The Ridgecrest Purple Starlings 14-year old Purple team won a grueling 3-day International Tournament in San Diego this weekend. 

The first day of the tournament was pool play at the Balboa Park Facility.  Fortunately the temperature was mild so the inside was only uncomfortably warm (last year the place was a Sauna).

The Starlings faced Oak hills in the First Match.  There was no idea as to the quality of the competition as teams were placed in each pool seemingly randomly.

The first game was a decisive 25-10 win by the Purples with Jazmine Stenger-Smith leading with 9 serves and 1 ace, followed by 7 serves and 12 aces by Michaela Metcalf.

The Starlings followed up with another decisive victory  lead by Becca Stoffel with 10 serves and 1 ace and solid defense by Libero Grace Tesdall

The Purples then faced Daly City in the Second Match.  The first game was another decisive victory (25-8) lead by Bridget Ingle with 8 serves and 4 aces and strong play by Brooke Nelepovitz.   6 of Daly City’s points came off Starlings service errors.  The coaches kept saying “now’s the time to get the service errors out of the way, we can’t do this later”.  The second game was another 25-10 victory with 5 of Daly City’s 10 points coming off Starlings’ service errors.   The Starlings were dominating play and were encouraged to experiment with serving so the errors were acceptable. 

The Third Match was against Oceanside and featured Barthol as the substitute coach.  The Starlings really dominated play again winning 25-8.  Allie Sliva was the hot server with 9 serves and 3 aces with Becca Stoffel adding 2 kills.  There were only 3 service errors.  The second game featured 5 Starlings service errors, due mostly to experimentation as the Starlings shot out to a 10-2 lead behind strong serving by Jazmine Stenger-Smith, great net presence by Michaela Metcalf and Bridget Ingle and solid defense by Libero Grace Tesdall. 

The 3-0 Match record placed the Starlings in the upper division of the tournament among the top 24 of the more than 50 teams.  This figured to be stronger competition as it was pool play against all the 1^st and 2^nd place finishers of Day 1. 

Day 2 started with the usual Starlings 9 am fog, which was now noticeable due to the stiffer competition. 

The Starlings faced  Santa Ana in the first Match.  Santa Ana had some tall players who tipped quite a bit.  The Purples struggled early, getting behind by a few points but rallied around Michaela Metcalfs strong serving with 7 serves and 3 aces, some solid defensive play by Libero Grace Tesdall, and some good battling at the net by Bridget Ingle.  With only 3 service errors, the Starlings pulled out at 25-23 victory.  Game 2 featured some very solid play by the Purples—in fact both teams played quite well.  Lead by Brooke Nelepovitz’s 8 serves and 2 aces, some solid play by Allie Sliva and only 1 service error, the Starlings went on to win 25-21.  This was one of the few (fortunately) cases were there were 2 obvious missed calls by Up Ref (both the Line Judge and the Down Ref agreed)—both against the Starlings.  However, the Starlings hung in to win. 

The Starlings then faced a very mobile Navajo Bob team.  Game 1 was a close 25-23 victory, with both teams on their toes. Allie Sliva lead with 6 serves and 2 aces and strong play at the net by Bridget Ingle paved the way to a Purple Victory.

The second game featured the highlight play of the entire tournament:  Libero Grace Tesdall made a diving save on a ball that was very well hit by the Navajo Bob team.  Grace’s save sent the ball spinning high up in the air, with the hope of giving a team mate time to get there.  Setter Jazmine Stenger-Smith was close behind Grace.  Grace kept her eye on the path of the ball and rolled out of Jazmine’s way, enabling Jazmine to make a desperate pass to Middle Michaela Metcalf.  Michaela then passed a spinning free ball lowover the net and the ball hit the floor on the opponent’s side for the Starlings’ 24^th point.  This seemed to take the wind out of the Navajo Bob team and the Starlings went on to win 25-15.

The final match of the day was going to be interesting.  Due to the Nature of pool play, the Purples were already guaranteed first place in the pool.  The Purples were not told this (although most of them suspected something).  The Purples came out strong defeating Santee Kelvin 25-14 despite 5 service errors.  The second game was also a decisive 25-13 Purple victory despite 5 service errors.  Strong serving by Michaela Metcalf and Brooke Nelepovitz with Bridget Ingle contributing 3 kills were featured in this final game. 

