Willamette Classic
May 12-13, 2007 @ Oregon State University - Corvallis, OR

Saturday marked the beginning of a new tournament at Oregon State University designed to showcase volleyball teams in the late spring. The Willamette Classic hosted 32 teams in the 18's division, and 132 teams total in 4 age groups.

Battling prom, spring sports, and injuries, the Cowlitz team, sponsored by Asics, took fifth, capturing the Silver Division Championship at the Asics sponsored Willamette Classic.

No less than 4 of 6 players were in unfamiliar positions as we opened the tournament at Gill Coliseum against Mid Willamette, a team that had played us very close in two recent meetings. Behind the solid setting of Shayley Jacobson, the pinpoint passing of BriAnne Culbertson and Tracy Garrison, and the relentless attack of Shyra Hoffman and Sylvia Herrold, we prevailed 25-22, 25-19. Taking us to match two against Bridgetown, another familiar foe with all of their players on hand.

Playing with heart, desire, and a strong competitive fire, we made this one look easier than any other previous contest against them. Allison Buck is so consistent in all facets of the game, we simply rode her great passing and attack skills to overwhelming leads. We even used our libero/defensive specialist/setter, Denali Preston, in both left and right front positions with surprising success. In game one, we used Sylvia in the middle, and for a left hander, she had some great shots.

We moved to the Truax Fieldhouse for the next three-team pool, and picked up Stefani from her tennis district tournament to bolster our back row, and later as a front-row attacker for Denali. Moving Alyssa to three different positions confused opponents as well as Alyssa, but she responded with solid numbers. Shyra added increased production from the back-row to add to her dominating front-row and we were off to the races against Webfoot Gold.

After winning five games in a row, the wheels fell off the machine and we lost the next two to Webfoot, before dropping two to PVC Black to go 5-4 in games for Saturday.

Sunday brought our numbers to 10 of 11 players, but the injury bug, and illness, limited our ability to play kids in their familiar positions. Joelle Perez, fresh from the prom, provided options immediately at setter, and allowed Joelle and Shayley to run a 6-2, as they both had to play front-row. We continued our losing streak with a two-game loss to PVC Blue, which put us in negative numbers, and permanently knocked us out of the top four of the tournament.

A passionate plea to get with it started to work, as we took on LVC from Canada. It was not pretty, but it did signify our return to winning. We then got a return engagement with Bridgetown, who was well rested and ready for us. We let them take the game to us, with several scoring runs that we took too long to react to. The result was a 27-29 first game loss to Bridgetown.

Our team began coming back to life, first from the service line and then offensively with Shyra and Alyssa inflicting heavy casualties, which opened up lanes for Sylvia and Allison and even Stefani that befuddled Bridgetown’s blocking schemes. We entered the finals after a convincing 25-18, 15-10 victory over Bridgetown.

Club VIP had one fantastic player, and one good one. We had a chance to watch them play in the other semi-final, which was not good for them. They were very predictable, and easy to beat as long as we avoided the two above mentioned players. Allison Buck was on fire, and we won 25-17 in game one. For whatever reason, they surrendered early in game two, sat one of their good players, and we pummeled them to capture the Silver Championship in convincing fashion, taking game two 25-15.

Alicia never did play, succumbing to illness on Sunday, after prom on Saturday. She did appear to cheer the team on Sunday afternoon. We hope injuries to Alyssa and Tracy get time to heal, all spring sports are done, and graduating seniors get their senior projects done before we hit the court again in two weeks at the Emerald City Classic at the University of Washington. Only time will tell!

CEVA Regional Championship
GOLD DIVISION
April 21-22, 2007 @ Salem & Corvallis, OR

After three months of Power Leagues and a January Qualifier, the stage was set for the showdown in Corvallis. Due to the immense number of teams entered in our region this year, our Regionals began in Salem on Saturday, and finished in Corvallis on Sunday.

Entering in the fourth slot, and minus two players for all of Saturday, and most of Sunday, it was a valiant effort by a stellar group of student athletes that finished 7 matches in the fifth slot out of 50 plus teams entered. It was a fantastic effort under less-than-perfect conditions. The coaching staff was very impressed with the total team effort.

