Girls 18 Black – Fantastic Finish in Philadelphia, PA

April 6, 2015

This past weekend our Girls 18 Black team attended the Northeast Junior National Qualifier in Philadelphia, PA. The team left on Thursday, April 2nd for the long flight with the hope to win a bid for Junior Nationals that will be held in New Orleans this summer. The tournament ran from April 3rd to April 5th and was held at the Philadelphia Convention Center.

The team was seeded 15th going into the tournament. On Day 1, they played seeds 47, 50, and 18, and each match was won easily in 2 sets.

On Day 2, they had more of a challenge with playing seeds 31, 17 and 1. The first two matches were again won in 2 sets, but when playing the #1 overall seed, they went to 3 sets. Diablo won the match in the 3rd set and took over the #1 seed for the tournament.

Day 3, brought the most competition, but our 18’s were up for the challenge. Day 3 was a single elimination bracket, and their first match was against seed #16. The team won in two easy sets. The second match was against the #8 seed, and the girls won the match in two sets. Next, playing against seed #4 in the 3rd round of the bracket was very exciting. It came down to a third set, with Diablo down 11-14. The team went on a 5 point run to with the match: 19-25, 25-22, 16-14. With an amazing team effort, this put our Girls 18 Black team in the finals.

Currently on a 9 match winning streak, they faced a very strong (also undefeated) Madfrog team from the North Texas region where 9 players have already committed to play in college. Diablo lost the first set 20-25 and was able to get the win in the second set 25-22. The team fought hard for every point with Madfrog but lost the set 15-17. The team ended up winning silver medals for their fantastic effort this weekend. We are so proud of the team and all their efforts!

Girls 18 Black

Head Coach: Jerry Mix

Assistant Coach: Andrew Marchesano

Roster:

  • Molly Armstrong
  • Mackenzie Draper
  • Emma Hertel
  • Emily Hirsch
  • Sarah Hodson
  • Kaitlyn Jochum
  • Jade Lee
  • Shaelyn McHugh
  • Lida Rad
  • Emma Sullivan
  • Rachel Underwood
  • Mimi White
Posted in Tournament Results