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2010 SEASON NEWS AND RESULTS

Season Results & News Headlines

SUMMER PROGRAMS: Northwest Juniors does not limit our programs to the junior volleyball club.  We offer an extensive number of programs for youth throughout the summer.  Many of the programs we offer, feature discounts for NW Juniors Volleyball Club Members.  We encourage all NW Juniors Members to participate in our programs -- not because they are ours, but because we know that these programs will help you grow and improve as a volleyball player.  Among the programs we offer:

• Summer Volleyball Camps -- a 10% discount for Northwest Juniors Members.  Register early, all entries before May 31st get a free Baden Volleyball.

• Outdoor Volleyball Programs  -- Get outside and play!  We have a beach clinic,  a grass fours league, beach 2's & 4's tournaments, and host the Washington State Games

  • Beach Summer Series -- Play doubles and fours tournaments all summer.  Grab some of your club teammates and have a blast in the sand

  • WASHINGTON STATE GAMES-- Grass Volleyball Tournament at Magnusson Park in Seattle.  July 10th is Junior Sixes, July 11th is Junior Doubles

NORTHWEST JUNIORS CLUB AWARDS: Northwest Juniors hosted our annual club barbecue and end of season celebration on Saturday, May 22nd at Juanita HS.  We had over 280 people in attendance.  Congratulations to our team award winners:

Multiple Award winners (pictured L-R): Sammy Minnig, Taylor Brooks, Danielle Smullin, Claire Holcombe, Samantha Rogers

Other Information from the Ceremony:

Tournament :   Congratulations to the 17 Elite Team (pictured left, l -r): Sammy Minnig,  Haley Bedell, Lexie Bedell, Taylor Brooks, and 17 Elite Coach Vettiar Chup for winning the tournament.  They defeated 16 Elite Gold "Doug" in the final, headed by 16 Elite Coach Cy Klein.  It was a very entertaining double-final.

Contests:  We are using this as an opportunity to jump-start our scholarship program.  For 2011 we are establishing a club scholarship program to help subsidize the payment of dues for players in need.  We will run several programs throughout the year whose proceeds will directly benefit the scholarship program.  We have two contests at the BBQ that will directly benefit the program -- 100% of the ticket sales will go into the scholarship fund.  Raffle Results: Congratulations to our Raffle Winners: Skyler D'Urso, McKenzie Johnson, & Betsy Brown.  Each won a $100.00 gift certificate towards Northwest Juniors Summer Programs (to be used towards camps, tournaments, leagues, etc.).

News/Tournament Results:

Emerald City Classic News  --  3 of our NW Juniors Elite Teams were accepted into the field of the Emerald City Classic.  Tournament information is locate HERE. 

RESULTS:

• 17 Elite Black took 3rd in the Gold Division of the 18 Open.  Despite playing shorthanded for the weekend, the team responded well and had some key victories, including a thrilling 3-set victory over OR NW Juniors 18 Power (27-25, 25-27, 18-16) on Sunday. Sunday was a highlight as they also defeated Cascade 18 Blue and Club Wahine 18 Black to win t heir pool and move onto the 18 Club Gold Division.  Monday's Gold Division playoffs opened with a convincing win over Northshore 17 Black and a disappointing loss to ABC Apollo from Oregon -- and third place overall in the Tournament.  A nice way to close out the season.  Haley Bedell was named the team MVP for the weekend for her consistent play from the outside.

• 16 Elite Gold had an uncharacteristically disappointing weekend as they finished 35th in the 16 Open Division.  They had a very rough first day as they had two three-set losses and a third loss by a total of four points -- placing them in division 2.  They never quite regained their momentum after those tough losses.

• 14 Elite Gold: Finished their season with another strong showing finishing 9th in the 14 Club Division.  They had some great wins over the weekend including a big win over WVBA 13's and a first-round playoff win over Canby 14 Blue. 

Northwest Juniors Memorial Weekend Tournament News  --  13 Northwest Juniors teams are currently enrolled in the NW Juniors Memorial Weekend Tournament.  The tournament page which has access to all gym directions and pools is located HERE.  Here is the  TOURNAMENT HANDBOOK.  These are the divisions, teams and current locations of play. 

