Volleyball Favorite Stumbles, Recovers

Team Norelco is the team to beat in the Bud Light Pro Beach Volleyball League, but it stumbled out of the blocks Friday in a tournament at Huntington Beach.

Norelco, which has won the last two tournaments and a total of three this season, lost to Team Paul Mitchell, 15-5, in its first game of pool play.

“We weren’t blocking any balls, we weren’t playing defense and we weren’t being a team,” Norelco captain Samantha Shaver said. “There was no balance and it definitely showed.”

But Norelco bounced back and defeated Gabrielle Reece’s Team Nike, 15-4, and Stephanie Cox’s Team Discus Athletic, 15-13, to finish the day 2-1 in pool play. Marissa Hatchett, formerly of Sunny Hills High, had a team-high 18 kills and also had five blocks against Discus Athletic to cap off the day.

“When you have a bad game and you come back and play really well, that shows you are concentrating as a team,” Shaver said.

Paul Mitchell likewise showed a lot of concentration on Friday, defeating Sony Autosound, 15-6, and Nike, 15-10, to finish the day 3-0.

Paul Mitchell, led by captain Janett Cobbs, has not won a tournament this season. It has advanced to three tournament finals, where it lost each time.

“We’re going to have to not change anything from what we do in pool play [if Paul Mitchell advances to the final],” said Cobbs, a member of the bronze-medal winning 1992 U.S. Olympic team. “I think maybe we put more pressure on ourselves in the finals.”

Sony Autosound, the only team that did not play three games, was 1-1 after Friday’s pool play, Discus Athletic, 1-2, and Nike, 0-3.

Women’s pool play concludes today with Sony Autosound against Norelco at 8 a.m., Discus Athletic against Paul Mitchell at 9 a.m. and Nike against Sony Autosound at 10 a.m. The second and third place team will play at 11 a.m. and the winner will join the first place team in the final at 1 p.m.

In the men’s competition, which begins at 2 p.m. today, Dusty Dvorak’s Team OP will try to extend its winning streak to three tournaments. OP replaced former Edison High and UCLA player Mike Diehl, who announced on Thursday he was leaving the tour, with former Ocean View High and UC Irvine player Leland Quinn.