Last modified on 12-11-2006.
Adults: 2004 USAV Nationals -- From Our Teams' Perspective
The following articles were submitted by various GEVA teams that participated at the 2004 Open National Volleyball Championships in Atlanta, GA.
Results are available for the adults and juniors on the USAV web site.
Last updated - 29 September 2004
The 2003-2004 season for the Atlantic Titans was a good one. We had great team chemistry and worked hard with the goal of playing at Nationals always in the back of our minds. The weekend after winning Regionals, we achieved our goal when we won a bid at the GEVA qualifying tournament at Rutgers University. We had the choice, however, of attending Invitationals in Austin, Texas or Nationals in Houston. We knew that we would be more competitive at Invitationals, simply because the level of play would not be as high. However, as we sat in a circle in the gym at Rutgers listing the pros and cons of each tournament, the right choice became obvious. We had worked for this opportunity all year and did not want to let it pass us by. We unanimously decided to attend Nationals and vowed to work even harder than we had all season in preparation for the tournament.
On June 26, we boarded our plane (business class!) and set off for Houston with a quick stop in Atlanta. As we pulled up to our hotel, we noticed a huge black tour bus parked in front. We soon learned that, because of a charity event being held at the hotel, there were tons of rappers and athletes staying in the hotel. Most of our free time was spent wandering the halls in hopes of seeing someone famous or asking those we did not recognize if they were, by chance, famous.
The next day was the first day of the tournament. We were all nervous because of all the college recruiters milling around and because we were missing one of our staring outside hitters. Watching the other teams in our pool as they warmed up did nothing for our confidence. We had trained hard, though, and were anxious to play. The first two days, we lost all of our matches, but we played hard and kept up with some great teams, including one from Texas, that ended up getting third in the whole tournament. Our level of play improved with every game, however, and by the third day we got our first of five wins. At the end of the tournament, we came away with and 5-5 record, which was much higher than we had expected, and ended up winning our bracket. In the four days we spent playing in Houston, we came together as a team with a mix of pride and determination that I had never before experienced.
While our team really improved at Nationals, volleyball was not the only thing on our minds. When we were not playing or searching for famous people in the hotel lobby, we spent our time shopping at the nearby Galleria, watching movies in our room, or eating at Joe's Crab Shack, laughing the whole time. After a season of hard work and dedication, I cannot think of a better way to end the year than with the amazing time we spent in Houston.
So where do I begin? I left my sunglasses in the taxi on the way to the airport so I knew there was more trouble ahead. Even better, when I got to Atlanta, they lost my luggage. But I was smart enough to pack my uniform in my carry-on. I got to the hotel and the gym just in time to meet up with Don, Brett and Keith and watch the BAMESO pound slow shoots and one balls off the blocks of the kids from Chicago.
Later that night was the player's party. It was a good time for everyone to stay sober because it was like eight bucks per beer. Luckily people like Todd Lovrin were there carrying a few cases around. All the Jersey guys wound up having their own little group outside in the lobby and shooting the breeze. After 2 more bars and a lot of drinks, Todd and Greg Lovrin walked me home from Charlie and Barney's and I fell asleep outside the room at 3am.
Ok enough about my first day. In Men's A we were seeded pretty high but had a pretty tough pool. I got my luggage by noon, so that was good news. We had an early casualty as Don introduced his right forearm to a couple of steel chairs in an effort to retrieve a volleyball. His wrist and forearm was about the size of a balloon throughout the whole tournament. He sported an Allen Iverson like sleeve for the rest of the week. Good thing we didn't start until 3 so we all got to go to the pool and hang out the first 2 days. Our first match was pretty easy. We didn't play great but we beat them pretty easily. It was the same story in our second match. Then we decided to go to sleep against Stud Guppies in the 3rd match of the day. We have all played these guys at Deptford, on the beach and on the grass and have beat them. But this is sixes and unfortunately things don't always go as planned. Our passing was horrible, our hitting was off and our block was non-existent. And our defense…well…we usually don't play defense. I didn't do much in the middle either. All in all, we left ticked off 2-1.
