Team serves up 70 aces while going 4-1 in tournament action
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RED BLUFF >> The Middletown Heat under-14 club volleyball team placed fifth after going 4-1 on Sunday during tournament play in Red Bluff.
“As a team, we were in the zone with our serves, totaling 70 aces for the day,” Heat head coach Erika Galvan said. “We had a lot fewer mistakes serving and that helped with our momentum throughout the day. Serving was definitely our greatest strength on Sunday.”
Middletown rolled through pool play, beating Adrenaline Courtney 21-11, 21-10, IMVC 21-11, 21-9, and Momentum White 21-15, 21-15. Moving into the gold bracket, the Heat defeated NSVA Red Bluff 21-7, 21-12 before suffering its only loss of the day as Legacy Black rallied to beat Middletown 19-21, 21-8, 15-8.
During the win over Momentum White in the final round of pool play, Emma Davis served five aces in a row while Emma Jones had a strong run with four straight aces. Davis came right back with another four-ace run against NSVA Red Bluff in the opening round of bracket place while teammate Kaia Bohan had a six-ace run and 10 service points overall against the Red Bluff team.
“With our serving doing so well in pool play, we didn’t get as many options for attacking,” Galvan said. “We came away with a team total of 49 kills for the day.”
Davis, an outside hitter, finished with 19 aces, 17 kills and 44 digs. Bohan, an opposite hitter, added 20 aces, 45 digs and four kills. Other team leaders were Jones, an outside hitter, with 10 aces and kills; middle hitter Grace Williams with 12 kills and two blocks; libero Gabby Keyes with 53 digs; and Ella Del Zompo with nine service points and three aces.
“These girls are working so hard and having a blast,” Galvan said.
The final tournament of the North State series is April 6.
