Tournament Highlights

Court Report – March 4 Friday, 04 March 2011

JJVA 17 Rox middle Demery Rose Zachery gets way over the net to block this Palm Beach Juniors attack at the JAX Jam
More than 160 teams were in Jacksonville last weekend for the JAX Jam. The BLING was shining around the necks of JJVA teams in the Prime Osborne Convention Center as JJVA 17 Rox, 16 Rox, and 15 Rox won GOLD.

Led by the strong serving of Maddy Stotlemyer and blistering kills by Hannah Schellenberg and Shauna Shortal, 17 Rox took home its first Gold medal of the season, defeating Pinellas Heat 16 in the finals.

The 16 Rox, led by leaping newbie Lakia Bright and defensive dandy Tori Martella, beat Palm Beach Jrs 16 Elite in a tight three-set match.

The 15 Rox team played in the 16 Club division and defeated Marion County Jrs 16s in the finals. Hammering down kills and serving up six aces in the second set was freshman Jackie Berens.

Pinellas Heat 18 Elite won the 18 Open division behind the solid play of Florida bound Berkley Whaley.

Written by John Tawa

Winter Blast 2011 Tournament Summary
15R Will
Maddie Sox, Team Captain writes:
As the captain of this years U15 regional JJVA team, I feel like out first tournament was very successful! The most important thing we learned we need to work on is teamwork. Throughout every practice and game we need to come together as a team while beating everyone else!

This leads me to my next opinion, the communication level has increased drastically, but we still need to talk more. This weekend we were all over the place, up and down, and we need to become more consistent. Our passing, setting, hitting, attitudes and CONFIDENCE all need to be more consistent.

The responsibility of being the team captain really gave me a different perspective, and that allows me to see the different aspects to the game of volleyball. As we were in that tough “pickle” during the Gold championship match, I realized our team was doing anything and everything we could to become the Winter Blast U15 champions. This proves to me that we really have the heart deep inside, though it struggles to come out at times. The medal we received resembles the outcome of all the hard work we put into practices, accel, extra training sessions and I think we deserve it!

Winter Blast Melissa Merchant Summary:

Assistant Coach for 15R Will

Coach Will and I couldn’t be more proud of our girls this weekend. Though they struggled through their rotations on Saturday the team pulled through to play together and take second in their pool. Sunday about gave me a heart attack as they went to three games in all three matches they played to get to and win the U15 Gold championship match to the only team they lost to in pool play the day before! The fact that they were able to pull out overall wins and not fold in the third game really showed that they have what it takes to continue on and play at a higher level. This early triumph has given the team a boost of much needed confidence and we’re excited to see where the season leads.

Jax Jam Pictures