All 19 teams travelled to Chicago, Illinois for the inaugural ChiTown Challenge which brought together the best teams from across the country in three separate divisions. This tournament serves as a fantastic measuring stick for how our teams are progressing in comparison the the rest of the country.
Bay to Bay 18-1: Went 6-3 on the weekend finishing in 14th place after losing in the finals of the Silver bracket. Coach Matt, Ryan, and Sean were pleased with the teams performance throughout the weekend and were able to compete with numerous top-10 teams in the nation. Highlights included an action packed day 2 pool where the boys lost in 3-sets to eventual bronze medalists St. James (23-25, 26-24, 18-20), took down Pinnacle 18's in straight sets, and then lost in 3-sets to 949 who finished 5th place at the event.
Bay to Bay 18-Premier: The boys of 18-Premier showed just how high of a level they can compete at this weekend, finishing in 5th place in the 18 Premier division. They had a wild day 2 pool where every match went to 3-sets and they were able to advance to the Gold bracket by winning the tie breaker. In the first round of gold the team defeated MVVC 18 Black in straight sets before falling to Balboa Bay 18 White in a thrilling 3-setter.
Bay to Bay 18-Club: The boys of 18-Club were working with a skeleton crew as a few players were out for sickness and other conflicts with the event. Even still, the team went 3-4 while playing in the Premier division (the second highest division) and were able to compete with teams from all across the country (they did not play a single team from California which is a rarity!).
Bay to Bay 17-1: The 17-1's went 4-3 on the weekend and finished in the Gold bracket of the 17 Open division. The team showed a great moments over the course of the 3 days, highlighted by a high caliber day 2 pool in which the team took down 630 17-1's (top ranked 17's in the midwest) and HVA 17's (top ranked in the southwest), before losing a closely contested national championship rematch with Balboa Bay 17's (22-25, 23-25).
Bay to Bay 17-Premier: The boys went 6-2 on the weekend, their only two losses came on day 1 with bumped them from Gold contention early on. After shaking the cross country travel rust off, 17-Premier rattled off 6 wins in a row to end the tournament in 16th place in the 17 Premier division.
Bay to Bay 17-Club: Coach Nick and Kyle's team went 3-4 on the weekend and finished in the top-10 of the 17 Premier division at 9th place! They had great wins over Miami United, Uno, and HPSTL and showed their endurance while missing multiple players due to sickness and prior commitments.
Bay to Bay 16-1: The 16-1's had an up and down weekend without their full roster, they went 3-0 on day 1 and were poised for a strong day 2. The first match of day set the tone for the rest of the pool as all 4 teams battled in three set matches, the 16-1's went 0-3 in the second pool to move into the Bronze division where they went 2-1 on the final day of play to finish in 20th place.
Bay to Bay 16-Premier: The boys of 16-Premier brought home the "Title Belt" in the 16 Premier division going a perfect 9-0 on the weekend. Coach Gregg, Natalie, and Emily credited the total team effort and buy in to the process. The boys took down AZ Fear in the finals, and had big victories over 630, MVC, and HPSTL along the way.
Bay to Bay 16-Club: Coach Jacob and Leo led the boys of 16-Club into the Gold division of the 16-Premier bracket where they lost a barn burner to Academy 16 Blue (25-23, 21-25, 15-17). They held their own against top-50 teams in their age group and will look to build on that momentum through the next two months of competitions.
Bay to Bay 16-National: The boys of 16-National went 1-6 on the weekend while playing in the Premier division of 16's. In their 7 matches, 9 of the 16 sets were decided by less than 3 points. They will get back to work before heading down to Anaheim for SoCal Cup Winter Formal.
Bay to Bay 15-1: The 15-1's finished in 9th place of the 15 Open division going 5-3 on the weekend. After dropping their first match of the tournament, the boys were able to rebound and put forward some high quality performances. Their day 2 pool included eventual champions Rockstar and 3rd place finisher Balboa Bay who bumped them into the Silver bracket where the boys won out to capture the Silver bracket win.
Bay to Bay 15-Premier: Coach Colton and Cassie's team went 5-3 on the weekend and finished in 7th place on the tournament. They had some quality wins over MKE Sting, Forza, and 352 along the way.
Bay to Bay 15-Club: The boys of 15-Club put together another solid performance finishing in 8th place, just behind Bay to Bay 15-Premier. On day 2 the boys nearly missed a berth into the Gold bracket with a close 3 set loss to Cinci Attack (25-16, 23-25, 10-15).
Bay to Bay 14-1: Coach Arin and Alex's team came away with a 5th place finish in the 14 Open division this past weekend. They just missed a berth in the semi finals when they lost a close match to SCVC (25-15, 18-25, 19-17) on day 2. The team will set their eyes on SoCal Cup as the next litmus test.
Bay to Bay 14-Premier: Coach Jon and Brendan's team went 6-2 on the weekend and finished with a bronze medal after falling to AZ Fear 14-1's in the semi finals of the 14 Premier division. The boys had numerous impressive victories over the weekend, but none were bigger than the 3-set quarterfinal matchup against Warren Sixpak.
Bay to Bay 14-Club: Coach Andrew and Katie's team went 5-3 on the weekend with big wins over MVVC 14 Black, Future 14's and Forza 14's. The team battled through the Bronze division bracket and ended up winning out on the final day to finish in an impressive 13th out of 32 teams in the 14 Premier division.
Bay to Bay 13-1: The 13-1's went 6-1 on the weekend and finished in third place in the 13 Open division. They took down MOD, 949, and Miami United before falling in 3 sets in the semifinals. It is always nice to bring home some hardware!
Bay to Bay 13-Premier: On the other side of the 13's Gold bracket was the 13-Premier team! The boys went 6-2 on the weekend, and narrowly missed taking down Bay to Bay 13-1's (17-25, 25-19, 14-16). It was a great showing by coach Sean and Andrew's squad!
Bay to Bay 12-1: America's team did not disappoint this weekend! They boys went 9-1 on the weekend and brought home the "Title Belt" from the ChiTown Challenge. Coach BJ and Leo's squad got better and better with every single set. The boys could be seen with their "packets" on the sidelines which could most easily be summed up as coach BJ's operations manual for winning 12-under volleyball games.
Congrats to all of our players, coaches, and parents for an awesome weekend in the Windy City! We hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday surrounded by friends and family. As a reminder, there are no practices this weekend, but you can register for our upcoming Open Gym and All Skills Camp if you are looking to get some more repetitions and practice over the holiday break.
Thanksgiving Open Gym (November 26th)
14 & under: 12:30 pm - 2:15 pm
16/15 year olds: 4:45 pm - 6:30 pm
18/17 year olds & Alumni: 6:30 pm - 8:15 pm
All Skills Camp (November 26th-27th)
Saturday: 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Sunday: 6:45 pm - 8:45 pm