Upcoming Events & News:

NORTHWEST JUNIORS CLUB BARBECUE MAY 22: 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:

We also took the time to recognize athletes that have won awards multiple years.  Congratulations to the following athletes:

UPCOMING 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

  • June 5th Junior Beach Clinic  -- Register by May 19th to get a free pair of Sand Socks. 10% discount for NW Juniors Members.

  • June & July Outdoor League, starts June 7th -- 10% discount for NW Juniors Members.

  • 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

NW Juniors Congratulates Puget Sound Region teams that have qualified for Nationals: It is a difficult prospect, qualifying for Junior Nationals via the National Qualifier Process.  A very limited number of teams do qualify for Nationals, so it is a great accomplishment when teams from our region travel the country and return home with a bid.  There are only 3 Divisions at Nationals (Open, National, & American) -- and teams qualify for these divisions in different ways.  In a nutshell, Open Division teams compete in the Open Division at the 10 National Qualifiers, 32 teams are taken and up to 3 bids are awarded at each, the rest come from an at-large pool of teams; National Division teams come from champions of the Club Divisions at Qualifiers as well as from each region's championship tournament; American Division teams also come from Qualifiers and the regions with the larger regions getting the bids.  Through April 15th, these Puget Sound Region Teams have qualified for Nationals at a Qualifier -- Congratulations to all of them.

• UPVBC 14's earned a bid in the 14 National Division at the PNQ Qualifier

• WVBA 16 Shannon earned a bid in the 16 Open Division at the PNQ Qualifier

• UPVBC 18's earned a bid in the 18 Open Division at the Lone Star Classic Qualifier

• KJ 18 Baden earned a bid in the 18 Open Division at the Northern Lights Qualifier

Upcoming Tournaments:

Emerald City Classic News  --  As of May 25, 2010, 3 of our NW Juniors Elite Teams have been accepted into the field of the Emerald City Classic.  Our 15 Elite Black and Gold Teams remain on the wait list.  Tournament information is locate HERE. 

• Team Check-in/Reception: Team check-in will be at the Bank of America Arena from 6:30pm-9:00pm on Friday night. All teams must check in so that we can adjust the format if we have any last-minute drops. If a team does not check in we will have to drop that team from the tournament and reformat the pools.  COACHES, IF YOU CANNOT MAKE IT TO THE TEAM CHECK-IN FRIDAY NIGHT, YOU MUST CONTACT THE TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR TO MAKE ALTERNATIVE ARRANGEMENTS FOR YOUR TEAM.

• PRELIMINARY POOLS/WAVES (not final until 5/28): 17EB, 18 CLUB (PM WAVE) | 16EG, 16 OPEN (AM WAVE) | 14EB, 14 CLUB (PM WAVE)

• Parking: Parking at the ECC is limited because of construction of Husky Football Stadium and the Transit Center.  Here is a parking and facilities MAP for the tournament.

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 for our Elite Teams.

• U14-15 Division: 15 Elite Black at Kenmore JHS; 15 Elite Gold at Edmonds CC

News/Tournament Results:

U17's go Gold at 17 Regionals -- NW Juniors 17 Elite Black finished their region-schedule on a high note,  finishing 5th place overall in the U17 Gold Division of the Regional Championships on Saturday, May 8th.  Twenty -six Puget Sound Region participated and the tournament Champion (Lake Tapps 17's) was awarded the Region's National Division Bid to the National Championship Tournament in Reno, NV.  They were knocked out by eventual champion Lake Tapps 17's and Sammy Minnig was named the team's tournament MVP for hitting over .500 for the tournament.

Willamette Classic Tournament Information -- Four NW Juniors Elite teams travelled on 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.  Teams had varying amounts of success, highlighted by the Bronze finish by both the 16 Elite Gold and the 14 Elite Black teams.  The 16's tied for third in Bronze -- finishing 15th overall and the 14's took 5th in Bronze, netting them a 17th place finish in the 14's.  Congratulations to both teams, your high finish is a testament to your hard work and determination.

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: Final Finish: 17th place

14 Elite Black a finalist in the U14 Division 2 Gold Bracket, narrowly losing the Gold Final to ITVC 14 Asics.  They have made great strides all season.

 April 16-18 -- 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.  Other Puget Sound Region Team finishes: Northshore 17 Black, 89th Place.

• 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.  Other Puget Sound Region Team finishes: Northshore 16 Black, 23rd Place.

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:  

• 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-1: 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 (pictured at right during the Spring Classic) 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: 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!!

3/6/10: 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!

3/7/10: 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. 

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Northwest Volleyball: 15821 NE 8th St., Suite W-200; Bellevue, WA 98008