Emerald City Classic a Huge Success
June 3, 2010
OVC ended their regular season with a roar during the Emerald City Classic. "What a great tournament WVBA puts on there at the UW Campus", said Coach Joe. The Willamette Valley Classic @ Oregon State University has been our favorite tournament over the past few years; but this year’s ECC was one of the best ran tournaments of the year. It's set up great with the team camping areas up in the Bank of America Arena, where everyone gets to be steps from viewing the main courts, as well as the facilities. Another great feature is how the Directors and Coaches get to socialize with all the recruiters in the best stocked coaches/referee lounge around. Parents where commenting how nice it was to have the venders right there along the main walkway from the Arena to Dempsey, where most of the action took place, and the atmosphere was electric. OVC is proud of all the players that put forth so much effort working together and maximizing their teams potential to achieve at the highest level.
Without the services of their star setter, the OVC 15 RoShamBo team came together and fought a tough Excel 16 team from Columbia Empire Region. Coach Ron was really proud of how the girls circled the waggons and left it all on the court. There is some amazing talent in that group.
The OVC 14 RoShamBo team did even better by winning the Silver Bracket of the 14 Open Division. Additionally, Riley Podowicz was selected as part of the All-Tournament Team. Great job everybody for having such a great work ethic, and putting forth so much effort. You can truly be proud of your season. OVC 14 RSB used this tournaments’ competition to sharpen their skill in preparation for their final tournament of season, the USAV Junior National Championships, held this year in Reno, NV. This is an amazing group of girls, and it's a pleasure watching them come together over the years under the mentorship and guidance of Coach Joe Cruz, and this year’s Assistant Coach Julie Ash.
Extraordinary effort and amazing performance are what comes to mind when I think of the OVC 18 RoShamBo team. Coach Brian McClaflin and Asst. Coach Kayla Owens has got this group firing on all cylinders. After 2 days of incredibly tough pool play and an amazing cross-over victory over a great Webfoot 18-1 team, they were guaranteed top 8, Gold in 18 Open. They fought their hearts out but came up short (25-27, 18-25) to an amazing 18-1 Nike Air Elite team that is one of the top teams in the Nation.
Coach Brian was heard saying "I'm so proud of these girls, they were amazing!” He told me that this year’s team has been one the nicest collection of girls he's ever coached. He praised their maturity and said it's amazing how there is no Drama among the girls. All these girls want to do is work hard together and achieve at the highest level. It was a strange year in that several of the girls fought through persisting injuries. The recent addition of Katrina McClaflin and Cara Olden was a huge bonus, they both fit right in. It seems each year, we do a little better. It's looking like next year's OVC 18 RoShamBo team will again be one of the top teams in the entire Puget Sound Region. It's an exciting time to be part of the Olympia Volleyball Club.