SEATTLE, WA - Feb 13, 2008
Las Vegas Invitational
The three elder WVBA teams will travel to the Nevada desert to participate in the 22nd Las Vegas Invitational put on by the Southern California Volleyball Association this weekend. This tournament is one of the most prestigious events of the year for USAV club teams. Spread across a dozen playing sites the tournament attracts teams from across the USA and seemingly every college coach in America.

WVBA Mizuno 18 will be playing in the 18 Open Division beginning on Saturday morning in the AM wave. They will start play at the Dula Rec Center. The Academy 18s will be the #2 seed in their first pool joined by #1 Goldenwest 18 Asics (So Cal), #3 Boise River (Boise, ID) 18 and #4 Spectrum 18s (So Cal).

WVBA Mizuno 18-Red will be playing in the 18 Club Division beginning on Saturday afternoon in the PM wave. They will start play at Spring Valley High School. WVBA 18-Red is the #3 seed in their first pool along with #1 St. Ynez Valley 18s (No Cal), #2 Pinnacle 18-1 (No Cal) and #4 Impact 18 Kolbe (So Cal).

WVBA Mizuno 17 will be playing in the 17 Open Division beginning on Saturday morning in the AM wave. They will start play at Silverado High School. The Academy 17s will be the #2 seed in their first pool joined by #1 Jammers 17s (Hawai'i), #3 Laguna Beach 17-1 (So Cal) 18 and #4 NorCal Select 17-1 (No Cal).

President's Weekend Tourney
All other Academy teams will be playing in the NW Juniors President's Day Weekend Tournament held at various sites around the South Puget Sound area.

WVBA Mizuno 16 will play in the AM wave on both Saturday and Sunday. Mizuno 16 will start play on Saturday morning at Auburn Mountainview HS as the #1 seed and #3 overall seed in the tournament. They are joined by #2 Mt. Hood 16 Makoa (OR), #17 Club Heritage (OR) and #4 Nafanua 16 Elite (OR).

We were mistaken in our earlier post about Mizuno 15. WVBA Mizuno 15 will be playing in the PM wave on both Saturday and Sunday. They will start play at Kentwood HS as the #1 seed in their pool and the #3 seed overall in the U15 Division 1. They will be joined by #2 seed Spokane Sky 15-1 Blackout (E WA), #3 Asics Athena 15 Alpha (OR) and NW Juniors 15 Tornado (WA). Complete tournament information can be found here.

WVBA Mizuno 14 holds the #1 overall seed and is set to start play at Auburn Mountainview HS in the PM wave. They will be joined by #2 All Out 14s (WA), #3 Excel (OR) and #4 Oregon Juniors (OR). Meanwhile WVBA Mizuno 14-Red is the #1 seed in their pool and #5 overall and will begin play North Tapps Middle School in the PM wave Saturday. They will be joined by #2 Mt. Hood 14 Makoa (OR), SIVBC 13 Cyclone (WA) and NW Juniors 14 Eclipse (WA).

Power League Results
The Puget Sound Power League completed their 3rd playing day over the weekend of February 2nd-3rd. The top eight teams in cumulative points after the 4th playing day in March will be allowed to compete in the Prime Time bracket which leads to a bid to the Junior Olympics tournament in Dallas.

WVBA Mizuno 18 finished 1st in their morning pool and then faced WVBA 17s in the crossover match. The Academy 18s avenged their loss in January with a 2-0 sweep of their younger club sisters. This set up a final vs. Puget Sound 18 Gold who defeated Sudden Impact 18 Tsunami in the other crossover match. Puget Sound pulled out a close win in set 1. WVBA 18s then put a solid thumping on Puget Sound in set 2 forcing a 3rd set tie-breaker. Puget Sound won the tie-breaker to finish 1st overall and WVBA 18s finished 2nd in Gold.

WVBA Mizuno 17 finished 2nd in their morning pool after beating KJ 18s and Island Thunder 18 UA but dropping their pool match to Sudden Impact 18 Tsunami 0-2. They lost to WVBA 18s in the crossover and somehow managed to lose to Sudden Impact 18s again to finish 4th in Gold. Jenna Welsh and Candice Buchanan performed well filling in for injured libero Kendra Cotton.

WVBA Mizuno 18-Red held their seed finishing 8th in Bronze. After close morning matches with Sudden Impact 17s and OPVBC, 18-Red couldn't pull out a win in pool play and finished the morning 4th in their pool. This set up a tough cross over match with Power Surge. Despite excellent serve receive passing by Maddi Fouts, and a tough run of serves by Anne Marie Visser, the match didn't end with a win and the team was forced into the elimination bracket. Combining for several momentum swinging blocks, Brittany Webster and Abby Smith stepped in as Middle Hitters, allowing Kim Strenge to dominate the Right Side of the net. After adjusting to yet another line-up, the team had moments of explosive volleyball, but never quite found a rhythm. With Vegas on the horizon, 18-Red is eager to get back to their winning way.

WVBA Mizuno 16 finished 4th in Gold and found several things to work on at practice in preparation for the President's Day Weekend Tournament.

WVBA Mizuno 15 restored order and finished 1st in Silver to allow them back into the Gold Division where they belong for the March round of Power League.

WVBA Mizuno 14 dropped a couple of heartbreakers to keep them out of the winner's circle again for February when they lost to Sudden Impact 13-15 in the 3rd which foiled our plans for a WVBA vs WVBA final. Meanwhile WVBA Mizuno 14-Red did make it into the final but lost to Sudden Impact to finish 2nd in Gold. These two outstanding 14s teams continue to represent the Academy proudly by finishing 2nd and 4th in Gold.