Thursday was here and we needed to win. We played WVC and played them real tough, but inconsistent. We killed them the first, they killed us the second, then we got smoked in the third. Then we played New Home Shopping. We didn't play great but we played good enough to win by like seven or eight. Then came one of the high points of the tourney. We played top seed and eventual tourney champion Crackers and Rice out of Florida. After a very convincing win in the first game, we showed our true colors and dropped the second. The third game was a battle with us emerging with a 15-13 win. That put us in 3rd place in the pool and we had our challenge match for GOLD at 9am the next morning.
Friday morning and with that was an 8am ref assignment. Don was pissed because Keith and I showed up a little late, but he got over it. Then we had probably the worst match of the week. We played a team called New Direxion. They were cocky as all hell and that fired me up a lot. But we didn't all have the fire. Our passing was off, our hitting was off. Our intensity was off. We obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed. So we got knocked out of GOLD and had to get ready for silver
The rest of Friday was fun. We played some team BAVA that warmed up like heroes but didn't play like it. Even Sach was like, "dude, these guys bang the ball." Even though he was hurt and not hitting much, trooper that he is, Don said "funk this, if we are going out I am going out swinging." Don played like a freakin god from that point on. I think we beat them in 3 and beat them bad the third game. Then we played A-Train. Too bad they didn't bring their "A Game". We beat them in 2 and we were done for the day.
We were amped for Saturday and didn't have our first match till noon. We played Hot Shots Molson. They beat us badly the first game and then we absolutely killed them the second game. I don't know if they got double digits. Anyhow, the third game was definitely brought one of the most interesting moments. It was 13 all. I got set a slow shoot on the outside. I swung down and hard right on the line on about the ten foot line (well maybe a centimeter out). But the down ref didn't see it and the line judge didn't see it so they had to call a replay. Then I dinked the next set for a kill and we wound up winning 16-14.
The final match was against South Shore. I actually remembered playing (and beating) two of them on the beach in Belmar last year. The final wasn't too exciting. We had our biggest margin of victory all week. As a team we played the best defense I have ever seen in my 2 years with the club. Jim was diving for balls, Willie was serving up pancakes (like Prince), Brett and Tom White were sacrificing their bodies, Shaver was putting up the wall, and Eric was pounding the ball. We finished the week Silver Champs of A.
In conclusion, what we remember most about nationals was the phrase "whatever, dude", the food court and 44 oz beers, a slew of delayed flights, my quest to get my flight changed to so I could party the last night, our player who didn't smile in the medal picture, our team couple, don's bruised arm, the printer and the white shirts, the dude with the dogs outside the arenas, Jim and his wife's matching t-shirts, and of course, the silver medal.
Once again Ensemble Volleyball Club was fortunate to be able to send a Women's B team to the USAV National Competition in Atlanta, Georgia. Off to a typical start, half our team was delayed at Newark Airport for several hours making their near midnight arrival the first challenge for an 8 am work assignment on Saturday morning. The second challenge was the size of the venue. Who needs a warm up when the hotel closest to the gym is over a 15 minute walk away? Seriously, it was great to have ALL the nets in the same gym to allow for court hopping to watch other GEVA teams and admire the Open division play and Senior division play. To still be willing and able to play when over 60, WOW. Thank you to the Nationals Committee who suggested at the captain's meeting that some advance planning would be necessary to support a full day at the gym.
This year's Ensemble Rock team was made up of both veterans (Players - Fran, Joanne, Karrie Ann, Mary, Shelley and Manager - Jack) and "virgins" (Players Allie, Cindi, Coach - Mickey and #1Fan - Tommie) to National Play. Throwing our "virgins" into the volcano, our first match was the closest match of the tournament losing in three 21-25, 25-22 and 15-17. Ensemble Rock continued to refine its play with the general feeling that we were increasingly gellin' during our time in Atlanta. While the Ensemble Volleyball Club had been extremely disappointed last year with the change to single elimination, for all but the gold division in Women's B, we were pleased to find that this year a challenge match had been added to further seed the teams into the medal rounds. A win in the challenge match sent us on to the Silver round, Ensemble's highest playoff seeding ever. (Ensemble has been sending teams to Nationals since they added - but couldn't field - the Women's B division in Kansas City in 1997.) A loss in the first round to Panthers-Playerz (a silver round semi-finalist team), gave us an all time high finish at 17 of 27 teams, and a compliment from the second referee on our teamwork and attitude in staying in the game and not giving up despite the fact that we were somewhat overmatched.
