Thursday March 4, 2010 will be a picture day for the Ridgecrest Starlings Volleyball Club

We will be taking pictures of the entire club, all four teams and the individual players at 8 PM that night.

The 14s teams will leave their practice at 7:45 and travel over to the Kerr McGee Center where they will join the 15s and 16s teams.

14s Teams - We need a couple parent volunteers from each team to transport the teams from their practice at Castle-X at 7:45 to the Kerr McGee Center.  Let your coach know if you can help out.  Everyone will pick their players up at the Kerr McGee Center at 8:45.

15s/16s Teams - We will take pictures starting at 8:00 PM then both teams will practice afterwards until 10 PM.

Everyone - Come dressed as you would for a tournament - jerseys, shorts, socks, kneepads, court shoes, sweat pants, sweatshirts.  Bring both Jerseys.  All teams will start out wearing purple.  Be prepared to change jerseys.  Team Captains will let your players know which shorts or socks to wear if appropriate.

See you all at the Kerr McGee Center on Thursday - Bring your smiles.

14s Purple Qualifier 3 Notes:

Match 1 versus 900 square feet

The third qualifier for the starlings had them as the second seed playing at CSU Dominguez Hills.  Very nice facility:  4 courts with plenty of room and seating around the edges and very good lighting.  Very rarely did we see a ball from the next court interrupt the game.

First match was against 4th seed 900 square feet.  It took a while to figure out that  900SQFT is the area of ½ the court.  This team, at warm-up, appeared to the stiffest competition, especially with 900SQFT coming off a victory from qualifier 2.   The Starlings, apparently unfazed by the 4:30 departure time, came out firing on all cylinders during the first game.  Strong service runs by Jazmine Stenger-Smith, Brooke Nelepovitz and Michaela Metcalf combined for 7 of the 9 total Starlings aces lead the way.  A key play, with the Starlings showing great hustle had Brooke diving to make a pass off a tough hit with the pass heading towards the back of the starlings service area, Michaela followed up with a great pass that directed the ball back towards the playing area and a nice play by Allie Sliva got the ball over the net.  900SQFT was unable to return the pass for a nice point for the Starlings.  Starlings won 25-17 with only 3 service errors.  Game 2 feature 4 kills by Michaela Metcalf, strong defensive play by Grace Tesdall and Hannah Farmer and a spinning kill by Bridget Ingle where the ball traveled along on top of the net before settling in on the other side of the court untouched.  Starlings went on to win 25-18 with 4 services errors.

Second Match was against 3rd seed Triumph.  During the first game, the starlings struggled a bit in passing and hitting, committing enough unforced errors and 6 service errors.  Some key aces by Becca Stoffel and Bridget Ingle and kills by Michaela Metcalf and Jazmine Stenger-Smith rounded out a nail-biting 25-23 victory.  The Starlings played similarly in Game 2 and there was a bit of a distraction due to a urinary emergency that had to be held in.  We couldn’t sub anyone out, so the starlings played under a lot of stress.  Strong serving by Becca Stoffel, Jazmine Stenger-Smith and Allie Sliva rounded out a gut-it-out 25-22 victory. 

Observing  900SQFT during their other matches demonstrated how tough the Starlings played them in game 1.  Tough serving by the Starlings did not allow  900SQFT to run the offense they were putting up against the other teams. 

The Third and final match was against SMBC.  The first game was a total team victory for the starlings.  Michaela Metcalf with 4 serves, 2 aces and 2 kills; Becca Stoffel with 4 serves and 1 kill; Grace Tesdall with solid defense and passing to the setter allowing the kills to occur, Jazmine Stenger-Smith with 7 serves and 2 kills.; Hannah Farmer with good defense and a diving pass over the net for a kill; Brooke Nelepovitz with 5 serves; Allie Sliva with 3 serves and 2 kills and Bridget Ingle (fighting off a sore ankle) with some solid blocking and a key kill rounded out the Starlings 25-15 victory with only 2 service errors.   Since SMBC won their first match in 3 games; and  900SQFT finishing 2-1 with 4 game wins and 2 game losses, this game 1 victory in match 3 guaranteed a first place finish for the Starlings.  However, the Purples were simply told:  “Win this next game”.  The Starlings served more aggressively now that SMBC seemed to be struggling to find energy.  Again the Starlings played solid all around.  Strong defense again by Hannah Farmer and Grace Tesdall, key passing and hustle by Allie Sliva, solid serving by Becca Stoffel and Bridget Ingle, a 6-point service run by Jazmine Stenger-Smith, 6 serves and 4 aces by Brooke Nelepovitz and the Michaela “The Kill Machine” Metcalf with 5 kills (at least 3 of which were untouched) rounded off a very solid 25-10 starlings victory.  6 of the 10 points were off Starlings service errors, but the coaches were untroubled as the Starlings had a commanding lead throughout the final game.