On Saturday, the first team was PVC Purple. As always, PVC competes for every point, and we were successful in two, 25-19, 25-16. Passing, defense, and a well-distributed offense punch saw us through. Credit team effort for this one. On paler, we should have dominated Oregon suns in match two, but that simply was not the case. There is a reason that teams are ranked, and this team has created problems for us in the past. 29-27, 25-19 were the scores, as we "escaped" with a very hard earned victory.

As if PVC Purple was not enough, we now faced PVC black, a team that we are very familiar with, as they are with us. It was a solid effort, with just enough errors to put game one in the win column for the wrong team! Just too many break downs, which exposed our weaknesses with our healthy athletes doing their darndest to stem the tide. After succumbing in game two, we faced a critical juncture in the tournament. Gold or Silver for Sunday.

Cowlitz dispatched the MAC Juniors in quick order to guarantee a Gold placement for Sunday in Corvallis. 25-15, 25-11, indicated that we were not ready to go softly. Down the freeway we went for our Sunday Gold appointment with Rimrock, in the quarterfinals.

Still limping a bit, we gave a valiant effort in a 17-25, 18-25 loss to the eventual second place team in the region. Rimrock is a very solid, athletic, and competitive team, who deserved their ranking as they are quality athletes from a quality program. A big year for a great bunch of kids. Facing sudden victory, it was time to walk the walk.

Mid Valley is an up-and-coming program, and they faced off against an angry team that was not looking forward to being eliminated, and officiating again. With all athletes now available, although not at full strength, we took care of the No Dinx-sponsored team with several runs to capture game one, and kept it up in a 25-17, 25-19 victory.

This gave us another chance at PVC Black. 19-25, 17-25 and our fifth place finish was secured. We worked extremely hard to get the serve and then plunk one or serve it long. It was very frustrating, but a fate well deserved. At times we struggled, and PVC was far too solid to let us escape with so many unforced errors.

Illness, injury, travel, and less than spectacular play down the stretch ended our run. Lesson learned. Next up, we will return to Corvallis for the first ever Willamette Invitational.

Our coaching staff would like to thank our stellar parents for the extremely supportive environment that these kids experience as they compete. It is a pleasure to work with your kids. Thanks for making a difference.

Colorado Crossroads Tournament
March 16-18, 2007 @ Denver, Colorado

Cowlitz Asics traveled to the Crossroads Tournament hosted at the Denver Convention Center on March 16, 17, 18. 400 plus teams competed in various divisions with Asics placing 21st out of 188 in the club division.

Getting off to a slow start from the 3rd spot in the pool, the team lost 23-25, 22-25 to the top team in the pool, Diamondback from La Cruces, New Mexico. This was a match we might have won, with just a few more digs, serves, and timely kills. We moved on to play PLVC of St. Louis, Missouri, where we triumphed 25-17, 20-25, 15-13. After a quick start, we thought we had this one in the bag, but PLVC had other plans. A huge pressure-packed serving streak from Shyra put us in a position to win, and we eventually did so.

NAVC from Atlanta was no match for a jazzed up Cowlitz team. Playing our second consecutive match, we steam rolled them 25-13, 25-16. Shayley and Sylvia got connected on several occasions, as did Alicia, and the North Atlanta team had no answer. After a slow start, the team managed to move from 3rd to 2nd in the pool, which earned us a 4th place pool assignment for day two's championship run.

From worst to first we went as the day progressed. We went from an afternoon to morning pool turnaround from the first day. Put in the loss of one hour time change, and the earlier switch to daylight savings time, and we were really pushing it! First up was Club West of Laverne, California, team two in the pool. We dispatched them 25-20, 25-20, and immediately had to confront the River City team from Omaha, the number one team.

Two in a row is a good thing for this team. We flat got after it, and played solid team ball throughout. Our ball control folks were on point, Stefani, Bri, and Denali took care of the bulk of the defensive load, while Tracie and Allison were magnificent in the passing department, feeding Joelle who dispatched laser sets which were quickly delivered to the floor. River City was tough, but we were tougher, winning 25-22, 26-24. It was a thriller, and a prime example of "Cowlitz ball".

