  The team gained a lot of confidence and now have added motivation to improve and make a good showing in Dallas this summer.

 

14 Eclipse wins Lake Tapps U14 Tournament:

Congrats to 14 Eclipse for taking 1st place at LTVBC Tourney on Saturday, March 23rd! They did an awesome job taking first place in their pool, ending up by +70 points above the other teams! Then they went on to finish the day completely undefeated and taking home the championship title.  Way to go!

 

A Great Weekend For NW Juniors Teams:

Several NW Juniors teams were in action during the March 16-17 weekend at various tournaments around the region, and many emerged as champions or finalists.

• It was an all-NW Juniors final at Juanita HS on Saturday as the 13 Thunder team defeated the 13 Heat team in the final. Both teams won their pools, so each entered the final undefeated on the day. 13 Thunder won the final 25-21, 25-11 and secured the championship.

• 17 Elite Black had a great day Saturday, also at Juanita.  Seeded 5th in the tournament, they won their pool with a 5-1 record, including a split with #2 seed ITVC 17's. They defeated a tough LaConner 17's in the semi's (23-25, 25-14, 15-11) before losing a close final to Rain City Mirage (25-19, 20-25, 12-15).  Despite a couple key injuries, the 17 Elite Black team continues to improve.

• Pictured at right: At the Domino's Pizza 14 D1/D2 tournament at Franklin Pierce HS Saturday, the 14 Blizzard team had an outstanding day and won the Silver Division of a tough U14's tournament.  Blizzards had a challenging morning of pool play as they faced some very highly ranked Puget Sound Power League Teams.  In the afternoon, the Blizzards started in the Silver play-off bracket and swept the field beating, Ridge Valley Silver, then PJVBC in the semifinals 25-17, 22-25, 15-5 and finally beating SC Thunder in the finals 25-10, 20-25, 15-10.  The Blizzards were due for tournament win after their stellar performance in the Yakima Tournament where they went 5-2 overall.

• On Sunday, it was the 14 Elite Black team's turn to win a championship.  They participated in the U15's tournament at Juanita HS.  After a rough morning where they split with three teams and finished third overall in the pool, they found their spark and defeated three solid U15's teams on their way to a championship. First up was Cascade 15-1 (25-22, 25-18); second round found them facing the team that won their Pool, Northshore 15 Black, the #16 team in U15 Power League (25-20, 25-16). In the final, they faced a much bigger All-Out 15 team  (#15 in Power League) and handled them, mostly on the strength of their serving and defense and consistent play from their middles -- final score was 25-17, 25-16.

• Also of note on Sunday at Juanita was the 15 Thunder team, which lost a close Silver final to MVA 21-25, 22-25.  15 Thunder play scrappy defense and showed great improvement from earlier in the season.

 

Presidents Weekend Tournament RESULTS:

After a long 3-day weekend that saw all NW Juniors teams in action, several NW Juniors teams found success, but only the 18 Elite Black team emerged as Champions of their respective division.  Ranked second going into the tournament, the 18 Elite Black team went undefeated (9-0) and did not drop a set all weekend -- their toughest match of the weekend was the final against the #1 seed SIVA 18's (ranked #3 in the region and Platinum Division participants).  After losing to SIVA in the first Power League the 18 Elite team hoped for a rematch sometime over the weekend and they got it in the final, defeating SIVA 25-17, 25-22.  Along the way, they also defeated Central Washington Elite, a top team from the Evergreen Region.

Other notable finishes:

• 14 Elite Black took third in the 14 Open Gold Division

• 12 Eclipse took third in the 12's Division

• 13 Thunder and 13 Heat made it into the Silver Bracket of 14 Club, and 13 Thunder lost in the Final.

• 15 Elite Black lost in the final if the U15 Silver Bracket

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL TEAMS AND THANK-YOU COACHES, PLAYERS, AND PARENTS FOR HELPING US HOST A FANTASTIC TOURNAMENT.

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Several NW Juniors Players selected to all-league teams:  As the high school regular season comes to a close and teams begin district and state qualification, leagues will be posting their all-league teams.   These NW Juniors athletes have been honored. 

• Haleigh Harrison, Sequim HS, Olympic League MVP.  This marks the second year in a row that the Olympic League MVP has been a NW Juniors athlete!

• Katrina Lane, Roosevelt HS, KingCo 4A, 1st team outside hitter

• Kristen Lane, Roosevelt HS, KingCo 4A, 2nd team Middle

• Genevieve Knoppi, Mt. Si HS, KingCo 3A 1st team libero

• Danielle Smullin, Kamiak HS, Wesco 4A South, 2nd team setter

• Sara Pulaski, Kamiak HS, Wesco 4A South, 2nd team Libero

• Loretta Forrest, Everett HS, Wesco 3A North, 1st team Libero

• Amber Hagar, Everett HS, Wesco 3A North, 2nd team Middle

• Gabrielle Mahler, Meadowdale HS, Wesco 3A South, 2nd team Middle

• Zoey Lange, Cascade HS, Wesco 4A South, Honorable mention outside hitter

• Maria Darling, Glacier Peak HS, Wesco 3A South, Honorable mention outside hitter

• Hannah Hudson, Sequim HS, Olympic League 2nd Team Libero

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