Today was the 15-1's last day in the tournament. They were in the 15 National Silver Division playing for 9th place. Their first match was against TAV and they won that in two quick games. The second match of the day was against Braggin Rights. They won the first game, lost the 2nd game, but then came back to win the 3rd game 15-9. This set them up for the finals of the Silver Division against SCVC from Southern California. It was a great match for the 15-1's. They played very well and very aggressively, and won the match in two games 25-16, 25-17. They officially finished 9th in the tournament. After their match they got their award and then hung out watching the exciting 16-1 match. They then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Dallas visiting the Texas Longhorn Steer statues, having dinner, visiting the JFK site, finding a candy store, and running through the water fountains in the colored lights. Congratulations to the 15-1's for an excellent finish in Championships! Click here to see pictures of the 15-1's from today.
The 15-2's also were playing their last matches today. Unfortunately it was not matches, but a match. They lost their first match of the day to Springfield Jrs in 3 games, the last game being 17-15. They then spent the afternoon in the pool, went and watched the 16-2's play and had grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. Since the 15-2's and 15-1's played at the same time, I was unable to be at their court to get pictures. (I was counting on them to win the first match.) The 15-2's officially finished 13th in the tournament which was an improvement from their original seed of 17th.
The 16-1's started off their 3rd day of the tournament with a win over Front Range in 3 straight games. Their final match of the pool was played at 2pm against Sunshine from California. This match drew a large crowd, and for a good reason. It was a very intense match. The 16-1's lost the first game 20-25, they came back in game two and won 25-15. Game three was neck and neck the entire game and it went into overtime with Sunshine winning it 29-27. This put the 16-1's up against the wall, and they had to win the next two games to win the match. Game 4 was another hard fought battle but the 16-1's came out on top 25-20. The fifth game of the match looked like it was going to be all Northern Lights until Sunshine came storming back. From 13-13 the match went back and forth until finally the 16-1's were able to win it 17-15. This put them in 1st place in the pool and into the Gold Championship bracket without having to play a late evening challenge match. On Friday the 16-1's will be playing for the National Championship, they need to win 3 matches. Click here to see pictures of the 16-1's from today.
The 16-2 team had a long day. They played their first match at 8am and last match of the day at 8pm! Their first match against Circle City 161 went 3 games but we lost 14-16 in game 3. Their second match of the day was against PVP and the 16-2's easily won that match in 2 straight games. They finished 2nd in their pool at 11am, and then had to come back to the gym at 8pm for their final match of the day. In that match they played Niagra Frontier and defeated them in two straight games. The 16-2's are now in Flight 4 and will be playing for 33rd place. Click here to see pictures of the 16-2's from today.
The 16-3 team once again had the cushy afternoon shift. They were in a 3 team pool that was still in contention for the Gold. Their first match of the day was against Coast 16. It went 3 games and the 16-3's ended up losing it 12-15. Their second match was against Southwest 16's and while the 16-3's played a good match, Southwest was just too strong for them and we lost it in 2 straight games. This ranked the team 3rd in the pool and their challenge match at 7pm was against Wisconsin Select. Once again the 16-3 team played very well and won the match in 3 games. They will be playing for 21st place on Friday. Tonight Andy paid off his promised reward to the team which they were suppose to get in Orlando but didn't, he bought them Pizza for dinner. Kaley also wanted ice cream and souvenirs, but Andy said no way. Click here to see pictures of the 16-3's from today.
That brings us to the final team of the day....the 14-1's. This was both a good day and a bad day for the 14-1's. The goal was to win all three matches to assure ourselves a berth in the top 12. They started out the day against MAVS. It went 3 games and 14-1's pulled it out in game 3 17-15. Their next match was against Bakersfield and the 14-1's were hot, defeating them in 2 straight games. The final deciding match of the day was against a team from Puerto Rico called Borinquen Coqui. The way the standings were in the pool, all the 14-1's had to do was win 1 game and they would be in the top half and in contention for the Gold. The 14-1's lost game 1 by a large margin. In game two, the 14-1's got down and battled back to even the score at 11-11. However 7 missed serves and several shanked passes in the remaining points of the game caused us to lose the game 28-26 and with it the chance to be in the top 12. The 14-1's will now be playing for 13th place starting with a 4 team pool on Friday. Click here to see pictures of the 14-1's from today.