We now had a break before meeting up with the Columbia, Maryland team. Keeping in mind that we were not favored in any of our matches on this day, we knew we were in for it, and we certainly were. We eked out two very solid games, staying the course, and not panicking in the toughest of situations, 26-24, 26-24. This was a prime example of the spirit of team effort working together, turning up every aspect of our game to overcome a very strong foe. Alyssa, Shyra, Allison, Sylvia and Alicia took turns crushing balls, and the total team effort from the service line resulted in the victory.

We were still in the hunt for the championship, and had earned a return to the Convention Center for a 7:00pm spot in the elimination brackets. Running on fumes, and little rest, we managed some rest back at the hotel, fueled up, and took the court against Dallas Force. Dallas was big, strong, and intimidating, and were definitely a "force" to be reckoned with. In an epic battle for the ages, Asics turned in a tremendous effort, their best match of the year, before experiencing defeat 23-25, 29-31. We could not have been prouder of the team and their enthusiastic team effort against such a solid opponent. No slackers in this match, no individual performances to single out, just "over the top" team efforts given by all. We actually served match point on at least three occasions, but were unable to seal the deal. In was a winning team that left the arena that night.

Sunday was a sudden victory day, and we just could not muster enough energy to get over the top, losing to Club Red from Phoenix 25-23, 12-25, 13-15. The effort in game one and three were almost equal to those from the Dallas Force match the night before. Beaten by the final score, but nowhere else, we proudly packed it in for the tournament.

This was our best tournament of the season. All players contributed significantly, in so many ways. This team has had its share of excitement, and disappointment, and have moved nicely into another elevated level of play. The future is very promising, and all 11 kids are stoked for the possibilities. We will put our efforts to the test, at the end of our spring break! It will be a challenge to stay together during the break, but I am positive the results will be fun to watch. Stay tuned!

Power League - March
GOLD DIVISION
March 4, 2007 @ Longview, WA

Golden moments!

At times it was not pretty, and at times it was certainly golden. For the first time in many years, Longview hosted the Gold and Silver Divisions of Power League in Longview on Sunday, March 4, 2007, at the Mark Morris and Lower Columbia College courts.

Asics had a favorable seed based on their stellar February Power League finish, but was unable to hold seed, losing ugly in the opening morning match, 21-25, 20-25, to Oregon Juniors from Lakeside. We needed a wakeup call apparently, and Lakeside delivered a very powerful message. There was very little to find as positive in our effort, and the ensuing meeting with the team served as a reminder that showing up does not warrant a victory.

With renewed enthusiasm, and a full contingent of energized players, we played a much better, but not flawless, match against PVC. Scores of 21-25, 25-21, 14-16 certainly indicated a change in attitude. Our ball control remained solid, there was a marked improvement in our setting, and the offense came alive. We had several opportunities to win the match, but fell just short. Serving was much improved, Allison unleashed her jumper, and the blocking, led by Shyra and Sylvia, made some significant contributions to our resurgence. In the end, a couple more well-placed attacks, and a bit more luck, may have given us the victory.

The always top Nike Air Elite team came calling in our final pool play match. We were a match, but not a winner. Scores of 19-25, 21-25, indicated a strong effort on our part. Impressive from the service line, BriAnne led several runs for us, and had some great aces. Tracie Garrison had some serve streaks as well, and along with Bri and Stefani Hail, led our defensive effort. Allison Buck continues to lead all in the serve receive department, and her service rotation produces the most points for the team.

In the Power League format, the first afternoon bracket match is always the most important one of the day for the 5-8th place pool placers. Win it and stay in the division, lose it and drop to the next for the ensuing month’s competition. Our opponent was the upstart Mid Valley team, and they had been playing inspired team ball all day.

Such was the case in the match, as Asics threatened to pull away for a large margin of victory, but could not convincingly put them away due to their never-say-die attitude. Scores of 25-14, and 25-23 were highlighted by the impressive serving streak of Shyra Hoffman who went to the service line with Asics trailing 21-22, and served us to game point at 24-22 before serving long. A solid sideout secured the victory in a golden moment.

Playing one game to determine seeding with Rimrock, we were in a position to win over a very solid team, but misfired on two serves after getting to 20 points. The result was a 23-25 loss, and a 6th place finish.