While the play on the court was the main focus of our trip we must not forget the off the court bonding. We will remember for some time the dinner at the Hard Rock where the entertainment consisted of two, quick changing, lip synching, cross dressing, Tina Turner, Outkast, Prince, mimics.
As we look back on our experience at Nationals this year we are excited about the stories we can share with our friends and families. We are proud of how well we played. We spent a lot of time on the sidelines supporting our fellow GEVA teams. We also cheered for our Floor Play teammate, Nancy Cornelius, who won a silver medal in the Women's 45 division (our closest brush with fame). We discovered that although our record didn't earn us a medal, if they gave them out for being the best fans on the sideline… we would be wearing gold!
We experienced the thrill of victory (along with the agony of tired feet) and the thrill of:
Thanks to all of the players, coaches, referees and friends walking by the court who donated their time to watch Tanashia, tell us jokes, shares some laughs, and comment about our gourmet food and good humor.
Floor Play-ism's heard at Nationals and throughout the season:
As always, the experience at Nationals is always exciting. I have to say the experience gets more interesting every year; we got to meet a lot of new teams and new people from other parts of the states and world. It was nice to know that no matter where you go and whom you meet the experience is always memorable.
The city of Atlanta had so much to offer. We did a lot of things there like Concert in the park, tour the local restaurants, A tour of Coca-cola and spending time with new friends and family that managed to make it and watch us play.
We also were able to spend some time watching most of the teams from our region. We got to cheer most of them on and it was a real nice time. As for Kapow's experience there, I hope it was also memorable for everyone. It was a chance to play with the greatest group of people and a time to play with new faces this year. We may have not made it to the medal rounds, but I think we did the best we can as a group. This year, we gained new friendships and learned a lot more about each other. We also got to play with Pam for the very last time before she went off to continue her career and new life in North Carolina.
I would like to take this time to thank everyone for all their efforts and time in helping with everything for nationals. Doing the fundraising helped a lot and getting sponsors as well. I would like to thank the following for all the hard work and support for Kapow VBC:
Pam Scovill - fundraising coordinator this year. Thanks for organizing everything.
Jennifer Lombardo, Mrs. Lombardo, Mr. And Mrs. Abalos and Johana Germano - thanks for selling some scratch offs for us and collecting money for nationals.
Mike Claridades and John Lombardo - for coaching us this year. We cannot thank you both enough for taking some time out of your schedule to help us this year.
Household Finance - thank you to Shawn Shaughnessy for your donation to the team.
Special thanks to 100 Women Hedge Funds for the generous donation to the team.
MJ and Nancy - thank you for creating a logo/banner for Kapow VBC.
And last but not least to our biggest supporters: Anna, Shirley, Katie's mom and grandfather without all of you cheering us on all weekend, the team would not be complete.
Great Season, Great Nationals and many more volleyball seasons to come. To all that played, hope to see you all next season and to the players that had moved, I wish you all the luck in your new teams.
Junior Olympics is over but its lasting effects have had an influence on the LIVBC Boys 15 team. It was truly an experience that has brought growth and a more global outlook on volleyball to the team.
In what ways did the boys expand their horizons as a result of this experience? In a myriad of ways. First and foremost, the boys felt they developed as both a team and individually. As a team, they developed new skills that they saw other teams using such as back quick's and tandems. Individually they honed their skills in an effort to meet the challenge of playing higher-level teams from all over the country.
A number of the players mentioned that they learned to be more positive and work more cohesively with the team as they concentrated their joint efforts to beat the other teams. This LIVBC team came to J.O.s with an expectation of being the underdog and not being in the position of winning any matches. The first win gave them a taste of success and turned the corner for this team. This hope inspired a new level of play and a greater determination with which they initially entered this competition. It resulted in a new bond which was formed with their team and the games that followed exhibited a different kind of commitment level. Mike Buso and his teammates said that this experience taught them to never give up. That was proven in some of their games as they rose to the challenge of intense play.
