18 STORM

January 5-6

PSR U18 Power League Seeding

U18

TBA

Puget Sound Region

January 19-21

NW Juniors MLK Weekend Invitational

U18

Juanita HS

NW Juniors VBC

TBA

Puget Sound Region

February 16-18

Las Vegas Classic

U18

Las Vegas, NV

Southern Cal. Region

March 2

PSR U18 Power League

U18

TBA

Puget Sound Region

March 15-16

Team Yakima Junior Jamboree 

18 Power

Yakima, WA

Team Yakima

March 28-30

Pacific Northwest Qualifier

18 Club

Spokane

Evergreen Region

PSR U18 Power League

U18

TBA

Puget Sound Region

April 11-13

Lone Star Classic National Qualifier

18 Club

Houston, TX

Austin Jrs.

May 3-4

PSR Regional Championships

U18

TBA

Puget Sound Region

May 24-26

Emerald City Classic

(CONFIRMED)

U18

Seattle, UW

WVBA

IF THE TEAM QUALIFIES FOR NATIONALS

February 2, 2008

We started our day great by winning our pool defeating, High Velocity 18's, YMCA Blaze U17, & Island Fire 18.  Then due to an early & pre-arranged departure by our setter and a slight change in our overall 2008 roster, we were setter-less.  One of our outside hitters, Lauren Wilder, stepped up to help in a very composed manner and set some pretty great games.  Our defensive players worked hard to get the ball to Lauren and our attackers worked hard to keep the ball in play, it just wasn't quite enough.  We ended up losing our last matches keeping us in the Copper Division.  It was a great TEAM effort, however, and I look forward to our next Power League, and I anticipate we will move up a division.

It proved to be an inconsistent weekend for the 18 Storm.  Day one, we were seeded as #4 in our pool, and could have finished much higher.  However, serving proved to be a difficult task for the team so we finished fourth. 

Day two, serving was a focus, and the team really stepped up.  All played inspired volleyball, working together as a team, being pumped up, and serving the ball in the court.  Lauren Wilder, Danielle, Rehm, and Jazzmin Garcia were all killing machines with very few errors, while Caitlin Sylvester and Erika Warren dug balls around our struggling block.  Patti Reeves helped lead her team to a first place finish in the pool (we were seeded fourth again!) 

Final day, we struggled to serve - yet again - and played only one game before being eliminated from the tournament.  We gave away point after point to a team we should have defeated, and all were frustrated by the loss.  Next on the agenda, SERVING PRACTICE!

Thank you to all of the parents that helped out this weekend.  Very much appreciated.  Thanks to our chaperone Holly who did a phenomenal job.  And thank you to the ladies for my kind birthday wishes on the plane on the way home, really made it a special day for me.

The Storm was seeded 3rd in their pool on Saturday.  First game was against Above the Net who is ranked 17th in Power League.  We defeated them in 2 games, and that momentum carried us over to beat Cascade and Team Yakima, which put us first in our pool - a first for the team.  Over to pool 2, where we faced Sabotage first.  A long tiring day combined with lack of communication on the court led to our first loss of the day.  Sunday we stepped up to beat Desert VBC in 2 games and we fell to Columbia Jrs, the eventual winners of the entire tournament.  Due to an upset with Desert VBC and Sabotage, we finished second in pool two and moved onto the Power division.  First game was against Walla Walla VBC, who we played well and defeated soundly.  We then fell to Olympia (14^th in Power League) and Wahine 18 Black Ikaika  (11^th in Power League) and we were eliminated, tying for 7^th overall. 

Great performances came in many forms from many people.  Patti Reeves led the team again with her aggressive play and never say die mentality.  Erika Warren, Caitlin Sylvester, and Jessy Tucker did a great job digging around our (still) struggling block and keeping the ball alive.  Savannah “Fletch” Fletcher did a great job leading team moral and was available for every attack, making her a force to be reckoned with.  Kelsey Powell stepped in to cover Danielle Rehm’s absence, and was a wall on the right side.  Everyone did their best to play as a team, we were more aware of the areas that need to be worked on in order for this team to move to the next level.  Great tournament overall.