When the stats are computed, Sylvia Herrold will be the leading percentage hitter for the day. The lefty from Naselle had a breakout day, and the setters fed her the ball for several kill streaks. Playing improved defense, and setting our offense, Shayley Jacobson is coming on, which is great help for Joelle, who runs a 5-1 and needs an occasional break.

Joelle took the best hit of the day, and managed to stay in the game, and Alyssa Wistrick delivered the best six-pack kill of the season on an unsuspecting right side! In fact the entire offensive unit did a nice job. Our areas of emphasis were noticeably improved after the miserable opening in the morning. Better offense and serving will take care of us in the future. It was also great to have Denali Preston back after she led her Toutle Lake team to their third trophy season in state basketball competition.

Next up is the Denver Crossroads Tournament in two weeks.

Las Vegas Desert Classic
February 17-19, 2007 @ Las Vegas, NV

The Cowlitz Asics team took their annual trek to Las Vegas over the President’s Day weekend. It was a challenge of major proportions this year way before we ever hit the court for a match as it was the same weekend that Las Vegas hosted the NBA All-Star game. It was the largest influx of visitors (500,000) in the history of Las Vegas, and without going too much into it, congestion was the theme for the weekend.

I was extremely impressed with the team's ability to travel and work in the midst of such chaos! We managed to have a very positive experience both on and off the courts, and emerged with some newfound discoveries about our team.

We played our first day at the famed "Tarkanian Center", where we entered and exited as the first seed in the pool. It was not without exciting play, teamwork, and a never-say-die attitude that allowed us to sweep the day.

We began by playing a solid match against Phoenix 18 National winning 25-18, 25-17 behind a solid offensive performance, from Allison Buck, Tracie Garrison, and the setting of Shayley Jacobson, and Joelle Perez.

We then met up with Northwest Storm from Seattle which we dominated 25-14, 25-14. In that match, our serving and defensive efforts overshadowed our opponents, and a rather lackluster offensive performance on our part. Alicia Proctor, and Stefani Hail-Webb led our serving and ball control assault, while contesting every slam with key digs. Ball control was a critical part of our success.

The match of the day in the gym featured us against Na Wahine from the islands. In typical Hawaiian fashion, they ball-controlled and contested every attack we delivered, and it led to an incredibly intense, spirited, and highly-skilled 3-set affair. Trailing 14-10 in the deciding 3rd game, BriAnne Culbertson stepped to the back line and delivered 6 straight tough serves, as we held off match point four times, finally prevailing 16-14. The rallies were intense to say the least, and it left two teams exhausted and pleased with their effort, regardless of the final result. It was high fives all around by both teams as they congratulated each other on their play, obvious passion, and appreciation for each other’s talent. This turned out to be the highlight of our tournament!

Day two found us as the second seed in the qualifier round where we met High Intensity (another island team) in a very hotly contested match that we finally won in three, 18-25, 25-21, 15-11. Offensively we were led by Alyssa Wistrick, Sylvia Herrold, and Shyra Hoffman, as they cranked up the heat, and were backed by the supporting cast of defenders who I affectionately refer to as our "smalls".

Our next opponent was Central Coast, who we took care of in two, 25-12, 25-20, setting up our match for the top 20 bracket against North Dallas. We watched them play twice, and had a game plan, but simply could not stop their back slide attack for some reason, and fell in two unimpressive games, 17-25, 19-25. It was the end to our championship run, but it gave us reason to practice and get better in the areas that we felt had been exploited. Time will tell.

We wrapped the tournament on Monday with a semi-final loss to Sierra Nevada 16-25, 22-25 at the Cashman Center, the spot we always aspire to play in. It was a short visit.

We had a great contingent of parents, ate a fabulous meal, decked out in our formal attire, and managed to navigate the congestion at the airport in record time. A successful 5-2 record closed the books on yet another travel adventure. We look forward to our upcoming competitions, to see if our focused practice work has paid off.

Thanks to everyone who made our trip as routine as possible, particularly Shannon Hail and Nanette Searing, who doggedly took care of all of the minutia that goes with group travel, from entry fees, to airlines, to breakfasts, rental vehicles, the list goes on and on. We could not do it without their help. Thanks for making a difference!

Stop by and watch as we host the Gold and Silver divisions of the March Power Leagues for 16's and 18's, on the first weekend in March. It should be a dandy!

