We've got an action packed weekend recap for you as we break down each teams performance over the weekend as well as announce the winners of the Halloween costume contest! First up, let's start with the Halloween Costume contest:
Best Coach Costume: Pin-Joe Ko -- 18-Club Hooters Owl
Best Individual Costume: Travis Clemens -- 17-Premier Breaking Bad
Best Team Costume: TIE between the 12-1 Pumpkin Heads and 16-Premier Bridesmaids and Groomsmen
Bay to Bay 18-1: Our eldest team in the club took home their third straight first place finish in the 18's division and showed off their depth as now every single player has started and won a Power League finals over the course of the season. On the weekend, the coaches selected Owen Smith as the 18-1's Player of the Tournament for his stellar performance throughout the day, highlighted by one of the most entertaining sequences of volleyball on the season in the finals: Owen (playing DS) got hit in the face by a MVVC middle attack, on the very next ball Andrew Pak set the 5'8 Owen Smith on a D ball where he ripped a line kill to avenge himself 😆
Bay to Bay 18-Premier: The boys of 18-Premier rode an emotional roller coaster on the weekend, going 2-2 on the day after winning the first set of each match. 18-Premier looks to elevate their consistency moving into the upcoming weekends practices. Coach Sullivan said, "I am excited to see all the pieces come together and play the type of volleyball we all know we can play". Colin Bowers was chosen as the Player of the Tournament for continually bringing his best effort. His blocking, setting, defense, and even a bit of hitting were showcased throughout the day.
Bay to Bay 18-Club: The boys of 18-Club went 1-3 on the weekend, splitting in their morning pool with a nice 3-set win over UC Elite 17 Oliver. They lost a tight 2-setter with Slainte 18 Platinum (23-25, 22-25) followed by two losses in the playoff bracket. Varchas Athreya was selected as the 18-Club Player of the Tournament for his consistent level of play and demeanor on the court.
Bay to Bay 17-1: The 17-1's went 1-3 on the weekend finishing in 7th place. Coach Chad said, "Good changes were made by most of the guys this weekend- the ship is turning in the right direction, signified by the boys clearly understanding some red light/green light type decisions. Slow and steady seems to be our model as we continue to find our rhythm in our play that will yield some better volley on the court". Coach Chad and Alex voted to elect a player from another team for their Player of the Tournament: Shobhit Venkataraman of 16-1's for donating his shoes to a teammate in need.
Bay to Bay 17-Premier: In their first appearance in the Gold division, coach Lavelle and Dylan's squad had three hard fought 3-set battles against Bay to Bay 16-1 (19-25, 25-19, 14-16), MVVC 18 Red (17-25, 25-19, 9-15), and MVVC 17 Red (25-22, 19-25, 13-15). The boys then finished out the day on a high note, defeating Aspire 18-1 in straight sets. Drew King was elected Player of the Tournament for sacrificing his body for the team and helping the team battle throughout the day.
Bay to Bay 17-Club: Coach Nick and Kyle's team went 2-2 on the weekend and were knocked out of their morning pool by math. They boys forced a three way tie but doe to set percentage came out in third. The team was able to finish the day out on a high note defeating Absolute 18 Blue in straight sets. Coach Kyle Zolkin said, "Down a few players, one of our pin hitters, Henry Hu, was able to step up and consistently hold up the defense while remaining powerful and smart on offense". For that reason, he was selected as Player of the Tournament!
Bay to Bay 16-1: Even with a few players out due to sickness, the 16-1's were able to make some very nice strides on the weekend. They won a tight match with 17-Premier and then had a barn burner with MVVC 18 Black (25-27, 24-26) in the quarterfinals. In the 5/8 match, the team lost another close one to Dynamix 18's (26-28, 21-25). Player of the Weekend went to Peter Chriss who stepped in as the only setter on the weekend and found a great rhythm with his middle attack.
Bay to Bay 16-Premier: In coach Gregg's words: "Power League 3 was the turning point of the season for 16-Premier. The team went 4-1, with impressive wins over OMNI 18's, NorCal 18-1's, and NCVC 18-1's. The team had it's grittiest win against MVVC 15 Red, dropping the first set and found themselves down 7-14 in set 2. After a much needed timeout, the boys went back out on the court and started to kick it into high gear and stole set 2 and finished strong in set 3.
The team had great energy all day, but player of the tournament has to go to Ryan Backhus for being the best teammate of the day. He also recorded 5 blocks of his own in the teams final match of the tournament.
Parent shoutout: somehow the 16-Premier team had two very messy bloody noses. Dan Madden saved the day with a Tide To Go pen removing blood from the jerseys and getting the boys back on the court!"