In retrospect, the boys felt they could have done better and as Conor Leahy said, wished they had more playing time but neverthesless, they felt it was a positive experience. Brian Geslack expressed his pleasure about being involved and maybe this opportunity might have an effect on college ball. Most of the team articulated their amazement at the talent and athleticism of the Puerto Rican, Californian and Hawaiian teams. Watching them allowed our team to gain insight into their potential as well as enabling them to set their goals at a much higher standard than before JO's. Bryant DeFranco felt that J.O.s helped our team learn how to work as an interdependent unit and taught us why it is so important to do so. Overall, Junior Olympics left a lasting impression on the boys. It was a learning experience for all and in the words of Kevin O'Shaunnesey, "See you next year!"
Here is what a few of the boys had to say: J.D. Nedvin: "The Junior Olympics is a great experience. It was a great tournament, which I will never forget. I had a very fun time in Austin and I recommend this to all people that play volleyball." Vincent Gioe: "I enjoyed meeting other players from around the world as well as trading jerseys with the other players. I also enjoyed spending time around the town." Chris McKenna: "The Junior Olympics in Austin was a tremendous experience for me. The thrill of competition and feeling of companionship with my teammates is something that will be tough to duplicate. It's a trip that helped me learn many things and made me a better player. I'm looking forward to enjoying this experience next year." Greg Rubertone said "I felt that the Junior Olympics was all that it was hyped up to be; great playing atmosphere and even better competition. Not many 16 year olds kids from New York get to play teams from California. Overall, it was a great experience!!"
As the first day came, nerves started to settle in, not only were we at Nationals but we were in the Open Division, the best out of the best. I realized that this wasn't going to be easy. Throughout the tournament our team came very close to winning most of our matches however, we didn't win one. At the end however I didn't mind not winning a match, I was in Austin Texas with my best friends playing a sport I can play forever. Being with my best friends, playing volleyball, and seeing some of the best matches I've ever seen made me forget that we didn't win at match.
I was happy with Nationals, although we didn't play our best or even close to our best it just showed us that we need to just be more focused on next year. However, we were very well prepared and conditioned thanks to our great coach, Coach DeMoustes, next year at Nationals I feel that we're going to make a big comeback. When we were eliminated from Nationals I had the pleasure of watching simply amazing volleyball, watching teams from California, Wisconsin, and even Puerto Rico was crazy. To watch the finals and see how California won when losing 10-14 in the third game was an unreal experience that is one game that I know I will never forget. Even though Austin was excruciatingly hot, the volleyball dome was incredible and just made my Nationals experience great.
While at nationals this year, the team played well. Some came through with the best games they had had all season. However, the accomplishments that we had made during the year were just not going to be repeated here. While this was a disappointment to the team, they took it in stride. They never gave up and pushed all they way through to the end. This is one thing this team has been able to do consistently through out the years.
Volleyball has taught our team a world of life's lessons. They have learned the real meaning of being a team player. How to adapt to change, when change comes unexpectedly. They can take an extremely negative experience and turn it around to get the positive out of it, and make it work to better themselves.
I have been able to watch the majority of these players grow from young athletes into fine young men and excellent athletes. They appreciate the opportunities they have been given, and they ALL have utilized them to move on to the collegiate level to where I know they will not only succeed on the court but off of it as well.
Mad Gab made another appearance at nationals this year. We had 8 returning players: Ellen, Catherine, Hilary, Kristin, Kris, Linda, Martha, and Vikki. Five of us decided to road trip down to Atlanta to save money. It was an uneventful journey, and we all made it there safe and sound, and still all friends.
Friday night we went to a concert across from the hotel in Centennial Olympic Park. We were able to stay out late since we were playing in the afternoon session for the second year in a row. We all crossed our fingers that the restaurants that were open once we were finished playing at 10 o'clock at night had more than just chicken fingers on their menus!
Our first two days of pool play went well; we placed third on our net with a match record of 4-2. Third place on the net meant that we had a shot at the gold bracket, but we would have to win 2 challenge matches to get there. Our first challenge match was Monday morning; we won that match and immediately played our second challenge match. We lost that match, which bumped us to the single elimination silver bracket. Our first match in silver was scheduled for Monday evening, so we had to wait around the entire day before we played again. We took the match to 3 games, but the other team had a lot more left than we did, so we ended up losing the match. A friendly acquaintance bought us all drinks after we lost, and that made working the next match on our court a little bit more bearable.
Mad Gab placed 25th out of 67 teams overall.