Now we know what qualifier 3 has brought:  A Division 9 start for Mandatory 1.

Match 1 versus Mile High

The second qualifier for the Purples had them placed as 4 seed and around 170th over all, thanks to their domination at qualifier 1.  Qualifier 2 featured a couple of teams moving down from the silver bracket and placed as high as 100th.  Definitely tough competition

Our first match as against 3rd seed Mile High.  Unlike the usual Starlings first games, the purples came out strong.  Strong service runs and a couple of  kills  by Brooke Nelepovitz, and strong serving by Michaela Metcalf and Bridget Ingle; coupled with quite a few long rallies and solid defense by Grace Tesdall were quite the crowd-pleasers.  Highlight of one rally was a kick-save by Allie Sliva. The starlings went on to a comfortable 25-6 win, with 2 opposing points off service errors.  Game 2 featured a nice service run by Jazmine Stenger-Smith with 13 serves, 3 aces and no errors.  Kills by Micheala Metcalf and Brooke Nelepovitz (who tipped some kills right to the floor), and an outstanding defensive play by Hannah Farmer and a roof by Bridget Ingle (her first) rounded out the Starlings 25-9 win, with 4 opposing points from Starlings Service Errors.

During the second match the Starlings struggled with serving first game and lost  26-24 the 3 service errors being the difference.  The team seemed a little down on the second game and struggled again with serving, but also with passing and hitting and lost 25-17

The first game of the final match against Hawthorne was a loss of 25-18.  The Starlings were playing better after a pep talk from the coaches, but the 5 service errors cost the game.  The second game was a bit closer, but Hawthorne put up some great defense, good hitting and strong serving and the Starlings lost again 25-18 with only 2 service errors. 

The Starlings ended up in third place.  The take home message that the coaches told the players was “you can compete against these upper-division teams; you just can’t get down on yourselves when things start going wrong”. 

We will see what Qualifier 3 brings.

Match 1 versus Mission Viejo

The day started at 5:30 am, with many parents grateful for the extra hour sleep.  We arrived at the American Sports Arena at 8:15 a bit surprised that the arena is now charging admission.  The girls were also surprised by a visit from last year’s coach Megan Stokes. 

Our first match as against 3rd seed Mission Viejo.  It was apparent from the warm-ups that the 14s Purple did not belong in this group—in a good way.  The coaches then mentioned to the players:  “Prove to SCVBA that you belong in a higher bracket”.  Game 1 featured the usual Starlings, we just got here after 2.65 hours of driving game.  The team struggled a bit in the serving area and had total 3 kills.  However, Mission Viejo seemed unable to return most of the Purple’s serves with the starlings getting a total of 12 aces.  Good service runs by Allie Sliva and Becca Stoffel and Bridget Ingle’s first appearance at SCVBA qualifiers, first serve and first ace highlighted the first win by 25-9.  Four of Mission’s points were from Starlings service errors.  Game 2 was just as bumpy for the Starlings, in a relative way, but the Starlings went on to a 25-12 victory.  6 of Mission’s points were again from Starling’s service errors. 

The Starlings woke up a bit in Match 2 versus 4th seed Beach Cities.  Brooke Nelepovitz was the highlight server for game 1 going through a service run of 12 jump serves with 6 aces. The other team got frustrated as most of Brooke’s aces were untouched by the other team.  Starlings won 25-7 with 3 service errors.    Game 2 featured Hannah Farmer’s defensive play and a key kill, along with Grace Tesdall’s strong jousting at the net.  Starlings won 25-9 with 3 service errors.