Bay to Bay 16-Club: Dealing with sickness and allergic reactions, the boys of 16-Club went 2-2 on the weekend finishing in 6th place in Gold. Coach Lacey and Jacob are looking forward to another weekend of practice to get tuned up before heading out to Chicago for the Chi Town Challenge. Nick Nayak was selected as Player of the Tournament for taking some huge swing on the weekend.
Bay to Bay 16-National: The boys of 16-National had a character building weekend after going 0-4 in the 16's Gold division. The boys were able to elevate their level of play as the tournament progressed, losing two close matchups vs Stockton Aces (26-24, 20-25, 15-17) and Bay to Bay 15-Premier (23-25, 25-27). Milo Khoe Tamatis was selected as Player of the Tournament for their composure and leadership on the day.
Bay to Bay 15-1: The boys went a perfect 4-0 on the weekend, taking down Kinnect 18 Green, Diablo 17-1, Central 18's, and Rage 17's. The boys will transition into the 15's division for the Chi Town Challenge for their first true test of where they stack up in their age group. Evan Wang was selected as Player of the Weekend for his tremendous effort in serve receive and defense.
Bay to Bay 15-Premier: Coach Colton and Cassie's team went 1-3 on the weekend, finishing out their day with a nice win over Bay to Bay 16-National. The boys have done a great job battling in the Gold division of 16's all Power League season.
Bay to Bay 15-Club: The boys of 15-Club have been on a steady climb ever since the Power League Qualifier. They had another solid weekend, going 3-1 and moving up another division. Coach Zac and Kyle nominated Aiden Sarin as the Player of the Tournament for "doing a really good job of being loud on the court and supporting all the other Bay to Bay teams when they were off".
Bay to Bay 14-1: Coach Arin and Alex's team went a perfect 5-0 on the weekend. Coach Alex said, "The 14's showed that they have scoring options at every position on a perfect pass. On the defensive side, this was our best blocking performance of the season. The middles were closing and the opposites were diving into the angle to get touches." The boys will transition to the 14's net to prepare for the Chi Town Challenge and their first competition amongst their age group. Coach Arin and Alex said they were extremely proud of their overall team effort and will therefore save their pair of shorts to giveaway two after Chicago 😉
Bay to Bay 14-Premier: Coach Jon and Brendan's team went 3-2 on the weekend, finishing in 4th place. The boys took care of business in pool play winning both matches in straight sets. They won a hard fought battle against Academy 13's (20-25, 25-11, 15-7) before running out of gas against eventual PL3 champion TVC Benji. Landen Chu was selected as Player of the Tournament for his team.
Bay to Bay 14-Club: The team went 1-3 in matches on the weekend but played extremely well overall. They were in the Gold division for 14's and battled against 4 challenging opponents. 3 of their 4 matches went to 3 sets and the boys played great while getting used to a new lineup and rotation while simultaneously implementing their new offense. Coach Andrew stated, "Major improvement from PL2 to PL3 and throughout the NCVA season overall." Connor La was selected as the Player of the Weekend.
Bay to Bay 13-1: The 13-1's were promoted into the Silver division after a perfect 5-0 weekend. When the 2:00 pm match on their court finished at 4:45 pm coach Mason promoted himself to tournament director and got all teams to agree to play all games to 15. This also worked in favor of the 13's who were able to start fast and strong to pull out their final two matches. Junlan Wang was selected as Player of the Tournament based upon the amount of growth he has demonstrated over the course of the season.
Bay to Bay 13-Premier: The boys went 2-1 in pool play and then 0-2 in bracket play. All of the teams games went to 3 sets (except for against the 13-1's). The team had some memorable defensive moments and serving runs. Coach Sean said, "We showed strong resilience after starting slow during some of our first sets to fight back and give ourselves chances to win." Neil D'Souza was selected as Player of the Tournament for always rising to the challenge and helping his team get the job done.
Bay to Bay 12-1: The 12's started as the #23 went 1-4 and improved their seed to #18. Every team they faced was a 14-1's team and the boys were able to pull out a strong win against a VERY TALL Absolute 14-1's. Overall, the team has met goals and the coaches are excited to go back to the drawing board to plan out the next practices to get the team ready for Chicago. Moving forward coach BJ, Arin, and Leo will be evaluating their "Players of the Weekend" based on this criteria:
Being an effective communicator and leader on and off the court
Celebrating the success of others
Making people around them better
Showing improvement and growth
Bay to Bay Newborn-1's: Our inaugural Bay to Bay Newborn-1's team is continuing to develop. We went 1-4 on daytime naps, but were in a tough pool against gas and reflux. We ended strong with a 2-hour stretch of sleep which really helped the team morale. Player of the weekend was of course Matteo.
Congratulations to coach Jamil Semaan and wife Lex on the birth of their son Matteo!