• U16-18 Division: 17 Thunder at Tillicum MS, 16 Eclipse & 16 Storm at Bellevue College

• U14-15 Division: 15 Inferno & 14 Storm at Inglemoor HS; 15 Elite Black & 14 Eclipse at Kenmore JHS; 15 Cyclone & 14 Gold at Skyview JHS; 15 Elite Gold & 15 Thunder at Edmonds CC

• U12-13 Division: 13 Thunder & 13 Heat at Glacier Peak HS

1-day Regionals Coming for U17's  -- NW Juniors 17 Elite Black & 17 Thunder will participate in their one-day Regional Championships on Saturday, May 8th.  Twenty -seven Puget Sound Region teams have registered for the tournament with the Champion awarded the Region's National Division Bid to the National Championship Tournament in Reno, NV.  The tournament will be seeded using Power League results.  More information will be made available once it is distributed by the region.  As of 5/5/10: POOLS: Locations: 17 Elite Black in Pool F at Washington HS (starting at 11:00 AM); 17 Thunder at Franklin Pierce HS (starting at 8:00 AM)

Willamette Classic News  -- Eight NW Juniors teams travel this Mother's Day Weekend to play in the 4th Annual Willamette Classic Tournament, held on the campus of Oregon State University.  Here is a link the tournament Home Page.  The site has updated information on seeds, pools, maps, and other vital tournament information.  Pools will be linked here as they become available. Best of luck to all of our teams this weekend.  Pool link with Pool/COURT/Overall seed in parenthesis.

• U14 Pools: 14 Gold (P10/CT14/S27), 14 Eclipse (P8/CT12/S32), 14 Elite Black (P17/CT23/S41)

• U16 Pools: 16 Elite Gold (P1/CT6/S12), 16 Eclipse (P16/CT19/S45), 15 Elite Gold (P20/CT23/S56), 16 Storm (P24/CT28/S61), 15 Elite Black (P25/CT28/S73)

5/5/10: Congratulations to our Team of the Month and Coach of the Month for April!

15 Elite Black was named the Team of the Month for the month of April, for making the largest jump of any NW Juniors team in the standings at the Regional Championship Tournament.  They entered the tournament as the #30 seed and designated for Division 2,  but had a great tournament in winning the Copper Division of Division 1 finishing 19th overall in the region.  Coach of the Month was awarded to 12 Eclipse Head Coach Debbie Miranda for guiding the 12 Eclipse team to a 5th place finish in the Gold Division of the U12's Regional Championship Tournament after entering as the #10 seed.  This was their last tournament of the season, and they finished it on a very high note.  Congratulations to Debbie and the 15 Elite Black team, keep up the great work!

15 Elite Black wins the Copper Division of Division 1: The Northwest Juniors Elite Black won the Copper Bracket in Division I of the Puget Sound U15 Regional Championship held on May 1-2.  Elite Black entered the 45 team tournament seeded 30th, but fought their way into the first division with a 3 game win over 19^th seeded Cascade Blue in pool play on Saturday.  In Sunday’s medal round the Black beat club rival Elite Gold to advance to a semifinal match against 11^th seeded Rain City Mirage.  Elite Black beat Mirage in 3 games to set up the championship match against Saturday’s Warriors.  The warriors led the first game 22-14, but a string of aces by Lexie Bedell inspired the Black to a 26-24 comeback victory.  The second game was equally tough, but again the Black won, 25-22.

16 Elite Gold wins the Bronze Division of Division 1: Northwest Juniors 16 Elite Gold won the bronze championship Bracket in Division I of the Puget Sound U15 Regional Championship held on May 1-2.  Entering the 51 team tournament as the 12th seed, 16 Elite enjoyed a great first day of the tournament.  After falling behind early in each of its first two matches the team responded and won both matches in straight sets.  This set up a final match against the 15 seed Edmonds to determine the winner of the pool.  Tight play by both teams in the first set resulted in a 18 all tie.  16 Gold then made a great push winning 25-20.   In the second set it was Edmonds who made a push resulting in a 20-15 lead.  However, 16 Elite - backed by great play out of the middle position by Kirsten Fischer and Alex Gollersrud - began to go to work, picking up some huge blocks and never allowing Edmonds past 23 points resulting in an outstanding 25-23 come from behind victory.  In the second round of pool play 16 Elite took care of business against the 22 seed Lake Taps Blue and then was matched up against the 21 seed PS 16 Black with a bid to the silver bracket on the line.  It was a battle, but in the end 16 Elite lost the third set 15-13 in a highly competitive match.  This placed 16 Elite in the Bronze bracket for tournament play.  In the first round of bracket play 16 Elite efficiently beat Cascade U16 Red but in the next match they dropped the first set against High Velocity and looked ready for an early exit.  However the team stayed positive and was able to refocus resulting in a 3 set victory and setting up a championship game against Sports for Youth.  After a long tough day of volleyball 16 Elite made this match look easy – using great passing and clean execution of their offense to coast to a straight sets victory.    Overall this was a great team effort by 16 Elite and we are very proud of what they accomplished this season.  Congratulations 16 Elite!