The 2004 USAV Nationals in Atlanta was our tenth in a row. Over the past ten years, Northshore has experienced all the highs and lows that the Nationals have to offer. We have won the event, finished in the middle of the pack and even scraped the bottom of the barrel on one or two occasions. Through it all, our team has always stuck together and have remained committed to playing every year, regardless of our roster or the location of the event. Our hope is to create a true club next year and bring several teams to the 2005 Nationals in Denver.
Camaraderie- defined as spirited goodwill among friends. You add a deeper harmony between yourself and volleyball, friendship with all attending players and increased solidarity with teammates.
Esoterically speaking, you develop a deeper camaraderie between yourself and the sport you love. It expands your appreciation for the beauty of the game. The gracefulness, the intensity, the finesse, the power, the momentum and energy created the emotion of competition. To behold all of those beautiful characteristics of the great sport of volleyball on such a grand scale is emotionally moving, again and again.
There's an unspoken camaraderie with all players attending. To commiserate with so many athletes from different ways of life, walks of life, of different ages, backgrounds, experiences, each with their own stories, yet all with a common passion. Conversations with otherwise strangers, would somehow always lead to commiserations about some aspect of our shared love of this sport.
And most importantly the much deeper camaraderie you attain with your teammates. The people you thought you knew as well as you wanted to know, you learn even more about. You learn each person's responses to stress, to elation, to the sorrow of defeat. How each handles the hard times and the fun times. You experience their flexibility or rigidity, how giving and how needy they are. Through all the preparation, the perspiration, the aches and pains the cuts and bruises, you grow together. When you each fulfill your particular responsibilities and trust in your teammates to do theirs. You learn to gel like never before. Your team becomes an orchestra turning individual talent into a much greater end product. That gelling, that beautiful music you can create "together" as a team while playing, is the game's great reward. That sweet feeling is taken to a higher level with the added camaraderie. Camaraderie is what you can add to your game.
The "Get Over It" Girls
PowerZone - Denville, NJ
We left New Jersey with high hopes after our win at the pre-national tournament. Our Nationals gang consisted of five Limelight regulars (Carrine, Lori, Diane, Teresa, & Gail), two borrowed Penguins (Jane & Coleen), and our late season recruit from Idaho (Kristin). We didn't have much court-time together as a team, but were determined to have fun and play our hearts out!
We started strong in our first match on Saturday afternoon. We won the match against "Firestorm" in two games. So far, so good! However, our next two matches that day were much tougher. We lost to "Code Blue" in two games, followed by another two-game loss to "GIO". We were disappointed by the losses, but were looking forward to our Sunday matches. How tough could a team named "Old and Busted" be? Another team we would face was "Better with Age". That sounded more our speed. We knew that "Team Flora Bama" would be tough, but maybe we could take the matches against the older teams.
Well, our first Sunday match against "Old and Busted" was a real battle. They weren't nearly as old or busted as we had hoped. We ended up losing the match in three games. We had time to rest before our next match against "Team Flora Bama". They were tall, young, well-coached, and ran a fast offense. Despite playing our best match of the tournament, we lost the match in two games (19-25 and 21-25). "Team Flora Bama" eventually went on to win the Gold division, so we didn't feel too bad about that loss. We had expended a lot of energy in that match and had no time to rest before our last pool match against "Better with Age". We lost that match, which meant that we would have an early morning start on Monday.
Unfortunately our Nationals playing time ended on Monday. We did go to three games in our matches, but never could win that third game. We were left with plenty of time for shopping, sight-seeing, and cheering for other GEVA teams. Although we didn't win a lot of games, the weekend was a success because we went home injury free.
Nationals 2004, Atlanta - a fun way to end the season for Limelight II. We have continued to mature, evolve and grow. We lost Angela and gained Lynette and Kim. We grew in another way...Maggie's belly is getting bigger with another Ng. This year we headed to Atlanta with Ann-Lee, Cindie, Cindy, Linda, Lynette, Mei, Nina and Tullia. Our entourage was a little different too. Cindy has a new beau and Lynette brought her clan. And we played BB instead of B. A little trivia: we were the shortest team in Atlanta...ALL divisions, except Sitting Volleyball. So the growth mentioned above has nothing to do with height.
