18s PVL Championship Recap

<p>The Premier Volleyball League (PVL) season has come to a close for the 18s. The main season consisted of the entry tournament (12/11-12), PVL 1 (1/22-23), PVL 2 (2/5-6), PVL 3 (3/5-6), and concluded with the PVL Championships (4/10). Sunshine 18 LA ultimately reigned supreme overall, taking the entry tournament in December, PVL 2 in February, and the Championships this past weekend. They had a consistently strong showing in every PVL tournament, taking third in PVL 1 in January and second in PVL in March in addition to their three other first place finishes. Coast 18-1, Mizuno LB 18 Rockstar J, WAVE 18 Kevin, and Sunshine 18 Westside also had consistent top three finishes during the PVL season.</p> <p>Premier Division<br /> Going into the championship tournament Coast 18-1 was ranked in first, Sunshine 18-LA in second, Mizuno LB 18 Rockstar J in third, and Sunshine 18 Westside fourth based on their finishes in the previous tournaments. All of the top seeds in the premier pools stayed at the top going into the bracket playoff. The championship final in the Premier division ultimately came down to Sunshine vs Sunshine with Sunshine 18 LA taking down Sunshine 18 Westside in two sets (25-20, 25-11). Sunshine 18 LA has great chemistry as a team, with several members having played together in high school and club for multiple seasons. They are led by fantastic Outside Hitter [player_tooltip player_id="159518" first="Elia" last="Rubin"], who is a solid 6-rotation presence for her team with her terrific ball control and efficient point-scoring. She is committed to Stanford. Also a standout for Sunshine 18 LA was the big block of 6’3” Opposite [player_tooltip player_id="159519" first="Kerry" last="Keefe"] who also scores consistently as a big lefty.</p> <p>Gold Division<br /> In the Gold division, all the first seeds held their seed after pool play with SG Elite 18 Roshambo, Forza1 18 UA, SoCal VBC 18-Iona and Forza North 18 UA finishing at the top of their pools going into bracket playoffs. It was an all Forza1 final with Forza1 18 UA battling it out with Forza1 North 18 UA. Forza1 UA would ultimately prevail in three sets (25-19, 25-27, 15-13). Forza 1 UA often utilizes the leaping ability of Opposite Tamiya Wilson who sets up the block well and is a go-to hitter whenever she’s in the front row. Forza1 North UA tried to counteract by utilizing their high-flying middle with a heavy arm, Isabella Marvin, who puts up a consistent well-formed block, reads well, and moves well laterally. Also impressive for Forza1 North UA was Libero, Kalysa Flores, who is a terrific serve receive passer, and relentless defender who will fly all over the place to keep the ball from hitting the floor.</p> <p>Silver Division<br /> In the Silver division, three out of four pools saw the second seed rise to the top seed going in to bracket playoffs with San Clemente 18-1, SoCal Legends 18-Elite, and TStreet LV 18-April finishing at the top of their pools. Only T street IE 18-Chris started as the first seed in their pool and finished at the top of their pool going into bracket playoffs. The bracket final ended up being a battle between Coast 18-Brittani and San Clemente 18-1 in which Coast ended up victorious in three sets (17-25, 25-18, 15-12). Coast was led by their Setter, [player_tooltip player_id="160009" first="Chelsee" last="Trendler"], who is aggressive at the net, is very strong and can really push the ball out to the pins with ease, and moves all over the court. She a big part of the reason her team was able to get to the gold bracket in the SCVA 18s National Qualifier in March. San Clemente 18-1 has been so steady all season, consistently moving up through the PVL ranks each tournament. They are very consistent and have good team chemistry, winning the Music City Qualifier in January in the Liberty division. For San Clemente, middle blocker, Emma Hintermeyer, was consistent at the net, working hard to be available and to put up a block.</p> <p>Bronze Division<br /> The Bronze division saw the third seed in three of four pools fight to take the pool with Seal Beach 18-Black, Apex 18-Black, and The Dark Side finishing higher than they started going into bracket playoffs. T street 18-Katie was the lone first seed that held their seed going into bracket playoffs. The division final saw Beach Cities 18-Smack, who’s only loss on the day came at the hands of Seal Beach 18-Black in pool play, take down Dart Frog 18-Melissa in two sets (25-21, 26-24). Dart Frog put up a fight and was incredibly scrappy as a team all day long. However, they couldn’t over come the offense from Beach Cities 18-Smack led by setter, Cassandra Paul. The 5-1 system setter displays a lot of poise under pressure, directs her team effectively, and has a lot of hustle. She also serves incredibly well under pressure and can go on runs of points.</p> <p>The PVL has one last event in partnership with the JVA on Memorial day weekend. Who will compete and win the PVL/JVA West Coast Cup at the end of May?</p>