Official Results from the the U14's Regional Championships:

• 14 Elite Black lost in the Gold Final of the U14 D2 division.  They have made great strides all season.

• 14 Gold finished 41st overall

• 14 Eclipse finished 43rd overall

• 14 Storm  finished 45th overall

Regionals Results for U12 & U13 teams:

• 12 Eclipse: Tied for 5th in the Gold Division.  Another amazing story, after starting the season as the #16 of 19 teams.  Way to go 12 Eclipse.

• 12 Storm finished 15th overall

• 13 Heat:

• 13 Thunder:

17 Elite Black & 16 Elite Gold compete well in Texas:

• The NW Juniors 17 Elite team again played well when faced with great competition -- finishing 33rd overall on the 17 Club Division at the Lone Star Classic in Dallas.  Entering the tournament as the #90 seed out of 118 teams, they faced an uphill battle from day 1.   Seeded the #3 team in a 3-team pool, the 17's had a difficult start, finishing 0-2 in pool, but were presented with an opportunity to redeem themselves in a crossover match against the #32 team, Colorado Performance 17's -- which they did in impressive fashion with a 25-21, 25-15 win.  Their "reward" was a place in Division 1, and a quick turnaround -- going from PM wave on Friday to AM Wave on Saturday and the #32 seed.  Saturday saw them struggle against the #4 team in the tournament, lose a close match in 3 sets to AVA of Texas, but hold onto their #32 seed with a win over One10 17 Black.   Sunday's playoffs were in the Bronze Division and featured a nice win over Texas Tornados, and a competitive loss in the final to Club One 17 Black of Oklahoma (who has already qualified for Nationals by winning the Hoosier Mideast Qualifier).  A great weekend for the team, as they proved to themselves that they can play with some of the best teams in the country.  Great performances were turned out by Samantha Minnig, who was voted by her teammates as the team MVP for the weekend; Taylor Brooks whose steady and reliable setting kept the hitters performing well; Tiva Akau, whose consistent passing and defense shined; and Erica Clark, who started at opposite and was consistently reliable.  Of course everyone had to play well for the team to succeed, but these four stood out over the weekend.

• The 16 Elite Gold team competed in the 56-team National Division tournament and had a rough first day, entering as the #3 seed in their pool (35th overall) and finishing fourth -- their highlight being a close 3-set loss to the #1 seed in pool Triangle 16 Blue (#7 overall in the tournament).  They bounced back nicely the second day -- seeded fourth in pool and taking second -- leaving as the #37 team in the tournament -- their day featured quality 3-set wins over Texas Thunder and Austin Juniors 16 Spalding.  Flight 2 playoffs featured a first-round victory over El Paso Sunspots and a tough loss to Austin Juniors 16 Cedar Park.  Still, a great weekend for 16 Elite Gold.

NW Juniors Team reports from Final Power League -- Final Standings: 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 12

The final installment of the Puget Sound Region Power League has passed and some teams have sent in reports:  

• 12 Eclipse: Had a good day competing in Flight 1.  After a rough pool play against the #2 and #3 teams in the region, 12 Eclipse rebounded with a victory over Puyallup Juniors in the playoffs and a 5th place finish in the Final Power League.  What a great improvement they made throughout the season as they began the year as the #16 team (out of 19) and slowly crept their way up the rankings by winning Flight 3 in February, taking 3rd in Flight 3 in March, then competing admirably in Flight 1 in April.  Their improvement netted them the #10 seed in the region.

• 15 Elite Gold: 15 Elite Gold did it again with another successful weekend at Power League.  The team went 2-1 in pool play to play in the upper bracket of Flight #3.  Though they lost consecutive matches in the playoffs, the team finished ranked 4th out of 8 in their Flight after starting out ranked 6th.  Well done 15 Elite Gold.

