Announcement

Matt Hartner Classic 18-20 Jan 2020

Posted by Power Surge Volleyball - Respect All, Fear None on Jan 22 2020 at 11:13AM PST
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Aloha Power Surge Ohana,

This past weekend, 18-20 Jan 2020, our 18 Black team competed in the Matt Hartner Classic, a 3-day tourney in Eugene, OR on the beautiful campus of the University of Oregon. Although we always want to win every tournament we compete in or at least do better than our actual results, our final finish, 27th out of 116 teams, is without question, very respectable for our team and our club.

Although we are a U18 team by USAV definition, we went to Eugene with just 8 players: 4 U18 players, 2 U17 players, and 2 U16 players, not a true U18 team age-wise, but a true U18 team in all the other important ways that matter.

Day 1 is the most important day of the competition, because that is where the teams in each division are divided right down the middle after the first round of pool play: top 2 in each pool is on the path to Gold, and everyone else to Silver and lower.

We were seeded #3 in our pool, and we finished #2 at the end of pool play beating a good Portland team Webfoot 18 in the first match in a cliff hanger, 25-22, 28-26, then losing to the #1 seed in pool from Yakima (CRU 18 Baden), 19-25, 18-25, but closing very strong against WVBA 18 Molten, 25-12, 25-9 at the end of Day 1.

But Day 2 is where the hard work really begins, where the very good are separated from the great. Although there were 4 teams in each pool, all 4 teams finished #1 or #2 on Day 1 and therefore there were no weak teams in any Gold division pools on Day 2. And our Day 2 final results are proof of that. We lost all our matches on Day 2. Two of the 3 matches on Day 2 were very close matches that went to a 3rd deciding set. But if you cannot close it out in the 3rd set, then you don’t deserve to finish in the top gold brackets. If you want to play with the big girls, you must win the 3rd set, period, without exception.

Day 3 put us in the 4th Gold Bracket where the best we can finish is 25th overall. We finished tied for 27th ,winning a very tough first match against another Puget Sound team ITVC 17 Baden, 24-26, 25-22, 15-6. But something really special happened in this match, especially after losing that first set in overtime. A toughness and fire was lit in our bellies. After a very disappointing Day 2, we were very hungry for redemption. Tough teams make you tough, and that’s exactly what this match did for us; it made us tougher, hungry, and on fire. It elevated our game to a level we had never been before, a level we never thought possible. But once we saw that we could play at that next level, our confidence shot through the roof. Our 18 Black were truly amazing, phenomenal even. We carried that high level of competitiveness right into the next match, but lost against a very good Canadian Thunder 18-1 team, 18-25, 25-21, 9-15. This was the 2nd time in the same day we came back to win the 2nd set after losing the first set, a major achievement at this high level of competition. Now we need to work on closing it out in the 3rd.

The final loss on Day 3 didn’t hurt as it did the day before, because it was clear to everyone watching, that two titans were battling with power, ferocity, and finesse; we actually drew a crowd. It was beautiful to watch and our entire coaching staff, stood on the sideline just awed at what was unfolding before our very eyes. For our 18 Black, it was a major eye opener. We now know that our game has elevated to that next level, and now there’s no going back. But there are still several areas of our game we need to tweak and when those areas are where they should be, we will win more and more of these highly competitive matches in 2 straight sets and never have to be concerned about winning a deciding set.

We are looking forward to seeing how much further our team can take their game and we are on track to qualify for the U18 National Championships, 1-3 May 2020 in the beautiful city of Reno-Tahoe, NV. See it, believe it.

Congrats to our 18 Black team, enjoy your day off Tue Jan 21st, and be ready to work hard on Thu Jan 23rd. PL1 is going to be another great test and great preparation for the upcoming bid tourney. Well done!

Coach Kama Kalalau

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