During Day 2 several of the coaches and parents were hearing some very complimentary things about the Purples, in the form of “Watch out for Ridgecrest Purples” and “They are winning”.  One of the referees complimented the Purples on their  sportsmanship, playing as a team, and overall skill.

This first place finish on Day 2 guaranteed a 6^th place or higher finish for the Purples; they were then sent to very grueling double elimination bracket play against the 5 other first place finishers of the other pools.

The first Match was against an extremely mobile and energetic team from Tijuana.  The Purples seemed to remember their old 9-am-start-habits and made many unforced errors (the exception being only 2 service errors).  The coaches had to use both time outs to try to stop runs by Tijuana.  The Starlings appeared to improve, but lost the first game 21-25.  The second game saw the Purples awaken a bit.  The Starlings roared out to a 6-0 lead behind Captain Jazmine Stenger-Smith’s strong service with 3 aces.  Key kills by Becca Stoffel, Brooke Nelepovitz and Allie Sliva; great touches/blocks by Michaela Metcalf and Bridget Ingle and several diving passes by Grace Tesdall lead to a 25-19 victory with only 2 service errors.  The tiebreaker was a real nail-biter.  Both teams traded the lead, and the coaches had to use both time outs to stop runs by Tijuana.  Strong play all around with only 1 missed serve lead to a 15-13 Starlings victory.    We all liked this team from Mexico and were wishing them the best.

Match 2 was against Hacienda Heights.  The first game featured Strong serving by Allie Sliva and Brooke Nelepovitz, with a great joust by Bridget Ingle on game point.  The Starlings won 25-19 with the 5 service errors making the game closer than it seemed.  Hacienda Heights put up more of a challenge in game 2 and the coaches had to use both time outs.  Strong serving by Becca Stoffel (8 serves and 2 aces) and Michaela Metcalf (5 serves with 3 aces), 2 kills by Bridget Ingle and solid overall play by Allie Sliva, Brooke Nelepovitz, Jazmine Stenger-Smith and Grace Tesdall lead to a 25-21 Purple victory with only 3 service errors.

The Third Match was against a very tall (some girls were over 6’) and very numerous (15 girls) Oakland team.  The Purples seemed a bit overwhelmed at first; again both timeouts were needed especially after the Starlings were down by 10-18, but strong serving by Michaela Metcalf and Brooke Nelepovitz and solid defensive play by Libero Grace Tesdall gave the Starlings a hard-fought 25-23 victory with 3 service errors.  This was also one of the few matches were the Starlings benefited from service errors of the opposing team.  Oakland roared to life during game 2, defeating the Starlings 25-19.  Oakland seemed to have a knack for passing/tipping/setting the ball just inside the back line.  The coaches counseled an adjustment for the tiebreaker.  During the tiebreaker the Starlings were to watch Oakland’s setter to see if she made a move to pass to a hitter or to set the ball towards the Starlings back row.  This adjustment seemed to help.  The Starlings jumped out to a 6-1 lead behind strong serving by Jazmine Stenger-Smith (6 serves and 3 aces) and later by  Michaela Metcalf with 7 flawless serves in a row.   Solid play by Becca Stoffel, Allie Sliva, Brooke Nelepovitz, Bridget Ingle and many diving passes by Grace Tesdall kept the Starlings in the lead. This game also featured a very scary book-keeping error.  The Starlings were up 13-7, but then the score board showed only a 11-9 starling lead.  The referee had to intervene.  The rules state that the scoreboard must reflect what the book says.  After much consultation the ‘by the book score’ was set to be 13-9 Starlings.  This did not sit well with many of us; however, it had to be accepted.    The Starlings went on to win 15-10.  This victory guaranteed the Starlings a worst-case 2^nd place finish. 

The Championship Match was against a very tough and resilient team from Shonto.  To many people’s relief, there were official line judges, down refs, score keepers and even a highlight announcer.   Shonto played only 5 players on the court as their squad had several injuries.  The Starlings played quite well with kills by Michaela Metcalf, Jazmine Stenger-Smith and Allie Sliva, solid passing by Becca Stoffel and Brooke Nelepovitz and several diving saves by Grace Tesdall, and a solid service run by Bridget Ingle.  The Starlings 25-16 victory (with 5 Starling service errors) served as a wake-up call to Shonto.  Much to the injured player’s credit, Shonto played a squad of 6 during game 2.  The Starlings couldn’t quite catch up, despite both time outs being used, and lost 18-25. 