Some things do not change. Beer and hot dogs at the convention center (apologies from Cindy and Ann-Lee to Nina and Cindie for being late to our turn at work, hiccup!), downing tequila shots (the setting is not important), spending time together exploring places to eat (Mei and Nick doing much of the research), hanging out - cards and Mah Jong were big this time.
Volleyball: playing, watching, cheering and being cheered. We had no high expectations this year. We were a very strong B team last year in our region and finished poorly at Nationals. Our goal was to play hard and have fun (sound familiar?). We started a bit slowly and nervously but played better with each match. Our finish was strong, the way we can play when we all play our best and together as a team. We won our 1st match on the 3rd day. We needed to win our 2nd match or we would end up playing Limelight I - imagine that: go to Nationals to scrimmage with our sister team. We won. Wouldn't you know it, we ended up playing Kapow. We were done after that. At least we didn't make it easy for them. Guess what, we finished near the middle of the pack. A few honorable mentions: Linda for being such a trooper, after taking time off at the end of the season to rehab her knee; Tullia for taking on a new role playing opposite and doing such a great job; and Lynette...who can forget the butt dance!!
Looking forward to next season. See you in Denver.
Players for the Warren Volleyball Association/SixPak Volleygear junior teams got the chance to test their skillsagainst some of the best players from around the country at the 2004 USA Volleyball Championships.
Warren's 18-under team finished in 33rd place in the 18-Open division, the 17-1 team finished 33rd in the 17-Open division, the 17-2 team finished 18th in the 17-Club division, and the 16-under team placed 13th in the 16-Club division. The event took place from June 30-July 7 in Austin, Texas.
Praveen Pamidimukkala, who is heading to MIT to play volleyball, led the 18-under team with 62 kills and also had 10 blocks and 21 digs. Josh Batts, who will play basketball in college, had 56 kills and 18 digs, along with a team-leading 20 blocks. Josh Coffing, who will play at Steven's Institute, had 32 kills and 36 digs, while Brendan Whitford, who will play at Ramapo, had 37 kills, 11 blocks and 36 digs. Greg Hunter, East Brunswick, was the team's setter and had 33 digs and a team-leading 12 aces. Brett Compton had 22 kills, 25 digs and five aces, while Alex Brozek contributed 18 kills, 6 blocks and five aces.
The 18-under team, compiled a 2-9 match record and 9-20 game record and finished in fifth place in the Flight 2 playoff bracket at the end of the tournament. Teams played a best two-of-three games in each match, and the Warren 18's went to a third game in seven of their 11 matches.
Warren's 17-1 team, which included Tom Kohler of East Brunswick, Matt Colon, Colonia, Michael Bertucci, and Larry Chatman, both from Voorhees, Devin Zolnowski and Chris Allen, both from Bridgewater, Jiaro Sierra, Fair Lawn, C.J. DiGiacomo, Nutley, and Ryan Fredrickson, Lanoka Harbor, compiled a 3-6 match record and 8-14 game record in the 17 Open division. The 17-1 team went 3-3 in the first two days of the tournament, but then struggled after that. They went to a third game in six of their matches and finished in fifth place in the Flight 2 playoff bracket.
Dan Sempkowski, East Brunswick, led the 17-2 team in both digs (74) and kills (75) and also had 13 aces. Brandon Kane, South Plainfield, had 42 kills, 23 digs, and a team-leading 20 blocks. Shane Donohue, Freehold Township, had 65 kills, 35 digs and 10 blocks. Mike Minchella, East Brunswick, had 31 kills and 23 digs. Bryan O'Sullivan, East Brunswick, had 21 kills, 9 digs and 6 blocks. Doug Thorn, Farmingdale, had 51 digs and a team- high 17 aces. Dan Barsky, West Windsor, had 18 kills, 18 digs and 10 blocks. Brad Kern, East Brunswick, was the team's setter. He had 10 kills, 26 digs and 7 aces.
The 17-2 team went 5-6 in matches and 12-12 in games and finished in third place in the Bronze playoff bracket of the 17 Club division.
Zack Creed, Warren, had 49 kills and 19 blocks to lead the 16-under team. He also had 22 digs and 8 aces. Felix Voyland, East Brunswick, had 27 kills and 39 digs, while Alon Gitlin, East Brunswick, contributed 19 kills, 36 digs and 8 aces. Eric Corpus, East Brunswick, led the team with 42 digs and also had 24 kills and 9 blocks. Eric Raffin, Flemington, had 26 kills and 8 blocks. Cody Barry, Bloomfield, had 15 kills and 39 digs. Dmitry Esterov, East Brunswick, was the team's setter. He had 24 digs.
