[posted 3/2/2009]
WVBA Sweeps 15s and 16s Power League


WVBA Mizuno 15s and 16s together after Power League 3 Final

SEATTLE, WA--Mar 2, 2009
PSR Power League #3
WVBA Mizuno 18 finshed 3rd in the U18 Gold Division on Sunday in Olympia. The Mizuno 18s dropped a match to Puget Sound 18 Gold in pool play to finish 2nd then fell to KJ 18s in the crossover. WVBA went on to beat Rain City 18s in the 3rd/4th match to finish with a win.

WVBA Mizuno 17 dropped a tough round 2 pool play match to the #4 seed and then turned it around the rest of the day to make the finals. They played a great match against a strong Capital Ice 18s team only to come up short in set 3, 13-15 to finish 2nd in Silver.

WVBA Mizuno 16 played steady all day, again. They didn't drop a set all day and ended up facing their own WVBA 15s team in the final. The younger cadets weren't quite up to the task this week, falling in two, 16-25, 18-25.

WVBA Mizuno 16-Gold continued moving up through the Power League flights by posting their third straight 1st place finish on Saturday in the Bronze Division (Flight 3). Their success was more impressive considering the ankle injury to setter Ally Bowles at practice on Thursday night. Stephanie Cheesman stepped in and led them to victory. Their steady ball control is influenced heavily by the two best passers ever to wear Academy uniforms, coaches Brianna Murray and Courtney Schneider. They continue to show improvement week to week and will see their first opportunity to win a Club bid to JOs in Spokane later in March.

WVBA Mizuno 15 started a little slow in their first match against Capital Ice 16, but rallied from 0-6 and 2-9 deficits in the third set only to lose 16-18. They put down ITVC 16 Under Armour in their second match in three, and outlasted Puget Sound 16 Gold to finish 2-1 in the pool. ITVC upended Capital in the 1 vs. 2 match to help WVBA 15s finish 1st in the pool. The Academy 15s rolled through a mistake-ridden KJ 16 Baden team in two to set up the all-Academy final. Morehouse had his troops calm for the final and finished off the younger team in two, making only 7 unforced errors in the two sets combined. WVBA Mizuno 15 did manage to secure one of the 8 spots in the upcoming U16 Prime Time event to award the region's Club Division JO bid.

WVBA Mizuno 14 again grabbed the headlines after a choppy morning which then gave way to an amazing finish. After stumbling through two sloppy matches with Above the Net 15 and Edmonds 15 they were sitting at 1-2. Due to the tie-breaking procedure they were given 2nd place in the pool. This set up a crossover match with undefeated Puget Sound 15 Gold.

p> Power League - continued
The Academy 14s stepped up big time and drilled serve after serve at the Puget Sound passers, planting seeds of doubt. The south-enders struggled to get the ball to their very talented setter and WVBA 14s took advantage. They converted opportunities with well-placed spikes from the talented tandem on the left antenna Miah Diirell and Emmy Allen. Coach Andrew Ness pointed to the spot on his clipboard and his servers executed with the precision of surgeons. They continued their excellent play in the final against UPVBC 15 by carving up their tri-line as well to finish 1st in Gold in the U15 Power League. This finish secures a #3 overall seed for the Prime Time event in April to award the U15 Club National bid to JOs in Miami.

WVBA Mizuno 14-Gold took 3rd in Silver of the U14 Power League after falling to a solid Power Surge 13s team in the crossover. Sloane Morrison is starting to stand out in the middle while outside hitters Maddy Young and Madison Eich racked up the points at the pin. Melina Seabrook was once again rock-solid all day for the Academy.

Qualifier Season Begins
The arrival of March brings in the two-month push to qualify for the USA Volleyball National Championships, this year being held in Miami, FL. All seven teams will be taking what they have learned from their first several tournaments and polishing their edges in their coming practices.

WVBA Mizuno 18 and WVBA Mizuno 17 will be heading south to Anaheim, California to compete in the Southern California Junior Olympic Qualifier on March 20-22.

WVBA Mizuno 16 will be playing locally one more time in the NW Juniors Spring Classic before heading to Spokane for the Pacific NW Junior Olympic Qualifier on March 27-29.

WVBA Mizuno 16-Gold will also be playing locally in the Spring Classic before heading to Spokane a week earlier than 16-Black, on March 20-22.

WVBA Mizuno 15 will be joining 16-Gold in Spokane on the first weekend of the PNQ on March 20-22.

WVBA Mizuno 14 and WVBA Mizuno 14-Gold will also be joining the party in Spokane for the first weekend of the PNQ.

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