Power League - February
GOLD DIVISION
February 3, 2007 @ The Courts at Beaverton - Beaverton, OR

Cowlitz Asics move up to fourth.

The Gold division in this region is a tough place to hang out! Giant, aggressive, and athletic, there are no "weak sisters" to be had! In what many consider to be the most balanced Gold division in some years, Asics took the court against the top-ranked teams at the courts in Beaverton on Saturday, February 3, 2007.

Three goals were established for the day: stay in Gold, get better, and get kids to the proms on time. At lest two out of three were realized, and at times we were better than when we arrived!

A highly motivated team took on PVC in the first match of the day. Tracie Garrison led the charge as we took advantage of missing athletes on the PVC squad and triumphed in two. Improved passing and serving were the keys, as we were able to run our offense with greater success than previous outings. This was a big win, as PVC was ranked second in the division.

Up next was the Nike Air Max team, whom we have played more than any other team so far this winter. We slipped back to some of our old habits, and lacked in team play. Despite the lack of focus, our serving, led by Alyssa and Tracie, provided sparks on several occasions that put us into position to win games. Unfortunately, we did not capitalize on the runs, and fell twice to Nike in disappointing fashion. Plenty of opportunities, but we just did not take care of business.

Next up was Webfoot, for the opportunity to take second in the pool and move up. It was a more focused team that took the court, and behind the blocking and attack of Shyra, the accurate passing of Tracie and Allison, and the defensive spark from BriAnne, led us to a solid two game victory, and second place in the pool. This was a big match that the kids realized and took advantage of. Placing second in the pool guaranteed us a spot in the Gold division for March.

Facing top seeded Nike Air Elite in the crossover match, we were asleep at the wheel. Perhaps we were comfortable in staying in Gold, or maybe beginning to focus on dance issues, but the first game was a blowout! To say we needed to shake things up would be an understatement. An adjusted lineup and a firm discussion resulted in a very solid second game effort against one of the west coast’s best teams. Perhaps it will be a sign of things to come.

Our seeding game found us playing the huge Columbia Juniors squad. We stayed in contention with solid team play and a solid block. Joelle led the offense, Shyra the blocking, our defensive players (Bri, Stef, and Al), added to the cause with solid ball control. We just made too many errors to win the game.

The team and coaches have identified areas of focus in preparation for the Las Vegas Desert Classic over President’s Weekend. Supportive team play will make the difference in these close losses. We are looking forward to the challenge!

Awards N' More Classic
January 28, 2007 @ Longview, WA

The 19th annual Awards N' More Classic is now history, and it made history as well, as the largest one-day tournament every hosted by the Cowlitz club (48 teams).

The Asics team was seeded third in the 19 team tournament, and played in the power pool round robin 7 team tournament format. True to form, they finished third with an 8-4 record. Along the way, there were some significant benchmarks reached, as the team improved in almost every category, which was very encouraging indeed.

The always highly-regarded Nike Northwest Juniors team made their annual pilgrimage to Longview and hauled off the hardware, placing 1st and 2nd. They were scheduled to play each other in the final round but chose not to. That would have been a very entertaining match to be sure!

The morning started out with a split of the two games with South Sound Ohana, from Olympia, who matched us point for point. Asics staged a comeback of sorts in the first game to win it, 25-23 but fell in game two 21-25. Knowing how inconsistent we played in the first round, the coaches were very apprehensive about our next two matches with Nike.

Nike Air Max took us in two straight at the qualifier earlier this month and did the same in game one 22-25. With a better offensive output in game two, Cowlitz roared back to win 25-20. This was a good sign of things to come as we immediately took on the Nike Air Elite team (mostly Gresham high’s state champion players). We were also able to split 21-25, 25-21. Our smalls contributed equal to our talls, and it was a rip-roaring hour of play.

In between bouts of officiating, we smashed the Angels from Vancouver, and then "fell asleep" in game one of the match with Above The Net. Awakened from our slumber, we hammered them in game two 25-11, finally piecing together a near flawless game. This led to our first go-round with our second 18's team. They had worked on things all day, with different lineups as we did, but we were far too overpowering in a two match, 25-12, 25-12 victory.

