Volley on the James evening wave

<p><img class="size-medium wp-image-126510 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/01/volley-on-the-james-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></p> <p>It was a great day at the Richmond Convention Center for the 17th annual Volley by the James tournament (formerly named the Monument City Classic). Day one in downtown Richm<span style="font-size: 1rem;">ond featured the 15 and 16 age groups for the Club and Open divisions. The weather was mild for mi</span>d-January in the River City. The Richmond Volleyball Club event staff did an amazing job with organizing and h<span style="font-size: 1rem;">elping to implement </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">the safety protocols to help ensure the safety of the staff and participants. The 16 Open has 9 teams, 16 Club has 22 teams, 15 Open has 9 teams and 15 Club has 24 teams this year. The pools are very competitive with lots of high caliber players on each team. The teams had overwhelming joy being able to come out and enjoy playing the sport they love. </span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The 16 Open Division was dominated by Heart of Virginia 16-1 (HOV) and Paramount 16-1 with strong performances by Blue Ridge Volleyball association and Richmond Volleyball Club's 16 National team. HOV swept MVSA 16 Fierce and Coastal Hampton Roads 16 National and defeated Blue Ridge Volle<img class="size-medium wp-image-126661 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/01/RVC-18-Open-crop-3226x2118-1610856396-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" />yball Association 16-1 in three sets (25-20, 21-25, 15-13) in an epic three set match on day one. Paramount swept Vienna Elite 16 F and Maryland Jrs 16 Elite Black. They won a hard fought match against Richmond Volleyball Club 16 National in three sets (23-25,25-19,15-12). Pool play will continue Sunday afternoon at 4pm at the Greater Richmond Convention Center with the pool concluding Monday for the championship. </p> <p>The 16 Club Division had 12 teams moving into the top division and the remaining 10 falling into the 2nd division for Sunday's round 2 of pool play. CORE VA 16 Platinum, MVSA 16 Fusion (MD), Colonial 16 Purple, Bay Area Volleyball Academy (MD), Blue Ridge Volleyball Association 16-2 and Horizons Edge 16 Black won their respective pools. They are joined by Coastal Hampton Roads 16 Regional, Maryland 16 Elite Yellow, RVC 16 Zonal, River Valley Juniors 16 Blue, The St James Girls 16 Navy and Williamsburg 16 National in the Upper Division. </p> <p>The 15 Open Division had dominant performances by Richmond Volleyball Club's (RVC) 15 National team and</p> [caption id="attachment_124726" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-124726" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/01/Iman-Handy-Kent-place-2-300x240.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="240" /> Photo: <a href="https://njpowerranking.com/2020/06/11/iman-handy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Jersey Power Ranking</a>[/caption] <p>Paramount 15s Team with sweeps in both matches. RVC swept MVSA 15 Riot, the St James 15 Girls Navy, and Vienna Elite 15 F. Paramount swept both MVSA and St James, and Maryland Juniors 15 Elite Black. The Blue Ridge 15-1 and Maryland Juniors 15 Elite Black also had strong first days with 2-1 match records. Pool play will continue Sunday afternoon at 4pm at the RVC Stonebridge facility in Midlothian. </p> <p>The 15 Club Division is the largest division in the tournament and a great group of developing players. The teams were split into 6 pools and the top two teams are moving into the 1st division for playoffs and remaining teams going into the contenders bracket. The pool winners for the 15 club were Coastal Hampton Roads 15 National, Maryland Juniors 15 Elite Yellow, MVSA 15 Starz, RVC Slate, RVC Zonal, and Timberlake Volleyball Club (Lynchburg area) all went undefeated in matches Saturday afternoon. The second place teams all also will advance as well. Bay Area Volleyball Academy 15 Blaze, Colonial 15 Purple, Dulles Youth Sports u15 Thunder, Horizons Edge 15 Black, Vienna Elite 15 RS and Williamsburg 15 National all finished with 2-1 match records in their pool. </p>