University Tournament

September 11-12 found us at University High School in Irvine, CA for a two day tournament. There were 5 teams in each pool (4 pools) and so on Friday afternoon WC played one match, and then we returned early Saturday to start playing again. On Friday they played Elsinore high school, which is ranked 5th in CIF Division 2-A (WC is in Division 4-AA). The girls started slow but picked it up in game 1, eventually losing. Then won game two which was neck in neck, but then lost game three. So it was WCs official first loss of the season, but it was to a good team. On Saturday, the rest of the pool play was fairly uneventful, WC winning in two games to all they faced (Cypress high, Sunny Hills, and University High). Then in the afternoon playoffs began, in which each playoff was just one game to 25, not a match. WC had earned their way into the winners bracket by placing 2nd in their pool (Elsinore placed 1st). They were matched up against the 1st place finisher in another pool, which was Capistrano Valley high school, whom we later found out is ranked 8th in CIF Division 1-AA (the big girls!!). Coach did a good job preparing the girls to play Capo, because Capo was tall and intimidating physically. Our girls came out ready to fight and to show them what they had. Capo on the other hand, came out flat and not able to put many plays together. WC got up by 5 points early on, and never looked back. Capo struggled to get their act together, and their coach was yelling, calling time outs, putting in substitutes; anything to try and get his team to work the way he knew they could. But WC just kept the pressure on and eventually won the one-game playoff 25-18. The parents were elated that our girls could pull off a victory against such a good team. We had a short break, and then faced playoff game number 2 against Bishop Montgomery high school, who was ranked number 4 in CIF Division 2-AA. They were a good team, ready to play, while our girls came out flat. Our serve receive passing had all but disappeared and we got down early by 5, and never recovered. Bishop Montgomery won and went on to play in the chamionship game of the tournament. WC was supposed to play one more game for 3rd place, but Troy high school had already gone home, so by default, WC got the third place trophy. It was a great tournament in that WC got to play a lot of teams from bigger schools and prove that they could hang with them, and even beat them. It helps a team grow when they are challenged, and there was enough challenges in this tournament to make it worthwhile.

WC 3rd place University High School Tournament