Tulsa saw seven division champions be crowned last week at the 2018 USA Volleyball High Performance Championships. The age-group tournaments are part of USA Volleyball’s Path to the Podium program, which attempts to identify, evaluate and develop talent at the player, coach, and officials level.
Women’s International Junior Division
The event’s most elite division, the Women’s International Junior, was won by Tea USA Junior A1 Red, who defeated Team USA Junior A1 White in a convincing 3-0 (25-11, 25-11, 25-20) effort.
Setter Mia Tuaniga was named the division’s tournament MVP: “I couldn’t do it without my team. It’s more about them then me. I’m just here for the ride. My goal is to play Olympic volleyball USA. That’s where I want to go.”
Girls’ National Select
Team Florida defeated Aloha in a come from behind victory in 5 sets (23-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-10, 15-10), netting coach Flavia Siqueira her fifth straight title.
“I think the change in the lineup made all the difference. We were being used, we were being tooled quite often, so we decided to change a little bit of strategy and play defense instead of blocking. That helped us a little towards the end of the second set. From then on, it worked, and the momentum changed. In the past we had stronger and taller teams that would come in and not even lose a set. We didn’t lose a set two years in a row. However, this time it is a younger group and we didn’t have that available to us. So, we were able to play a chess game with these kids and it was just a great experience. It’s amazing,. It’s a great feeling to know that the players are able to adapt so quickly to changes throughout this tournament especially.”
Florida’s Kallista Cors was named competition’s MVP: “I’m speechless. This is my first year doing HP and this is one of the greatest experiences ever. I loved it so much. I love all the girls; the coaches are awesome. This tournament was the best part of my summer.”
Boys’ International Youth
Southern California defeated Aloha 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-19). Alex Knight, also a member of Team USA’s Youth Team, and who spent half of the season recovering from an ankle injury, was the tournament’s MVP:
“I was in physical therapy day in and day out. I worked hard and it’s been paying off, so that’s been awesome. Each experience, working with these coaches and playing with these guys, is awesome. We’re super close all the guys and it just makes a lot of fun. I love what I’m doing.”
Girls’ National Youth
Aloha beat Old Dominion 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 26-24, 25-20). Aysia Miller was the team competition’s MVP:
“From the beginning we just trusted each other to just play how we play. We knew we could play good if we just played together. We built a bond; we all just play for each other, played with our heart and pushed through. We’re not a very big team. We knew we could defend well and pass well as long as we got those things down, we knew we were able to beat the other team.”
Boys’ Regional
Iowa beat Texoma 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25.17). Here is coach Max Roquet’s reaction:
“Actually, in our first year, we went 0-24 in sets. We didn’t win a single set, a single match and this year we didn’t even lose a match, so that’s like how much we’ve grown in four years. It’s pretty cool. We came prepared every match. We just came out ready to play and it was awesome. It’s so awesome to win an HP championship.”
Full Recap
Women’s International Juniors
(born in 1999 and after)
Gold: USA Junior A1 Red
Silver: USA Junior A1 White
Bronze: Canada Juniors
Boys’ International Youth
(born in 2000 and after)
Gold: SCVA (Southern California)
Silver: Aloha
Bronze: USA Youth A1 Red
Girls’ International Youth
(born in 2002 and after)
Gold: Team Florida
Silver: GEVA (Garden Empire)
Bronze: Iowa
Girls’ National Youth
(born in 2002 and after)
Gold: Aloha
Silver: ODR (Old Dominion)
Bronze: OVR (Ohio Valley)
Girls’ National Select
(born in 2004 and after)
Gold: Team Florida
Silver: Aloha
Bronze: Iowa Select Black
Boys’ National
(born in 2001 and after)
Gold: Team Florida
Silver: SCVA (Southern California)
Bronze: OVR (Ohio Valley)
Boys’ Regional
(born in 2001 and after)
Gold: Iowa
Silver: Texoma Select Black
Bronze: GEVA (Garden Empire)
Girls’ Future Select
(born in 2006 and after)
Gold: Oklahoma
Silver: Lone Star
Bronze: Puget Sound
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