Coach Rossi and Coach Beckstrom were preparing the Purple Starlings for their match against the second seed, who, up to the point held a slightly higher points percentage having each played the same team, and appeared to be a bit stronger opponent that the 3rd and 4th seeds.  This of course would be rendered moot when the Starlings played 2nd seed San Diego in the last match of the day.  The starlings started out strong in the beginning with Brooke Nelepovitz serving 10 jump serves with 5 aces along with 2 kills.  Brooke was purposefully aiming for holes in San Diego’s defense with most aces hitting either the floor or opposing player’s feet.   Bridget Ingle earned her second ace of the day.  Starlings went on to win 25-15 with 4 service errors.  The Starlings were really hitting their stride during the end of game one and Coach Beckstrom and Coach Rossi were reminding the girls to keep playing tough.    The starlings went out to an early lead with Jazmine Stenger-Smith jump serving 6 with 4 aces.  Brooke Nelepovitz, Becca Stoffel and Allie Sliva rounded out the serving threat:  just when San Diego seemed able to return the jump floater serves by Jazmine and Brooke, they were hit with the fast top-spin serves of Allie Sliva and Becca Stoffel.  Grace Tesdall and Hannah Farmed played great defense, making some nice passes to the setters, with Bridget Ingle making some good plays.  Match point featured a tremendous kill  by Michaela Metcalf that was untouched by San Diego.  Starlings went on to a very nice 25-12 victory with zero serving errors.

Ridgecrest Starlings 14 Purple Undefeated at Hesperia Preseason.
The Ridgecrest Starlings 14 Purple team traveled to Hesperia early Saturday morning  on January 3rd for a preseason tune-up in preparation for the upcoming SCVBA Qualifiers.   The gymnasium was very tight and narrow and the referees had to adjust the end line for serving.

The first game of the first match was against Oak Hill.  The Purple 14s cruised to an easy 25-5 victory behind Michaela Metcalf’s 8-straight service run with 5 aces with Becca Stoffel putting up 6 straight service run.   The second game featured 11 aces by the Starlings, however over-confidence and 3 service errors gave Oak Hill about 7 points.   Nevertheless the Starlings went on to a 25-13 victory. 

The second match featured a slightly stronger opponent, Tehachapi, however, nearly flawless serving (14 team aces and only 1 missed serve) gave the Purple 14s a 25-8 victory for the first game.  The second game cost the coaches a few layers of stomach lining as the starlings committed 6 services errors. Mitigating this were the 15 aces, excellent jousting by Grace Tesdall and an incredible 1-arm save by Jazmine Stenger-Smith.  The Starlings went on to win 25-11.

The third match was the match for which we all were waiting—a very tough Central Valley Starlings Team from the Bakersfield area.  Bakersfield cruised out to a 4-0 lead mostly on aces, but the Starlings fought back and got a side-out.  The other team then began to focus on hitting to Hannah Farmer.  However, Hannah showed great poise and played an outstanding defensive game with digs on several very hard hits and serves.  The Starlings had some key plays by Allie Sliva and a long service run by Brooke Nelepovitz to win game 1  25-16.  Game 2 featured some excellent play by both teams.  Again Hanna Farmer made some key passes on very hard hits, Allie Sliva had a service run of 6 serves with 2 aces, and Grace Tesdall had some key kills/jousts.  Several points had to be replayed due to errant balls from other courts and some spectator interference.  The Starlings prevail 25-18.

The coaches were very well pleased with the overall play.  The Purple 14s were running a new 6-2 offense for the first time in tournament play.

Hannah Farmer was the defensive star of the day, making great passes under pressure.  Grace Tesdall showed excellent timing winning most of her jousts for key points throughout all matches.  Michaela Metcalf served 32 times with 12 aces, Becca Stoffel served 29 time with 11 aces, Jazmine Stenger-Smith served 27 times with 12 aces, Allie Sliva served 25 times with 11 Aces, Brooke Nelepovitz served 23 times with 9 aces. Team serving percentage was 88.5% with an ace-to-miss ratio of 3.35.