• 16 Elite Gold: Participated in the U16 Flight #2 on the final day of Power League and have shown steady improvement all season.  After several unsuccessful attempts, the 16 Elite Gold team finally got the better of the VIP 16 Chan team (from Spokane).  When it mattered most, the 16 Elite team was able to come away with a victory.  That victory pushed them ahead of VIP in the final standings and secured the #15 overall position in the final standings of Power League.  Congratulations for your accomplishment!

17 Elite Strikes Gold in Spokane: The NW Juniors 17 Elite team capped the month of March with a great showing in the PNQ Qualifier.  After a very difficult month -- and a lot of hard work on the part of the players and coaches -- they were finally rewarded with a GOLD division finish.  Entering the tournament as the #18 seed, the 17 Elite team had a great first day, winning their pool and defeating a team from Hawaii (TAVA Hawaii), Northern California (Gold Cal 17-2), and Montana (ZTV 17) along the way.  Their pool win moved them up to the #5 seed and a difficult pool on Day 2.  Day 2 was a rough day, and despite playing their best volleyball of the season, they still went 0-2 in pool and finished in third place after close losses to Olympia RSB and Six Dogs 17 from Colorado, and putting them in a tough position to get back into the gold division.  They had to win a crossover match against a ZTV, the second place team from another pool -- which they did, assuring their spot in the Gold and an 8:00 AM date with Austin Juniors (the #3 seed in the tournament).  Although they played well enough to win at times, it was not enough to overcome the much bigger Austin Juniors team.  Their loss placed them in a tie for 9th overall in the 17 Club Division, out of 42 teams.  More than anything, their performance left them with optimism for the rest of the season, and an understanding that hard work leads to measurable positive results.  Great performances were turned in by Libero Tiva Akau, who played her first tournament in over a month after a shoulder injury and was voted weekend MVP; and Setter, Taylor Brooks, who showed consistency all weekend.  Also, of note was the great passing by the team all weekend.

Final Results from PNQ Spokane Tournament: Seven NW Juniors teams travelled to Spokane for the Pacific Northwest Qualifier and while some teams had a rough first day.  Most teams went on to have a successful tournament.  As a club, we learned a lot from this experience, given that we sent most of our younger teams to this prestigious event.  Final results for the tournament are accessible HERE.

3/13-14/10: 14 Elite Black Continues Great Run: Congratulations goes out to the 14 Elite Black team for another outstanding performance at the Spring Classic Tournament this past weekend.  The team finished first on Saturday of pool play by winning two out of three matches -- including a victory over Sudden Impact 14 Hurricane, the #10 ranked team in the region.  The team struggled a bit on Sunday in the second round of pool, but still found themselves with an opportunity to play in the Gold Division.  They had to play a crossover match against Sandpoint 13's (Idaho) with the winner moving into the Gold bracket, and the loser going into the Silver.  After beating Sandpoint 13s, Elite Black went on to win the next two matches (over Lake Tapps 13's and Lynnwood Spike It 14's) to get into the Gold Division Finals.  The finals signified their 5th match in a row and 14 Elite Black finally ran out of steam, losing the rematch to Sudden Impact 14s and finishing 2nd in the Gold Division.  Great job14s Elite Black, we are proud of your progress and your success!

3/6/10: 16 Elite Gold Moves Up!: 16 Elite Gold (pictured at left celebrating a victory) also had a strong showing at Power League #3.  After a close first set loss against ITVC 24-26, the team responded forcing a third set and rolling to a 15-8 victory.  16 Elite then lost a close match against Lake VBC - losing the second set 24-26.  The team then overpowered Power Surge in to secure second their pool.   In bracket play 16 Elite fell in their first match against VIP Jrs in a tough battle between teams that have played each other four times this season.  In the next match against Edmonds, 16 Elite bounced back – executing their game plan by serving tough and forcing Edmonds out of system.  They went on to win in two close sets 27-25 and 25-22 playing some outstanding team defense along the way and finishing third in the tournament.  For the weekend 16 Elite had great production out of their outsides with Sarah Baillargeon leading the way hitting over 0.300 with 16 Kills and only 3 errors.  Rachael Haver also had a strong outing recording 24 kills with 6 errors while leading the team in passing average.  Congratulations to 16 Elite for a great team effort and moving up to Flight 2!