The tiebreaker was an incredible tension-filled event.  The crowd was buzzing and the coaches’ hearts were racing (this is not a time to take one’s blood pressure).  If the Starlings won, they would get first.  If the Starlings lost, they still had a chance at first, but they would have to win the tiebreaker game (a game to 25).    The teams went back and forth for the first couple points.  Then Brooke Nelepovitz started a service run of 6 serves and 1 ace, which gave the Starlings a 7-2 lead.  Some diving saves by Grace Tesdall, solid play by Jazmine Stenger-Smith, Becca Stoffel, Bridget Ingle and Allie Sliva and a key kill by Michaela Metcalf then gave the Starlings a well-deserved 15-8 victory.

The announcement came over the loudspeaker:

Congratulations Ridgecrest Purple Starlings; the Under 14 National Champions!

There wasn’t a dry eye in Ridgecrest.

Individual player  highlights for the tournament.

Middle Michaela Metcalf had some tremendous blocks, lead the team in touches, and was a force at the net.  She had 97 total serves, 19 aces and 8 kills.  She had a key kill off a Shonto over-pass at the beginning of the Championship game.

Setter and Co-Captain Becca Stoffel had some great sets and great passes. She had 78 serves 16 aces and 5 kills. 20% of her serves were aces.  She also had a kill that walked across the net during the Championship game that kept momentum for Ridgecrest.

Libero Grace Tesdall was all over the floor and made over 27 diving passes to keep the ball in play.  Many of those dives looked painful.  Many of her passes come of strong hits or tricky passing by the other team.   Grace had a key desparation return for a point that prevented a Shonto comeback.

Setter and Captain Jazmine Stenger-Smith kept the team on track and was a solid setter.  She had 107 serves 15 aces and 4 kills.  She had a serving percentage of 96 and missed only 4 serves the entire tournament.

Outside Hitter Brooke Nelepovitz had some outstanding kills, tips and some great service runs.  She also had some key hits and kills that kept the opposing team ‘off system’. She had 95 serves 16 aces and 15 kills. 

Outside Hitter Allie Sliva had some great serving runs, solid athletic play and some key kills and tips. She had 71 serves, 14 aces and 10 kills.  Allie also served up a service ace for the Championship point.

Middle Bridget Ingle had some great kills and won many battles (called jousting) at the net against much taller players.  She had 59 serves 6 aces and 11 kills. 

Nice work Purples!

Dr. John D. “The Punisher” Stenger-Smith

Congratulations to the Ridgecrest Starlings 14s Purple Team on winning the Starlings National Tournament in San Diego this weekend.  Details and photos and news articles forthcoming.

I am very proud of you all!   The Punisher

by Noah Moore Lining

Day 1 of Regionals.

The Starlings arrived the night before and stayed at our usual accommodations.  We arrived at Cypress College, land of the ever-present parking police. 

Match 1 was versus 900SqFt-Steve.  The first game was very hotly contested.  Both teams played well, but some defensive breakdowns and 3 service errors cost the Starlings this game 21-25.  Something happened after this game, because the Starlings couldn’t seem to muster anything in game 2 and went quietly losing 8-25.  Good thing there was a long break between Match 1 and Match 2. 

The coaches then had a ‘motivational talk’ with the Starlings under the purple tree.  After some rest and recovery, Starlings came out ready for Match 2.

Game 1 was never in doubt.  Decent serving and 6 kills with only 3 service errors had the Starlings winning over Long Beach, by the book 25-12.  Our records indicated that it was 24-12, but the rules state that ‘you have to go by what’s in the book’.  This was probably the first time that this happened in the Starlings’ favor.  Starlings relaxed a little bit in the second game, and Long Beach was fired up to avenge the loss.  A barn burner promptly ensued with 5 game points (actually Match points if the Starlings had won) going up for grabs.  Starlings lost 28-26 due mostly to the 4 service errors—at least 2 on Match point for the Starlings.  Game 3 was less of a barn burner, and the Starlings won 15-11, the 3 service errors making it a bit closer, but the Starlings began to tighten up their play.   