Reflecting back on the day, on two separate instances, we strung together 3-4 game efforts at a solid, productive rate. If we can get back to that level of production without hesitation next Saturday, who knows what might happen. We are seeded 6th in the Gold division, at the courts in Beaverton on Saturday.

Practice and school without interruption might be just the ticket. Stay tuned!

Puget Sound Tournament
January 14-15, 2007 @ Juanita High School - Kirkland, WA

"You gotta beat the best to be the best"

As the top 18's team in the tournament from the Columbia Empire Region, Asics was pitted against the top teams from the Puget Sound and Evergreen Regions in a tough tournament featuring 5, 3 out of 3 games to 25 matches, at Juanita High School in Kirkland. The Sunday, Monday format was an intense and worthwhile experience for a relatively inexperienced Cowlitz squad.

VIP of Spokane was our first obstacle. We started slow, and eventually got a head of steam up and were able to prevail in three close games. Next up was the always dominant, highly skilled Kent Juniors team. This team was huge in size, and although we scored points, were unable to take a game off of them. Passing was very suspect, as was our offense. To finish Sunday we went up against Puget Sound 18's, another huge team, who lost three straight to VIP, but defeated Kent Juniors 2 games to one. Similar problems plagued us as in the KJ match. We lost miserably in game two, and close in game one, and prevailed 28-26 in the third game. It was not a pretty day.

On Monday, after having faced three very tough teams on Sunday, and using 7 different lineups, we began to solidify our lineup and offense in two solid matches against Blue Ice of Mukilteo and Northwest Juniors of Seattle, sweeping both. Our passing improved as did our offense. We were able to involve far more hitters in the lineup, with very positive results. Our ability to pass and run offense further complicated team’s abilities to defend us. We also shored up our serving, focusing on less misses, more aces, and serving areas on demand. With a 9-6 game record, and 3-2 match record, it was a solid learning experience for us.

As with all of the Cowlitz teams, due to loss of time in the gym due to weather issues, which still continue, we are in desperate need to hit the courts to practice what we have learned are our weaknesses. The tournament trail is not getting any easier as we host the 23rd Annual Awards N' More Classic the last weekend in January. This will be the largest tournament ever hosted with 48 slated to compete for 16's and 18's division championships.

Visit any Longview gym on January 28th and see top volleyball action. The Cowlitz Asics team will be in action at LCC and Mark Morris. Should be a great weekend!

Power League Qualifier
January 7, 2007 @ Albany Boys & Girls Club - Albany, OR

The Qualifier took place at the Albany Boys and Girls Club, a great facility that like so many other Northwest structures, was pelted by rain (inside and out) throughout the day. It was an aggressive, determined and much improved Asics team that steadily got better throughout the 5 match day.

Falling victim to our improving assault were teams from Canby, Oregon City, and Bend in two straight games each. Canby is a fun team to play, although they did not have as much fun as we did. For the second straight year, we began our qualifier at their expense. Against Oregon City we shuffled the lineup, and saw similar results. Our team can pass, and play defense, and regardless of the setter, the "bigs" can attack the ball.

After a 25-7 defeat of Jim Peter's Oregon Suns in the first game of match three, they put on a great display of determination and actually served game point four times. Asics finally prevailed 30-28, in a good display of playing under pressure.

The semi's pitted us against our neighbors to the south in the Clark County Juniors. We were clicking no matter which combination we used, and the results were obvious from the start. We then moved on to the reigning 16's champions from the ‘06 Festival Tournament, and in a closely contested match, we lost 23 and 20. Our 9 missed serves certainly played into the final score.

This group is already showing attributes of a quality team, and it will be exciting to watch their growth during the season. 7 seniors and four juniors comprise the team that will be heard from often throughout the grueling Power League season.

Juniors include Shayley Jacobson from River Ridge, Denali Preston from Toutle Lake, Sylvia Herrold from Naselle, and returnee Allison Buck from Camas.

A strong senior group includes Stefani Webb-Hail, and BriAnne Culbertson from R.A. Long, Alicia Proctor from Heritage, and Tracie Harrison from Camas. Add to that returnees Shyra Hoffman, and Alyssa Wistrick from R.A. Long, and Joelle Perez from Heritage, and you have the ingredients for a strong season.

Next up is the MLK Classic this Sunday and Monday at Juanita High School in Kirkland. Stay tuned!