Check out what the coaches had to say about the Winterfest Tournament!
18 Grand Central
"Great start to the last season of club volleyball for most of our 18s! Our ladies opened the tournament going 2-1, with each game going a close 3. The second day saw the same record, with 2-0 wins over CT Juniors and Sporting Albany. After a hard fought battle early the third day, we ended the tournament with a solid record of 4-3.
Every one of our girls showcased their talents and were able to display the hard work they have been putting in at practice. Ellen White was a go-to hitter and produced a .632 hitting percentage over the whole weekend. Lani Uyeno held down the back court passing an average of 2.7 and turned in a total of 74 digs. Julia O´Connor and Taylor Allen were next to unstoppable in the middle, both defensively and offensively, while Gabriele Kozik ran the offense for an average of almost 10 assists per set.
Overall, Winterfest 2019 was a success! Our girls fought hard and played well but most importantly bonded as a team and had fun! We have much to look forward to this season on our girls´ farewell tour before college volleyball."
-Coach Jose Rodriguez, Coach Carlos Rivera, Coach Sam McCreath
17 National
"17-National finished in 1st for 17 Open. For our first major tournament of the club season, the team competed well. Our middles, Julia Bartiet and Elsie Phillips stepped up in big ways in our semi-final match against a very good defensive team, Lakeside. They then continued their reign of terror in the finals against Smash 17s. Our focus for the Nerva Qualifier in Springfield is to be more versatile as a squad of ten., Pamoja!"
-Coach Ryan Woodcock & Coach Jaime Snyder
17 Northeast
"These young ladies came together and bonded quickly as a new team. Hitting and serving % improved from start to finish. We beat CT Juniors in a 3 set nail-biter during playoffs on Monday and won Flight 1. A few times they really "used their heads"!
This was a great starting point to what this team will be capable of once they get comfortable with each other!!"
-Coach Shelly Howlett, Coach Leon Tse, Coach Jordyn Dube
17 New England
"17-New England finished 5th in 17 USA. New England performed excellently this weekend! On day 1, after losing a tough first match, the team rallied back to win its next two matches.
Entering day 2, the team showed great resilience. New England battled against ADK Volleyball 17-1 (South Glens Falls, NY.) and New York Elite 17 National (Poughkeepsie, NY), coming away victorious in two 3 set matches (15-10, 15-13 respectively). New England earned its way into gold bracket.
Opposite Olivia Klinzmann displayed a strong all around game and Middle Blocker Alexis Kumm led the team in kills and attack percentage. The goal of the coaches was to convey that everybody contributes, and that everyone will have their opportunity to help the team win. We believed this would allow the team to compete together, and with purpose. The team's goal was to compete with grit and show energy throughout the highs and lows that come with each match. That goal was definitely met! Overall, Winterfest was certainly a successful first campaign, one which we will build off of as we look forward to the Springfield Qualifier."
-Coach Jonathan Bui, Coach Alyssa Carlson, & Coach Charles Saunders
16 National
"At Winterfest, we stepped up on our passing and serve receive, which was an area we really needed to work on (and still do). A player that did really well and stepped up her on court leadership was Sydney Smith. Her strong attacking skills and her consistent jump float serves helped is in times of need when we needed points in critical moments. Our blocking as team made a huge impact and was a difference maker compared to the other teams we faced. We plan on still working on the fundamentals on technique, but I will be introducing them to a faster offense and how to run it, as well as a different style defense."
-Coach Tony Sanith & Coach Abby Stern
16 Northeast
"16 Northeast finished tied for 15th overall in Open.
Our team finished 2nd in pool on day one. But lost all of day two in a pool that included the eventually two open gold bracket finalists, as well as, the silver bracket champion.
Overall, our team bonded over the experience and showed a lot of future potential."
-Coach Dave Sprowson & Coach Brian Liu
16 New England Red
"Unfortunately, we lost in the first round of playoffs in Flight 1 (16 USA) but each individual player has made tremendous progress since Day 1. We serve received extremely well and finally started to play like a team on Day 2. That being said, we are a short team and our focus going on forward will be how to terminate the ball more efficiently."
-Coach Kentaro White & Coach Lydia Niderno
16 New England Black
"This weekend at Winterfest the girls surpassed their coaches expectations. On the first day of pool play New England black went undefeated, 3-0. The girls started increasing their intensity and communicating seamlessly on the court. Day two of pool play they tried to build on their success against more challenging teams and ended up coming in 3rd place putting them in the silver bracket. Even though they ultimately lost, New England black ended on a high note, going 3 games and showing a lot of heart. They won the second set 28-26 after being down 19-11. The girls will continue to work on their aggressiveness at the net and quick first step on defense as they head into the Springfield tournament in two weeks."
-Coach Juliette Givens and Coach Emily Engelhardt
15 National
"The 15 National team played in Winterfest 1 finishing 5th overall in 15 open. The girls improved as the weekend went on, focusing on making growth instead of results. Our focus moving forward will be eliminating unforced errors and making the other team work for every point. No single player stood out from a performance standpoint but Nicole Lambert's energy and voice was an impressive surprise for me. Being new to a team of girls who have played together for a long time, this is not an easy thing to do. I can't wait for the next tournament to show how we will improved."
-Coach Donnie Colebrook & Coach Brianna Roath
15 Northeast
"15 Northeast went undefeated for day one at Winterfest and had a tough loss in the quarterfinals on day two. Our defense and middles set us up for success. Looking forward to Boston to see what these girls can accomplish. We’re excited for a great season ahead!"
-Coach Laura Smolinski & Coach Caroline Flinchum
14 Red
"The 14 Red team had a tough goal of learning rotations and a position for Winterfest 1. By day 2 of the tournament they understood rotations, and we were able to technically talk about volleyball more. They had some great rallies and continued to surprise me. One thing that stood out to me most was by the end of the first day, the team showed outstanding celebration and support especially during the last match. This is something that is a huge priority for me and they definitely followed through. This team is improving more and more every practice and I am excited to see how the rest of the season goes."
-Coach Lindsay Price
14 Black
"The 14 Black team went 2-3 at the club level in Winterfest. We are working on transitioning for attacks & learning the differences between base, free and defensive positioning. Making great strides of improvement since our first tournament."
-Coach Steve Goodwin & Coach Kelsey Armstrong
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