Warren's 16-under team compiled a 4-6 match record and 9-13 game record in the 16 Club division. The team finished in fifth place in the Silver Bracket playoffs on the final day.
A compilation of observances from the team members:
hi george, first i wanted to let you know i won't be able to go to huntsmen games have a wedding on the 16th.....also i saw wait utro sat. at empire games sounded like he wants to go maybe looking at spike force team told him you were looking for players. about this year's nationals: what I noticed is that in the numbered divisons that they are all deeper in the quality of play & stronger at the the top as more & more team are picking up other teams players....example as bobby jackson is now playing with FOG in the 50's . well george it was fun playing just disappointed we didn't do better picking up 3 players we didn't have last year ero ,larry & jack & we still finished in about the place guess the 60's div. is stronger than last year.. thanks for everything mike
Hello George, I had not been to the Nat. for 3 yrs so it was good to renew some acquaintances- especially when someone asked about what I had been doing. Again it was high caliber volleyball. I liked the new co-ed event; mostly saw the reverse co-ed. This enabled the women to be the main spikers. The matches I saw in addition to the competition they seemed to be having fun and good camaraderie. I hope this is what you are looking for.
It was amazing that my friend arrived home the day before I called- hadn't seen him for 25 yrs. I only got to stay 1 night because Gary's wife wanted him home regarding their daughter moving in Columbus. Gary would like to have stayed Sat and looked around the town- it is a historical area. That last day at the site there was confusion because when I stayed hinged upon when we were eliminated. After being eliminated I could not reach them to finalize plans. I wanted to ride out with Gary but John seemed to be against it. The way I handled it caused a problem for you- sorry. Anyway Gary and I had a nice drive home. Hope you are feeling better. Findley
This year the USA Volleyball Nationals were held in Atlanta, Georgia at the end of June. When our team qualified for nationals, we were all thrilled that we would be going to Georgia to play. We flew out of La Guardia airport on Tuesday, June 24th, the day before we had to play. Wednesday was our first day and we played through Saturday morning.
When we arrived on Tuesday afternoon, we unpacked and grabbed a bite since we weren’t playing. The hotel we were staying in was about a twenty minute walk from the Atlanta Convention Center where we played every morning.
Wednesday arrived, and we woke up bright and early to allow time to eat and walk over to the convention center and warm up. The center was a huge space. The fifteen’s alone (both open and club) were using thirty two courts. We played in the fifteen’s club division, which had sixty four teams from all over the U.S. At the start of each game, we received small gifts from the other teams as a sort of “good luck” token, a tradition we wish we had known about.
Over the next four days, we played teams from Texas, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana and many other states. We only won one match, but knew on arrival that the competition would be tough and we had fun just playing the best we could. While we weren’t playing in the gym, we watched some of the other teams from our pool. All of them were very good teams, who played well together and seemed to enjoy what they were doing and made their games very exciting to watch.
After playing, our team was usually pretty exhausted and we all headed back to the hotel for showers. There was a lot to do in Atlanta, bout our main focus was volleyball, so we didn’t spend a lot of time sightseeing. A couple of nights we went out to dinner. One night we went to a Chinese restaurant, one night we went to a diner near the hotel. A few people went shopping. There was a pool in the hotel, so some of us went swimming in the afternoons. One night we stayed in entirely, just watching TV and ordering room service and hanging out in our rooms.
We flew back to New York on Saturday evening. It was obvious that many people had put a lot of time and effort into organizing the national tournament, and we appreciate all their hard work. We were glad we had a chance to go this year and hope we get to do it again in the future.
Family. There are many definitions that attempt to articulate the emotions that revolve around the word family. One definition offered by Merriam-Webster is "a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation." For PowerZone Limelight II, our team is at the center of our volleyball family. But our family branches out to include Limelight I (our sister team), several other PowerZone teams, and a myriad of GEVA teams as well. During Nationals this year, there was a very familial feel to the competition. At one point during a Rats' match, there were four women's teams from GEVA cheering them. This scene was repeated over and over again as various GEVA teams competed. While each team wished to be competitive in its own right, it also wanted to see the Region do well overall. At Regionals, Ensemble Jazz beat us for the title in a tense match. It was our turn at Nationals and we won the emotionally charged quarter-final match against them. Yet the very next day, Ensemble was courtside cheering during our semi-final match. That camaraderie is the foundation of our volleyball family.
