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Viper News

Afton McClelland starts with a bang at MSJC!

Afton McClelland, who graduated in 2011 after playing for Viper for 5 years, has started her college career at Mount San Jacinto Community College. Afton has already become a huge contributor on the team as both the starting setter and a full time player.

The MSJC volleyball team swept their home opener Wednesday night as they defeated Imperial Valley College in three straight sets.
The Lady Eagles won each set by the identical score of 25-22. Setter Afton McClelland had 28 assists in the victory. The win improved the Lady Eagles record to 2-2 on the season.

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We will be re-designing this page for the 2011-2012 season. Please check back soon!

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Congratulations to all our teams and players who finished the 2011 season with a bang! We had some really big highlights from teams at every level. Click HERE for our comprehensive 2011 Season in Review!

Visiting Volleyball Club takes note of Viper!

United Volleyball Club from North Carolina came to check out SoCal volleyball over Easter Break and stopped by Viper to get trained by our coaches and practice with Tommy's 16-Elite team. The overall experience was incredible for these players and a great opportunity for our girls to get to know players from the other side of the country.

Coach Tommy said, "These girls are only 15 but they are big and physical. There athleticism is obvious and with the training that Mike Huffman (former Viper coach) is giving them, their team will compete at a high level like we see in SoCal."

Good luck Team United!

Congratulations Taylor Johnson!

After a terrific summer on the beach, Taylor Johnson and her partner Makayla finished 2nd at the AAU Best of the Beach tournament. We are so proud of Taylor and her incredible improvment this past season!

AAU/VB RAGS
BEST OF THE BEACH
August 15-16, 2009
Roxbury Memorial Park
Beverly Hills, CA

1st - Sara Hughes (Costa Mesa) & Justine Wong-Orantes (Cypress)
2nd - Taylor Johnson (Temecula) & Makayla Taylor (Bellflower)
3rd - London Chow (Cathedral City) & Bria Green (Long Beach)
4th - Audrey Castro (Long Beach) & Elise Zappia (Huntington Beach)
5th - Courtney Crosby (Rossmoor) & Jordyn Sanchez (Fountain Valley) 

BE PART OF THE EXCITEMENT!!

 

The 2008 Olympics in Beijing were full of surprises. For volleyball fans, the biggest surprise was getting the opportunity to watch every match the USA volleyball played this Olympics - that includes both the men and women's indoor teams, as well as our 4 beach volleyball teams. The level of competition for the indoor teams was at such a high level that most matches went 5 games and really showed what an incredible sport volleyball is at the highest level.
 
The indoor women's team demonstrated incredible mental toughness and teamwork throughout the tournament by winning most of their matches with an ever changing line up on the floor. This type of team success only comes from coming together and playing for each other. To win the Olympic SILVER MEDAL, these girls executed high level technical skills and disciplined system play against talented opponents like Cuba, China and gold medal winner Brazil! Perhaps most impressive was the overall balance of their team. There wasn't any big stand out. Everyone played their role and stood out at different times throughout the tournament. (Photo credit: fivb.org)
 
The undefeated GOLD MEDAL winning indoor men's team was a force that couldn't be challenged by even the best teams of Brazil and Russia. Led by 4 time Olympian setter Lloy Ball and 1st time Olympian libero Rich Lambourne, team USA could not be stopped on offense out of serve receive. With powerful and dynamic attackers like Stanley, Priddy, and Salmon it was difficult to get the U.S. out of rhythm. On the defensive side, middle blockers Millar and Lee were simply HUGE! They blocked ball after ball after ball and gave the U.S. the lead at critical moments throughout the tournament. As coach McCutcheon tried to explain though, this team won because they played with their heart and they played as a team. And perhaps most surprising was that this team wasn't even considered very strong just one year ago. I guess that goes to show that anything can happen when you put your mind to it!
 
The famous team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh was in GOLD MEDAL form as usual. Though what they do is not easy to achieve, they certainly make it look easy. And this comes from a real love for the game and wanting to perfect it to the highest level, which of course, takes hours of skill training and many long hot days of volleyball. More than anything, Misty and Kerri have a winning combination of talent and mental toughness. Not only are they great players, but they are mentally stronger than any other opponent. They demonstrated this when they faced 5 set points against the Belgian team. Kerri said after the match in an interview that they just "kept it simple with their side out game - get back and pass, get a good set and swing smart. The simpler the better." (Photo credit: fivb.org)
 
After losing their opening match to a pumped-up and confident Lithuanian team, GOLD MEDAL champions Rogers and Dalhausser woke up and brought their "A" game to the rest of the tournament. As usual, they presented a huge block and scrappy tenacious defense that scored big points at big moments.  Like the women, they showed both incredible volleyball skill and mental toughness, often coming back from being down in a game like in the first set against Brazil.
 
So, it's congrats to the USA Volleyball teams who won 3 Gold medals and 1 Silver. And congrats also to our other two beach teams who had a great tournament but lost in the quarterfinals. This kind of dominance may never been seen again at one Olympics, but we sure hope so!

***You too can begin to learn the game of Volleyball.  We offer classes for many different levels of the game.  From beginning young athletes to advanced Collegiate bound players.  Get involved now!!!  Call Rochelle Short at 265-4695 to become part of Viper Volleyball.

Beach Honors

Taylor Johnson & Dana Backlund

In December 2008 issue of Volleyball Magazine, Taylor Johnson (14 Elite Merilee) and Dana Backlund (16 Elite Dana/Ro) are pictured in this issue for their finish in the Roxy-Quicksilver state championships tournament at Manhattan Beach this past September.