Temecula Viper Volleyball Club

Gold Division 2, a 15th  place ranking overall- not bad for the start of Mandatory #1.  Seeded #4 in our pool, we knew anything was possible.  It had been over a month since our last tournament.  It was obvious to us that our girls were getting stronger and improving in every practice.  We were excited to put it to the test.  We decided at some point in the day that we really wanted the experince of playing lots of volleyball.  That is just what we did.  9 games in pool play.  Won 2 matches and lost one to the #1 seed in 3 with the final game score of 15-13.  So close to pulling off that 1st place.  By the time play-offs came along, we were spent!  We didn't have much to give our opponents 12-Wave and lost in two. 

I couldn't be happier with where we are right now as a team.  Soon we will be redy for D1.  We have to continue to grow and work together more as a team and sharpen our communication and make less errors to get there. 

It was nice to have Aubrey Pulsipher at her first tournament and able to come into a few games and contribute to our wins.  On the other hand, we miss Brooklyn Gibbs who is struggling with a knee injury, and who we hope to have back on the court real soon.

Every tournament we know the competition is going to get stronger.  Qualifier #12 was no exception.  Came into this qualifier as a #3 seed in a tough pool, with the top- ranked Surfside.   First match of the day is against that #1 seed- we hadn't quite woken up.  With way too many errors against a very consistant team, we lost in 2 and didn't really put up a fight.  After 2 matches off, we are ready to go- beat the #2 seed Sunshine in 3.  Still pulling off wins with lots of errors makes me realize we have a strong core to work with.  Last match is against the #4 seed SVVC- tested ourselves a little with sloppy play and lost game 1 by 2. Realized we needed to step things up we rolled through game 2: 25-11, and game 3: 15-5.  Finish 2nd in pool!

Viper 12-Elite traveled to Laguna Beach Volleyball Club for our first qualifier.  Our first opponents were Laguna Beach 12-Hava.  The girls started out quite nervous and it showed in their movement and expressions.  Shortly into the game they relaxed, won a few side-outs and got into a groove.  We quickly won the match in 2 (25-11, 25-11). Our next opponents were a very steady ball control team- Wave 11-Binh. These girls were tiny, but made little  mistakes.  Once again we relaxed and played a better game once we spotted them 10.  We finished the match with a win (25-17, 25-18).

Our most competitive match was against Jamba-Kathy, the defending festival Champions.  We really started off sluggish.  Plenty of missed serves, and hitting errors.  Picked up some momentum, but not enough.  Lost first game 25-19.  Started game 2 strong, leading at 14-10.  Had some strong hits and aggressive defense. Unfortunately, lack of experience slowed us down on the scoreboard. More serving and hitting errors led to a 25-20 loss.

Coach Tommy and I are very proud of the girl's efforts.  It is VERY early in the season.  We have to practice hard, eliminate the free points we give our opponents on our errors.  Fortunately, our girls have desire, positive attitudes and are competitive- now all we need is more experience.