For our immediate volleyball family, Nationals was an incredible experience that brought us closer. Throughout the season, Ann-Lee continually made changes in an attempt to find our best line-up, which served us well at Nationals. A key player becoming injured is every team's worst nightmare. For us, that happened when Ann-Lee hurt her knee. Maggie stepped in to set and the team stepped up to play our 2nd best match of the tournament. (The best match was against Ensemble.) We then did something new for us, ran a 6-2, and were able to adjust. Our support of each other, both on and off the court, strengthens our bond. Even when we were not playing our best those first two days, we continued to have fun and support each other. Eventually, we found our rhythm again without any intra-team snits. One moment that everyone agrees she will never forget is playing with the "wrong ball" during our semi-final match. After a 20-minute rule check, the point had to be replayed. Whoever knew that it was vitally important to the integrity of the game to keep the same ball? We just laughed it off, stuck together and won the game.
Whether playing our most aggressive match of the season (which happened at Nationals), exploring new places (like Minneapolis), or learning new things about each other, we always remember to have fun. We went on the trip excited and highly anticipating all that was to come. We returned with wonderful memories (and, unfortunately in some cases, pictures good for blackmail). Most of our memories don't come from playing, but from the time we spent bonding off the court. As Cindy L. said while watching a match, "if you can't win, at least you can enjoy beer and hot dogs together." Condensing these memories into short sentences will not do them justice, but to save time and space, alas, it must be done. A morning shopping trip to the Mall of America produced a picture of several players with a giant Trix rabbit as well as a ride on the indoor rollercoaster at Camp Snoopy. While Mei and Nina enjoyed the unique shopping cart escalator at Target. Linda fell on her morning run, rolled, and hopped right back up to keep going while hoping no one had seen her. Yet she proceeded to tell us all about it and got some good-natured teasing at her expense! At the same time, Linda will never forget Cindie M-P's sumo hairstyle. During our nice, dressy meal, Linda's "Ultimate Cosmo" took up copious amount of table space but we were more impressed by the fact that she finished the drink. After dinner we did a team run in dresses and high heels fourteen blocks back to the Convention Center to catch a Limelight I match. Cindy L. continued to bring alcohol into the mix at Dave's Place while eating ribs by deciding that everyone needed to do Tequila shots and then tried to claim exemption from the second shot! (Is it obvious that food and alcohol are important to us?) And Angela's red dress for the players' party? Well, that's all that needs to be said about that.
There are three events that will forever remain special to each of us. First, was a very luxuriously long family brunch at our hotel. Neither the food nor the service was all that special but it was time for all of us to sit back, relax, BS, and enjoy each other's company. Second, was the players' party and all that it encompassed. And, that's all that needs to be said about THAT. Third, was spontaneously hanging out as a team on the lawn in front of the convention center one beautiful late afternoon, not necessarily doing anything, not even talking, just simply being together. Butt (intentionally misspelled) then, there was Cindie M-P's military-style crawl for a picture of Nick stalking a rabbit and Tullia's chase to take a picture of that...and the rest of us laughing.
A couple of special notes: To our extended family: Thank you for your support. Extra special thanks to the Rats and Limelight I. Having a constant presence at our matches was truly wonderful. To George and Scott, we appreciate your encouragement and guidance. Also to Diane for always managing to wear the most lime outfit in the Convention Center and Carrine for your boisterous cheering. To Tullia and Nina, from Maggie: Thank you for letting Pat stay in our room. He enjoyed baby-sitting, Alivia that is, not us and had a great time overall being with the team! To Ann-Lee: A special thanks for being a wonderful captain and coordinating everything from our first tournament to Nationals to parties!
Our time at Nationals was spent enjoying good friends, good food, and (for the most part) good volleyball. As poet Robert Frost wrote "Nothing gold can stay." And while our family's golden time at Nationals this year has ended, we are all looking forward to next year!