SEATTLE, WA - April 7, 2008
PNQ JO Qualifier
WVBA teams fared very well in Spokane last weekend with three teams in the top half and two teams playing for open bids late Sunday.

WVBA Mizuno 18 were in cruise control going through their round 1 and round 2 pools without dropping a match. This placed them into a 3-team Gold Division pool for Sunday. They were joined in this pool by KJVBC 18 Baden and Spokane Splash 18. After both WVBA and Splash defeated KJ, the showdown was set to decide which team would play for the championship and automatically earn one of the three bids available.

Since the only team that already had a bid, Golden Bear Forefront, didn't make it into the Gold Division, the teams that finished 1-2-3 would earn the bids on Sunday. WVBA came out and beat Splash in the first set 25-22. The second set went into extra innings with Splash coming out on top 25-27. The third and deciding set had Splash pull out to a large lead only to have WVBA come storming back in the final few rallies to tie the match at 13. Splash was able to overcome the Academy rush and finished off the final two points to win 15-13.

This set up a 3rd-place match between WVBA and Colorado Juniors, the 2nd place team from the other gold pool. Colorado Juniors was able to beat the Academy 18s in 2, 18-25, 23-25. WVBA Mizuno 18 finished 4th.

WVBA Mizuno 17 came into the tournament with the overall #1 seed despite having two other teams in the field already qualified for open bids. A lot of good the seed did as the Academy 17s came out and dropped their opening match to NCWVBC 17 Gold, the #9 seed. The Academy 17s were able to overcome their first round loss however to force a 3-way tie for 1st in the pool and through game record secured the #1 spot to retain their seed into day 2.

Day two also provided a round 1 opponent that gave WVBA 17s some problems. Oklahoma Peak Performance 17-1, who qualified in the Club division at the Colorado Crossroads tournament two weeks prior was able to overcome a 3rd set deficit of 5-13 to beat the Academy 17s by running off 10 straight points. Gold Cal 17 Jeff then defeated the Academy 17s in the next match pretty soundly even though WVBA had beaten them two weeks prior in Denver. The Mizuno 17s team rallied back to beat City Beach 17 Black in 3 to finish 3rd in the pool and play for 5th place on Sunday.

Since the two teams that already had open bids were in the 4-team Gold Division pool, the 3rd open bid would trickle down to 5th place. The winner of the Flight 1 bracket would earn a bid and the Academy 17s set their focus on that. They handled Colorado Juniors 17 Sean in 2 to make it to the finals to face City Beach 17s. This match was a classic with both teams playing their best volleyball of the tournament and it went deep into the 3rd set before it was decided on a kill by Kylin Munoz to give WVBA Mizuno 17 the 5th place finish and punch their ticket to Dallas.

PNQ JO Qualifier - cont'd
WVBA Mizuno 18-Red had a tough day one dropping all three matches to Stockton Elite and City Beach from northern California and High Mountain of St. Maries, ID. They regrouped on day two to sweep through their pool defeating local rivals Northshore Juniors and Club Wahine as well as Utah's High Country. Sunday was a short day as they dropped their first round match against another team from Stockton, Delta Valley 18 Blue to finish 25th overall.

WVBA Mizuno 16 played very well on day one defeating Club Idaho and Olympia and staying close with national champion contender Encinitas Wave (18-25, 19-25). Day two was another challenging pool for WVBA as they were joined by the top team from northern California, Vision 16 Gold, the top team from Utah, High Country 16 Kim, and the top team from Hawai'i, Imi Ike 16 Aven. Their 4th place round 2 pool finish dropped the Academy 16s out of bid contention for Sunday where they fell to Colorado Juniors in the first round of flight 2 to finish 15th overall.

PSR Prime Time Tournament
Two more WVBA teams have punched their tickets to Dallas to participate in the 2008 USA Volleyball National Championship tournament.

WVBA Mizuno 18 went undefeated on Saturday and defeated KJ 18s, Sudden Impact 18s and Puget Sound 18s on their way to earning the Club's second bid to 2008 Junior Olympics in Dallas.

WVBA Mizuno 14 also cruised to a first place finish over Narrows Power Surge to pick up the Academy's 3rd JO bid on Saturday. Mizuno 14s went through the field of U14 teams without dropping a single set.

WVBA Mizuno 18-Red also finished strong with a 1st place finish in the Copper Division of the U18 Power League despite having a team with only two seniors, two juniors and six sophomores.

WVBA Mizuno 17 worked their way to a 2nd place finish behind KJ 17s on Saturday.

WVBA Mizuno 16 finished 3rd in the U16 Prime Time tournament. Their last hope for a bid will come at the end of April at the Far Western JO Qualifier in Reno where they will compete in the Open Division.

WVBA Mizuno 15 lost in the finals of the U15 Prime Time tournament to finish 2nd. The Academy 15s will hope for a re-allocation Club American Division Bid that may come to our region at the end of April. Otherwise they pin their hopes on an Open Division bid in two weeks in Reno at the Far Western JO Qualifier.

WVBA Mizuno 14-Red also missed a bid on Saturday at Prime Time. They will look to earn an Open Division bid in Reno in two weeks as they play in the Far Westerns week 1 field April 19-21.