Team of the Week

The team of the week has got to go to the 16 Bugles team. It is amazing how far this team has come in one year's time. This past weekend at the Tampa Pre Qualifier, the 16s made it all the way to the 16 open championship where they lost to a tough Gainesville squad. On the road to the championship, they stuck it to the Sarasota Volleyball Academy's best team in the club in 2, defeated the top 16s team in South Carolina, and also beat a tough TVA team out of Orlando in the semis. 10 of the 11 kids on this team are from Venice HS and its amazing to see what a mostly one high school team can do to all star players from different high schools on the same team from around the state and country. What a difference a year makes as last year, this team struggled in the club divisions but through a lot of hard work, concentrating on our training philosophies, and gaining that all needed mental toughness, they are getting the champions mentality . All the team members have played well but two of the members of this team who have really stepped up are the outside hitters. The extremely high flying, athletic tooling Autumn Duyn and the heavy hitter who terminates times after time, Payton Herschberger. Anytime a team has two dominate outsides, that team is sure to take it to the next level. Many colleges have also taken notice of these up and coming players as well. It has been a lot of fun to see this team's ball control and tenacity grow over the past year. All of the team members are working hard and forming that all needed team chemistry for them to succeed. Their next tourney will be the Big South Qualifier in Hotlanta, Georgia.

Indianapolis

The coaching staff was the the last to arrive to the airport as traffic on 275 was a little heavy. As we walked in, Mr. Bassetti had already checked us in and handed us our tickets and I had to laugh as we went through the terminal and took Debbie Steranko's motto, "It's Brian, it always works out" Expecting Indiana to be freezing in early March, I packed too much as I usually do. Well, it turned out to be an extremely warm weekend. The whole plane was filled with Florida volleyball teams. I was a little relieved when I took my seat and I was not sitting in front of Dorothy Rahal and gang as they usually try and mess with me on the plane. When we arrived, things went very smooth. Flight was on time, travel to hotel was easy, and check in was a breeze. After grabbing a quick bite at Champs in the hotel lobby, Jay and I went to our room to catch a couple of late college bb games and anticipated how both of the VBAY teams would do the next morning. The 16's were playing in the club division with 156 teams entered and this group has gotten steadily better since last season and really coming on as one of Florida's premier teams. The 17s were venturing out and playing in the OPEN division. To play in an open division at a National Qualifier, the team has to apply and be selected. There are only 32 teams in this division and the competition is fierce. The next morning as we warmed up to play one of the top teams in the country from Cleveland, I scanned the sidelines to see all of the college coaches scouting both teams with their palm devices. I would say at least 50 -70 division 1 coaches watched Venetian Bay play. Some of those schools included, Stanford, Texas, Oklahoma, UF, Miami, LSU, Auburn, Georgia, all of the IVY league schools, mid majors, and many more. It definitely helped as the 17 Funyons upset the mostly all committed Cleveland squad. Both VBAY teams competed for every point all day as the 16's placed 1st in the pool and the 17s lost a heartbreaker tie breaker 25-23 to barely miss the gold bracket. The 2nd day was much the same as the 17s went undefeated and the 16s lost a 18-16 decision in the 3rd to not move on. That night, our teams found an open ballroom with music going. They had a blast line dancing and just getting their groove on to some tunes with some other vb clubs. As the 3rd day of play ended, the 16s finished 45 out of 156 and the 17s finished a respectable 19th out of 32. It was awesome competition and many of our players got A LOT of looks from college coaches. This tourney will definitely help earn some scholarships and prepare us for the rest of the season as both teams will have 2 more opportunities to qualify for the Junior olympics in Miami, FL this summer. I was probably a little obnoxious on the sidelines but our other coaches, Jay, Stefanie, and Michelle coached with class and the players won and lost with alot of class as well. The players handled themselves very well and acted like mature adults exept for just a few. I'm just kidding!! They were all great! The parents were a HUGE help as they usually are and helped propel Venetian Bay up the ladder in the volleyball world. Looking forward to the next tournament.

Orlando Invitational Results

Congrats on all of the teams this past weekend.

The 17s finished 2nd in Gold (Open) losing in the finals to OVA in 2 games 25-20, 25-16. The 17s finished the weekend with 4 wins and 2 losses.

Venetian Bay also had a good showing with the 15 south team coming in 5th in Gold (4W and 1 L) and the 16s coming in 7th in Gold (Open) losing to Pinellas Heat in 3 games (25-19, 17-25, 15-12). 16s finished the weekend 2 and 2.

The 15N played in the Silver losing to Fort Myers in the final 25-15 and 25-11. The finished up the weekend at 4 wins and 3 losses.

And finally the 14s after a rough start finished the weekend playing in the Bronze finishing 2nd losing to Sparks in the finals 25-17 and 25-10. They finished up the weekend with 3 wins and 3 losses.

This weekend the 16s and 17s will be in Indianapolis while the 12s will be playing in the Suncoast Bash and the 13s will be playing in Bradenton at the MAV Challenge.

Good Luck to all the teams!!!