The 14's GOLD team played in the two-day Regional Tournament and came into the tournament as the #13 seed.  Our last couple of practices/scrimmages and tournament ended up to be great showing by the girls and proved to be the tone that the team was going to set for most of the Regional tournament.  A determination to play as a team, the focus to be able to react and think quickly while in control and the drive to push themselves to higher competitive level of play. 

We started off Saturday morning right at 8am against West Valley Juniors.  Right from the beginning the determination was there from each girl. That determination allowed us to be able to make some incredible defensive plays along with the "never give up" attitude we kept pushing West Valley  to earn each point.  Our offense was able to run a new play consistently and be successful with it because our serve receive and free ball passing was on target!!  Which added another weapon for us.  We gave it the "team effort" from beginning to end and it was a fun game to watch but we came up short 19-25.  The second game we lost 13-25 and it wasn't as bad as the score suggests.  We made some nice plays and our left and right front positions started to really pick up on the tip and be able to transition and react quickly.  Our downfall for this match only was that we failed basic communication.

Our next pool play match was against Nike Elite the #4 seed coming into this tournament.  I could not have asked more from my team.  It was an all out effort from every girl.  Girls flying on the floor making great saves.....really starting to understand what they really can do....A big  YAHOOO!! to Nicole for MANY incredible blocks this match.  Being it her second tournament playing the middle blocker position she has really been a wonderful surprise with her ability to read the hitter.  The first game ended 17-25.  But the girls were not going to give up.  Again great saves from the back row....Maddie, Mikaela, Hailey, Anna, Kelsie and Shantel. Communication  and confidence showed in both of these games.  The match was close from beginning to end....we served tough and again our serve receive was on so Britney was able to do a great job of getting the ball to the hitters and  mixing up the plays.  We gave Nike a match and I was so proud of all the girls.....to come out and play the #4 seed as tough as you did is impressive and shows we can play with anyone!!  The score to the second game was 22-25 SO CLOSE!!

So our last pool play was against the Pirates....and we had played them a week or so before and beat them so I knew we could do it. We needed the win to finish 3rd in our pool and move up.  The girls started out strong.  Working well together and helping each other thru communication. We commanded an 18-9 lead.....then.....we lost focus......we didnt "close the door" as quickly as we should have and let them back into the game.  We got the win 25-21 but it didnt have to be that hard!!   The second game we took care of business....again we made some great plays......great net play by my front row players. This is one of the improvements this team has made is their net play.  Staying aggressive but staying in control. The have done a much better job of this in our last couple of tournaments. The hitters are also starting to read where the defense is so they can place their attacks.  I believe this is also the match where Britney makes a back row attack clear from the right back area, jumps off one foot and CLOBBERS the ball with a top spin and DOWN it goes for a point!! It was incredible!!!!  That was a serious aggressive play!!  We took the game 25-18. So this put us finishing 3rd in our pool  and starting bracket play ALPINE.

Overall I was very pleased with how we played in pool play.   The growth that these girls are showing is so much fun to watch. They become smarter each game they play.  With every match something is improved upon....understood more....figured out......and confidence continues to grow.  For me, my team does not have to win to be successful.....to be able to see the competitiveness come out little by little in each game and to see each girl improve in their position that is what its all about.  YEA TEAM!! I AM PROUD OF YOU!!

Now we play Alpine. If we win this match we jump to the #6 seed.  The girls came out ready to compete and win.  Alpine had to earn their points.  The girls passed the ball very well all day and didn't stop here.....great passes equal great set which leads to aggressive attacks and that is what our hitters did. We took control of the first game and won 25-19.  The second game was another good effort. The lead kept bouncing back and forth....and in the end Alpine pulled it out with some tough serving and won 25-22. The third game tough again.....close for most of it and then we took a 12-8 lead and just could not hold on.  We stopped executing the plays, and serve receive had their work cut out for them. We lost a heart breaker for sure 15-12. So we stayed as #13 .....and now playing Webfoot Gold.

We had played webfoot Gold in the past and had not yet been able to play to our capabilities until now.....the girls worked hard in this match matching point for point with Webfoot. We continued to serve tough......Hailey came in and served tough which helped us get a few easy points.  We had a nice lead but just could not "finish" to win.  We lost 22-25.  The second game we pooped out!!  Lost 15-25.  With this loss this put us at the #14 seed and playing Cowlitz Black on Sunday 8a.m.

I don't have the scores down for this match unfortunately.....I believe the first game we struggled due to lack of communication and not remembering the basic skills of volleyball. We lost the first game and I think we did come back the second game playing better but still not able to get that win to take it to a third game.  

So, our last match of the tournament was against Canby for the 15th or 16th seed.  The girls started off really slow, then picked things back up, competed but fell short 18-25.  The second game the girls really turned it around and had complete control of the game and won 25-13!!  Third game, we weren't able to get the job done.  We did a nice job, but it just didn't happen for us. So we ended up as the #16 seed.

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU GIRLS!!  #16th seed out of 107 teams it a great accomplishment for each and every one of you. One that you should be very proud of. Each of you contributed 100% to get to where we are as a team today. And we are only going to keep improving.