18s compete in San Mateo tournament, 15s and 16s participate in Ukiah scrimmage
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SAN MATEO >> The Never Say Die volleyball club teams opened the 2026 season over the weekend, with the 18s entered in a tournament Saturday and Sunday at the San Mateo Event Center while the 15s and 16s participated in a scrimmage Sunday at Mendocino College in Ukiah.
While the 18s got off to a rough start Saturday, losing in the maximum three sets to Lakas (Hayward), Main Beach (Santa Cruz), the Stingrays (San Jose), and in two sets to Marin, they bounced back Sunday to beat UVA (East Bay) 25-11, 25-19 and Samba (Grass Valley) 26-24, 25-12.
“We struggled a lot on serve receive, so we made some changes before we started on Sunday, and they paid off,” NSD head coach Marci Psalmonds said. “The girls played great and improved 100 percent.”
Added Psalmonds, “On Saturday, we weren’t gelling as a team there were a lot of ups and downs. We did go three sets in three of the four matches, but we just couldn’t finish. Sunday was a completely different story. They adapted well to the new rotation and never looked back. We were missing Atiana Patino, our libero, on Saturday, so she definitely helped out a lot on Sunday.”
NSD veterans Mati Mateer (32 kills, 44 digs), AJ Wurm (77 assists, six aces, 39 digs) and Carly Johnson (27 kills, 11 aces, eight blocks) led the way. Other tournament leaders were Aimee Schaefers (13 kills, three blocks), Triniti Kuecker (15 kills), Lindee Bingham (12 kills, four blocks), Aniya Jauregui (29 digs), Aliyah Valadez (24 digs) and Sarah Morse (23 digs).
“Even though it was a roller coaster all weekend, they ended on a strong note,” Psalmonds said. “I want to give props to a lot of the players on working hard and learning new positions. Most of the time they have stepped into a new role from their high school team positions, and they have been doing great with it. I am looking forward to watching this team improve each tourney.”
Mendocino College
The NSD 16s and 15s scrimmaged against Attack Mode (Willits), Club V (Cloverdale) and Prism (Ukiah) at the Mendocino College gym in Ukiah.
“It was a great day to learn lots of new rotations and mindsets,” Psalmonds said of the 16s in their season debut. “Getting back into the swing of things for the 16s was as I they started right where they left off. We are looking forward to an exciting season with them.”
Added NSD assistant coach Morgan Psalmonds on the play of the 15s, “Today the 15s were able to be flexible with trying out new rotations. They may have looked like chickens with their heads cut off at moments, but they never gave up on the ball. We have a lot of room to grow, but that’s the best thing about being a younger team playing against older and more veteran players. They are sponges with information and are asking all of the right questions.”
