TAV 15 Black dominates 15 Open at USAV Junior Nationals
Charitie Luper If the No. 1 ranking didn’t convince you, TAV 15 Black left little doubt that it is the best 15 club team in the nation on Friday, as it wrapped up a perfect run in the USA Volleyball…
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Continue ReadingIf the No. 1 ranking didn’t convince you, TAV 15 Black left little doubt that it is the best 15 club team in the nation on Friday, as it wrapped up a perfect run in the USA Volleyball Junior National Championships.
TAV 15 Black defeated Madfrog 15 National Blue in the Gold bracket final of the 15 Open in Detroit, 25-8 and 25-20 to finish off the week 11-0 with a 22-1 set record.
“We played pretty well and were really solid the whole week,” TAV coach Louis Sariego said. “Everybody seemed to give us their best this week and we didn’t have a lot of valleys. We had some peaks, but not a lot of valleys. It’s not easy to win this tournament, let alone go undefeated. Especially in this age group, it is pretty strong. I am really proud of the kids.”
Of the 23 sets that TAV played throughout the tournament, they only allowed the opponent to get to 20 points in eight of them.
Their dominance at the net behind hitters like Charitie Luper, Tyrah Nwachi, Natalie Glenn, Jordyn Williams and Kaylee Cox gave opponents fits, as they had too many weapons to defend.
“We had all 12 kids contribute most of the year, so we were able to stay fresh. We didn’t have a lot of injuries, which is always helpful. We didn’t have lean on any one kid this year. We were able to spread the offense out, which I think took pressure off everyone. We had a real balanced effort all year,” Sariego said.
In the final against Madfrog, the two Texas-based teams were tied 4-4 in the opening set before TAV went on a 12-point rally on the serve of Brooke Slusser to establish a 16-4 lead that took the steam out of Madfrog. TAV would eventually finish the set with a 25-8 victory, closing things out on a Williams kill.
Ashley LeIn the second set, TAV scored the first four points on the serve of Ashley Le. Madfrog put up a fight after that, but TAV would hold them off and claim the national championship on a kill from Glenn.
Luper would be named MVP of the 15 Open following the championship. She certainly stood out, but Sariego noted the play of Le, his setter, along with liberos Callie Kemohah and Katie Le as what allowed TAV to be as dominant as they were.
“The outsides and the middles get most of the attention, which they should because they are so good. But, I thought Ashley Le and Kaylee Cox and our two liberos, did a really good job,” Sariego said. “Those are kids that don’t get a lot of attention. Without the ball control and the setting, we couldn’t get the ball to our hitters anyway. Having that control makes such a big difference for our team.”