Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Putting Our Policy About Reporting on Younger Age Levels to the Test: PrepVolleyball Classic 15s and 16s Final Finish

Here's how Wisconsin club teams fared at the 15s and 16s age levels at the 2009 PrepVolleyball.com Classic in the Dells. As many of you know, our policy is merely to provide "younger age level links of interest" (minus commentary) for teams younger than 15s. With that in mind, we'll just say that the final finish at the 15s level is rather interesting. And at the 16s level, we believe Capital 16 Nike Dave managed its impressive, medal-winning performance without several starters. Can anyone confirm?

Let us know if we missed anyone. Congrats to all of the above.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sting 14 Gold's 2nd place finish was impressive, but coming in ahead of Sting 15 Gold and Capital 15 Nike was heavily aided by being in the bottom half of the Gold bracket (https://www.advancedeventsystems.com/VolleyballResults/PlayResults.aspx?e=PTAwMDAwMDAyNjc90&p=-50357). That meant that they were able to avoid Fusion 15 Black (as well as those two fellow state powerhouses) until the championship.

The top half featured Fusion 15 Black, plus Sting 15 Gold and Capital 15 Nike. 15 Gold and Capital played a bruising 3-set match in the quarterfinals (where Sting pulled out an emotional win [after having lost to Capital the two previous times they'd played]). Then 15 Gold had to play Fusion 15 Black - clearly the best team - in the semis, while 14 Gold impressively beat a somewhat weaker team in MVA 15 Black.

All that said, the bottom line is that Sting 14 Gold's 2nd place finish was terrific!

BTW, I think it was the Capital 15 Nike that was missing a lot of key players. They have four good players out with season-ending injuries, but have really stepped up and beat some terrific teams in their last three tourneys (including Sting 15 Gold [twice], SPVB Elite, Dead Frog Green, Iowa Rockets, Orlando Vball Academy Asics and Sky High Black).

VBuberalles said...

Good analysis stated in a way that manages, in our opinion, to stay positive about all of these outstanding teams (we were a little worried when we saw the words "impressive...but" in the first sentence). But again, thanks for the positive analysis.

Billy Donovan, head basketball coach at Florida, was once asked for his thoughts about the NCAA tournament (his team had just made it to the final four). His humble and appropriate response was that great tournaments with great teams are so brutal that if one were to start the whole thing over, it could easily be a different final four. It was true in the Dells. It will be true in Atlanta for the boys. It will be true in Miami and Louisville for the girls. It will be true in the fall when champions are crowned for four girls divisions and one boys division.

Tournaments are crazy and funny this way.

The bottom line (which you communicated quite well) is that there are a LOT of GREAT volleyball players in this state and the more we talk up the sport and talk up the state, the more we can look forward to great three-setters like the one you described where teams are playing hard and playing well.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment and for doing it in the way you did.