3/6/10: 15 Elite Gold Has a Great Day: 15 Elite Gold had a phenomenal weekend at Power League as they took 2nd in their pool falling only to Club Wahine 15 Hoku after losing a close 3rd game, 15-17.  In bracket play, 15 Elite Gold powered over the other pools' 1st place team- OPVBC, beating them handily in 2 games.  They went on to win their flight after beating Sabotage in the final game 26-24 to move up to the next flight for the final Power League in April.  15 Elite Gold was able to do all of this with only 7 girls in pool play, and only 6 girls in bracket play (their 5'2" libero, Claire Holcombe, played middle blocker with 3 kills in two matches!) .  Next month, the team will be in Flight #3 after starting off Power League from Flight #6.  They have consistently proven their stamina and ability to persevere against their opposition.  Congratulations to 15 Elite Gold on a Cinderella Story Weekend!!

3/7/10: 14 Elite Black Moves Up!:  Congratulations to the 14 Elite Black team for going undefeated in Power League #3.  The team started the day winning all three Pool Play matches against PSVBA 14, SIVBC 13, and NW Juniors Storm.  One great highlight came with the players stepping up and filling roles they don't normally fill -- Libero Kamryn Curry (playing with an injured her hand), fought through as many games as possible, but was unavailable for playoffs; the rest of the team stepped it up for her as DS Alyssa North took the Libero position and performed with ease and natural abilities.  Meanwhile, MB Summer Thorp stayed in the games to play defense and showed nothing can get past her.  Great teamwork led to great victories, and the team proved that in overcoming injuries and a tough couple of weeks, 14 Elite Black will be a force to watch out for in the upcoming tournaments. 

3/7/10: 12 Eclipse moves up to Flight 1:  After starting the season as the #16 team in the U12's Power League and relegated to Flight 3, the 12 Eclipse team has continued it's steady climb and is rewarded with placement into Flight 1 of the 12's Power League on the final weekend of play.  After going undefeated and winning Flight 3 on the 20th of February in PL #2, 12 Eclipse didn't know what to expect in Flight 2 with some of the top U12 teams in the region.  They finished pool play 2nd -- losing to #6 ITVC 12's and beating NW Jrs 12 Storm.  Playoffs put them up against High Velocity12 Xtreme and they defeated them handily; the next round was not as easy, as they then had to face #7 Puyallup Juniors 12 Gold, and lost in two close games, putting them in a 3/4th place match against #9 Cascade 12's in a "winner to flight 1, loser to flight 3" match.  Despite the pressure of the match, 12 Eclipse prevailed and has now moved up to being the #10 ranked 12's team in the region.  Their reward? Flight 1 with pool play against #2 Power Surge and #3 UPVBC 12 Black.  Congrats to 12 Eclipse on their steady rise up the ranks.

4/7/10: Congratulations to our Team of the Month and Coaches of the Month for March!

15 Elite Gold was voted as Team of the Month for the month of March, for moving up to Flight 3 of the 15 Power league and winning their division at the PNQ.  Congratulations to 15 Elite Gold!  Coach of the Month was awarded to 16 Eclipse Head Coach Libby Hurdelbrink .  Congratulations to Libby and the 15 Elite Gold team, keep up the great work!

2/20/10: 12 Eclipse and 12 Storm have banner day at Power League:  12 Eclipse went undefeated in Pool Play, and 12 Storm went 4-2 (both winning their pools) setting up an All-NW Juniors Final.  Both teams did their part as 12 Eclipse won a tough 3-set battle against Olympia VBC, and 12 Storm defeated High Velocity handily.  The final was a great match, and 12 Eclipse won 2-0, the good news for both teams is that they both get to move up a flight.  Nice job 12's!   Below is a photo of 12 Eclipse.

1/11/10: 17 Elite Black concludes first week of Power League -- seeded 16th: After a promising first day of Power League play, that saw the 17 Elite Black team finish second in each of their first two rounds of pool play (4-2 after 6 matches of play), the 17 Elite team entered the second day as the #15 seed and a #4 seed in Flight 2 of the U18 Power League.  Day 2 was not quite as successful as day 1, and the 17's held seed, missing out on several key opportunities to move up in the standings.  Regardless of the difficult second day, they remain in Flight 2 for the next round on February 7th.  Congratulations on staying in the top 16 in the region.