Team to take part in Far Westerns at Reno next weekend
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LAKE COUNTY >> The Never Say Die 18s club volleyball team had a rough Saturday in Redwood City, but they bounced back Sunday during tournament action in San Mateo.
“Even though the tourney started off rough, the 18s ended strong to finish out their league season,” Never Say Die head coach Marci Psalmonds said. “It was an even attack by all our hitters with 116 team kills. It’s nice to coach a team that has more than one or two good hitters. We always have options if someone is off.”
Added Psalmonds, “We ran quite a few quick plays this weekend and it was fun to watch them take off. Mati Mateer has come a long way this year with her passing. She was digging everything up and she started a lot of the quick plays with her fast-tempo, low passes right to the setters that the hitters capitalized on. The team showed a lot of Never Say Die attitudes this weekend also.”
During Saturday play in Redwood City, NSD lost to the SF Tremors (San Francisco) and to TStreey (Nevada) before beating MHVC (Morgan Hill). NSD lost to Spark (Lodi) in its final match.
Sunday in San Mateo, NSD beat Academy (Redwood City) and Sand (Santa Cruz) before losing to Aftershock (Sonoma).
“Against a talented Sand team, we were down 9-0 and came back and tied it at 10-10,” Psalmonds said. “We then fell behind 20-14 but came back once more and won 25-22.”
Added Psalmonds, “We had another good serving tourney with 38 aces.”
Mateer had a big weekend with 55 digs, 24 kills and nine aces. Carly Johnson added 31 kills, 10 blocks and eight aces, Aimee Schaefers had 42 digs, 16 kills and four blocks, and Oliver Hommer finished with 41 digs, 31 kills and eight aces.
“Aimee did a great job in the back row this weekend,” Psalmonds said. “She normally just plays front row, but we were missing someone, and she had to fill in. She did great. It was a pleasant surprise.”
Other team leaders were Cali Schnabl with 55 digs and seven aces, Brooke Benson with 11 kills and six blocks, Emily Gersalia with 48 assists and 21 digs, and Ashley Klein with 49 assists and six aces.
“Brooke’s play at the net is better than what her stats show,” Psalmonds said. “She had a lot of touches that helped out the passers to dig up more balls.”
Psalmonds also gave him marks to her two setters, Gersalia and Klein.
“Both did a great job mixing their sets up to keep the other team off-balance,” Psalmonds said.
The 18s ended the league season ranked 35 out of more than 130 teams in their age group.
“We’re not a top-20 team, but they have definitely climbed the ladder from last year,” Psalmonds said of the second-year team.
The 18s compete in the Far Westerns beginning Friday and running through Sunday in Reno. More than 600 teams are entered.
