The 15-1's have officially finished 10th in the nation! Way to go girls!
This morning, the 15-1's beat Invasion 15-2's in two games to advance to the semi-finals in the Silver Division. Next, they faced the Texas Tornados, the only team that they lost to in their first pool. The girls had fun in this match! In the first game, they were down 11-18 and 17-22 at points. Then, with some big swings from Karlee, strong serves from Shannon and amazing defense from Bevy and Sophie, the girls won that game 25-23. In game two, they came out strong. Shannon had a run of six serves to start off the game and then Karlee had another run of six serves shortly after that. The grudge match ended up finishing 25-15 with Lights on top! This put them in the finals match of the Silver Division. Unfortunately, they couldn't pull that one out as they lost to Munci WildKats. However, 10th in the nation, I say that isn't too bad! Congratulations on a great season girls and we look forward to seeing you in November! To see pictures from the 15-1's matches today, click here.
The 15-2's worked hard this morning, but lost their match against Lions 15 Red in three really close games. After that match, the girls went back to the hotel and showered. Then, came back to the Congress Center to cheer on the 15-1's. Congratulations on a great season girls and we're excited to see you all at tryouts this fall. To see pictures from the 15-2's match today, click here.
The 16-1's started off a little shakey this morning. They lost their first match in three really close games against CO Juniors Kaepa 16 Peer. However, their day quickly got better as they shut-down TAV 16 Molten in two games. This put them 4-1 for pool play and into a three-way tie for first. The tie ended breaking through game percentage, which put Lights 3rd in the pool. That's okay though, they still advance up into the upper half of the tournament. To see pictures from their matches today, click here.
The 16-2's won their first match against Downstate 16-1's. They also won their second match against Nike Six Pack. That put them in a three-way tie for second place, which they win by game percentage. They end up finishing off 2nd in their pool, which means they advance to the top half. Way to go 16-2's! After they finished their last reffing assignment, they headed over to the 18-1's court to cheer them on. To see pictures from their first match, click here.
The 17-1's came out strong today. They are in the open division, so they play best out of five games instead of best out of three. They won both of their matches today in three games. Naomi had some great serves and Lauren put the ball away as usual. After their matches, they went back to the hotel and decorated shorts. Then, they came back to the Congress Center to cheer on the 18-1's. To see pictures from their matches today, click here.
The 17-2's were here this afternoon cheering on the 17-1's. Then, they started their pool play at 3:00. They have only played one match so far this evening. They did a great job! They swept up the Maryland Juniors in two games. The team showed great hustle... and in the second game, Jess started out with seven serves in a row. Their second match wasn't as pretty. They lost in two games to Iowa Rockets 17R. They have three more matches tomorrow evening to improve their standing in the pool. To see pictures from their matches, click here.
The 18-1's won their first match relatively easily in two games. The 18-1's finished up with an intense match against OVA 18-1. OVA jumped to a quick lead, which soon turned into a huge lead, 11-21 to be exact. Well, the 18-1's weren't going to give up quite that easily. They clawed their way back, but it wasn't enough. They lost the first game 20-25. Then in the second game, at 3-6, Steph Mason had a HUGE kill, ran into the huddle and did what I describe as a "bear growl" type cheer. This ignited the entire team! Smiles all the way around. Soon, after every major play, the girls were screaming and acting crazy, but most importantly, having fun. It was a point-for-point match all the way until the end. Lights lost it, 26-28. Throughout the match, Abby had amazing serves, Laura and Mary had incredible ups and Steph, Amanda, Liz and Leslie pounded the ball! (Not to mention Maggie's sets were phenomenal as usual) It was an exciting game though. To see pictures, click here.