California teams come up golden at 18s GJNC

<p>Phoenix, AZ - The scene was set for some epic volleyball battles as 350 teams from all over the country converged at the convention center. The California regions (NCVA &amp; SCVA) were definitely representing as several teams from those regions earned bids to nationals. After three full days of volleyball, who was left standing?</p> <p>The Golden State did indeed prove to be golden as five teams from California took home top honors in their division out of the seven divisions. There was also one team from California that took home a silver, bringing a total of six podiums from California club teams in the seven divisions at 18s GJNC. Sunshine volleyball club was extra golden, with two teams taking home a gold. Additionally, these two teams brought home championships last year and were a perfect 42-0 at GJNC the last two years.</p> <p>Open<br /> It should surprise nobody that Sunshine 18-LA took home the gold in the open division. They had been so strong in all of the tournaments they had played in all season, with multiple qualifications. They also took home a championship last year. They breezed through the tournament a perfect 9-0, only dropping one set in the entire tournament to Skyline 18-Royal. A team with incredible chemistry, the open final looked familiar as Sunshine found themselves across the net from Madfrog, which was a repeat match up of the final at the SCVA national qualifier a few weeks ago. Sunshine came out on top once again, this time taking the match in two sets. Setter, [player_tooltip player_id="159522" first="Kelly" last="Belardi"], directed the offense with ease giving her hitters lots of opportunities to score, while OH, [player_tooltip player_id="159518" first="Elia" last="Rubin"], was solid as always with superior ball control, leadership, and efficient point scoring. [player_tooltip player_id="159522" first="Kelly" last="Belardi"] was named to the all-tournament team and [player_tooltip player_id="159518" first="Elia" last="Rubin"] was named the tournament MVP.</p> <p>National<br /> While a team from California did not podium in the national division, T-Street 18-Madi/Liz put up quite a fight finishing 5th in the division. They got to the gold playoff but weren’t able to withstand the storm and lost to Alliance 18-Ren in three sets (16-25, 25-11, 9-15). Libero, Caitlyn Lopez, was a standout defender, saving balls from hitting the floor and also had excellent out-of-system setting with great location.</p> <p>USA<br /> Sunshine 18-Westside secured the gold in the USA division. They were a perfect 9-0 en route to the championship. They were last year’s GJNC champion in the American division as 17s. Their outside hitters were excellent all tournament, and were the teams offensive leaders driving opponents crazy trying to stop them. Outside hitter, Kylee Owens, was named to the all-tournament team and her counterpart, Sophia Lindus, was named MVP.</p> <p>Liberty<br /> In the liberty division, Golden West/Tower Zero 18-Asics was a force to be reckoned with only dropping one set in the entire tournament. They went a perfect 9-0 to secure their gold. In fact, they only dropped one set in their first match on the first day. Spunky setter, Jaedyn Gonzalez, was named all-tournament and was a leader for the team. She would direct the offense and make smart setting decisions, giving her hitters lots of one-on-one looks. Junior outside hitter, Alexandra Luzina, was solid as always. Calm, cool and collected, she provides consistent and stable ball control and is an offensive weapon from all over the floor.</p> <p>American<br /> In the American division, Viper 18-Jolynn/Kurstan battled their way to the podium and secured a silver medal. Fatigue might have come into play as five of their ten matches went three sets, with all of their matches in the gold bracket going three sets. They relied heavily on their twins, [player_tooltip player_id="161446" first="Bethany" last="Bellfi"] and Brianna Bellfi, Bethany for offense at OH and both for their strong passing. Brianna also covered a lot of ground in defense at the libero position. Both were named to the all-tournament team.</p> <p>Freedom<br /> Coast 18-Rachel coasted through the tournament a perfect 9-0 to secure their championship. They took down Paramount VBC 18s in straight sets. Opposite, Savanah Johnson, was an offensive force, hitting high and hard and finding ways to score for her team.</p> <p>Patriot<br /> It was an all-California podium in the patriot division, as SG Elite 18-Roshambo secured the gold, while Balboa Bay 18-Blue secured the silver, and NNJ 18-Jason received the bronze medal. UC Davis commit, Makenna Morrison, was stable all-around and an emotional leader on the floor for SG Elite. While well established in the boys club circuit, this is Balboa Bay’s first year fielding girls teams.</p>