Girls volleyball: Marin Juniors team captures Volleyball Festival title

The Marin Juniors 13 Black volleyball team had strung a number of quality performances together at tournaments throughout the club season. The team saved its best for last, taking first place in a field of 105 teams at the Volleyball Festival in Phoenix earlier this week.

“It’s pretty hard to win a tournament,” Marin Juniors coach Craig Wong said. “I felt like we were the better team for most of the matches we played. I think it was a culmination of what the team was capable of doing.

“This was a team that ended up not qualifying for a national tournament but it was definitely a team that was improving throughout the year and peaking at the end.”

The team had shown signs of breaking through for a big win all season, placing inside the top 10 at four different tournaments. The 13 Black team took third out of 32 teams at the Salt City Showdown National Qualifier; eighth out of 79 teams in the Northern California Volleyball Association Power League; ninth out of 56 teams at the Red Rock Rave National Qualifier in Las Vegas; and ninth out of 43 teams in the 14s division of the West Coast Cup in Long Beach.

At the Volleyball Festival, the 13 Black team played three matches a day for four days between June 23-26, piling up a 12-0 record while dropping just two sets to win the tournament.

The team’s most compelling match fittingly enough came in the championship game against Balboa Bay 13 Blue of Newport Beach. The team lost a taut first set, rallied to claim a marathon second set, before holding off Balboa Bay to win the third.

“Both sides played remarkably for the amount of pressure — a stadium court with an announcer,” Wong said.

Marin Juniors led by as many as five points in the first set but couldn’t hold it, falling 25-23.

The second set was a back and forth affair. Balboa Bay had a trio of match points at 24-21 but couldn’t close the door. Marin Juniors reeled off three consecutive points to tie the set at 24-24 then surged in front for a set point of its own at 26-25.

Balboa Bay cashed in the next two points to move in front 27-26 but Marin Juniors closed the set with a flourish, eventually pulling out a 30-28 to tie the game at 1-1.

Marin Juniors held the lead for the entire third set and led 12-10 before finishing the match with three consecutive points to claim the title.

“This is a team that they love to train, they love to play,” Wong said. “Every practice they were there early. They were sad every time practice had to end. … Just the enthusiasm that they had for playing together — asking questions, going to extra practices, whatever they could do. They were really selfless on the court and had great leadership.

“Skill-wise, I think we had a balanced attack. With 13s teams its not often you end up with a lot of taller, strong hitters. We ended up with a few of them and a couple of setters that could distribute the bell really well.”

Marin Juniors 13 Black roster

Jora Vangorder, Middle/Pin Hitter, Larkspur

Braelynn Rivers, Middle Hitter, San Anselmo

Emme Mogan, Setter, San Anselmo

Emilia Cisneros, Setter/Defensive Specialist, San Anselmo

Betty Kelsey, Libero, San Rafael

Charlotte Moore, Pin Hitter, San Rafael

Noah Zalayet, Defensive Specialist, San Rafael

Izzy Boyce, Pin Hitter, Stinson Beach

Layne Webb, Pin Hitter, Tiburon

Charlotte Connors, Middle Hitter, San Francisco

Eloise Guyon, Libero, San Francisco

Head Coach: Craig Wong

Assistant Coach: Kailani Kwan-Sy