Volleyball Club Results Mixed in Nationals

They traveled to the tournament together, ate meals together and spent free time together.

But the two SoCal Volleyball Club girls’ teams that competed in the U. S. Junior National Volleyball Championships last weekend in Fort Collins, Colo., had differing experiences when they stepped onto the court.

While the team in the 16-and-under age group finished seventh, the 18-and-under squad struggled because of an injury and tied for 25th in a field of more than 60 teams. The SoCal teams are made up of some of the top high school players in the Valley area.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” said Mora Kanim, the coach of the 16-and-under team. “I knew we would do well, I just didn’t know we would do this well. We peaked at the right time.”

The 16-and-under team emerged from two days of pool play seeded 12th but lost its first match in the double-elimination playoffs. The team won its next four matches, including a three-game victory over the third-seeded team, before losing to Front Range, Colo., in the quarterfinals Sunday.

Amy Chellevold, who will be a junior at Thousand Oaks High this fall, was named an honorable-mention All-American.

“As the week progressed, we got better and better,” Kanim said. “We started beating the teams that beat us earlier.”

The week started poorly for the 18-and-under team and got progressively worse. Middle blocker Kristen Cleary suffered an ankle sprain the day before the tournament began and the team, which was reduced to seven players because of the injury, was winless in two days of pool play and two playoff matches.