The last match of the Day was versus Seal Beach.  The Starlings missed 6 serves and lost 21-25 despite outplaying Seal Beach.  Starlings then came roaring back in Game 2 defeating Seal Beach 25-16 with an acceptable 3 service errors.  Game 3 featured quite some discussion as to the application of what constituted ‘a lift’.  The Starlings however, played a very tight game and won 15-9 with only 1 service error.  This left the Starlings with a 2-1 match record.  However, 900SqFt lost their last match in 3 games to Long Beach, resulting in a 3-way tie for first.  Starlings ended up in 3^rd place because of a 4-4 game record and ended up in the Lower Division of Flight 1.

Highlights for the Day by Player:

Middle Blocker Michaela Metcalf:  10 kills and some key blocks.  A very large percentage of her kills hit the ground, and quite a few others were passed out of play.  Hitters on the other team were often intimidated by Michaela’s presence at the net.

Setter and Co-Captain Becca Stoffel had some great sets to the hitters for kills and some great passing.  There were also some key rallies where Becca made a critical pass/save to keep the rally going.  She served some high velocity serves to get the other teams ‘off system’; and added some kills to stop the opposing teams’ rally.

Libero Grace Tesdall was all over the place making diving plays to save rallies and made some key digs off very difficult hits from the opponent.  There were a few great ‘extra-effort’ passes and plays made by Grace that kept the Starlings in play.  A good first pass is required to run the offense, and Grace supplied plenty.

Setter and Captain Jazmine Stenger-Smith served up 6 aces and also made some key sets to hitters.  True to her style, Jazmine was discussing interpretation of what constitutes ‘a lift’ or at least the consistency of the definition (this call would have ended game 3 and match 3 in the Starlings’ favor).  After a negative response by the referee, Jazmine was set by Becca Stoffel and delivered a kill onto the other team’s side, adding a very appropriate exclamation point.

Brooke Nelepovitz was the serving monster on Day 1 serving 53 serves with 3 aces while serving at 90%.  Brooke also added 6 kills, most of which were untouchable.  Brooke did an outstanding job of directing some of her hits to empty spots and corners. 

Allie Sliva was the most consistent server for Day one, serving at a very nice 95% and 14% of Allie’s serves were aces.  Allie also added 6 kills to empty corners and open spots.  Quite a few of Allies kills were tips to the “Black Hole”.  Allie was also impressive on the back row, delivering some great passes.

Bridget Ingle did an excellent job at her first year of being a middle blocker for the Starlings.  She had quite a few blocks, some touches to slow down the opponents hits, and continues to serve quality, tough serves.  Bridget has great volleyball instincts and learns very quickly. 

Day 2 of Regionals was at Club West, a very nice facility with many courts and a well-cared-for sports floor.  There was an issue with the referees in that there were none for our flight.  At least, the referees were ‘on their way’ up until the day was over.

First Match was against T-Street.  The Starlings won the first game handily 25-12 despite 4 service errors (which were somewhat offset by 6 team kills).  T-Street came roaring back in game 2 and had the lead on occasion, however 13 strong serves by Brooke Nelepovitz and 4 kills by Allie Sliva with only one team service error led the Starlings to a 25-22 victory. 

Second Match was against High Tide.  The first game gave the coaches and parents some great adrenaline.  The Starlings and High Tide traded the lead for quite some time.  Strong serving by Jazmine Stenger-Smith and some key kills by Becca Stoffel sealed the Starlings 25-22 victory.  Game 2 was even tighter.  Strong Defensive play by Libero Grace Tesdall and some blocks by Michaela Metcalf and Bridget Ingle held off the rising High Tide and the Starlings won 25-23.  It was a very nice team effort with only 2 service errors.

Third Match was against Surf City.  The first game was a head-scratcher.  The Starlings seemed to forget how to serve, with a whopping 5 service errors in the first 15 Starlings points.  More than compensating for this (thankfully!) were a team record 15 total kills!   Michaela Metcalf led with 5 kills, with Becca Stoffel and Brooke Nelepovitz adding 4 each. The Starlings went on to win 25-19.  Game 2 was a bit more exciting with 4 Starlings service errors, but key kills by Allie Sliva and Bridget Ingle, some diving saves by Libero Grace Tesdall, and some nice sets by Jazmine Stenger-Smith gave the Starlings a 25-21 victory.  The 3-0 match record put the Starlings in the Championship round, in which they would face the top seeds of the other pool.

After about 30 minutes the Starlings where scheduled to play Temecula in the Semi-Final.    The Starlings got out to a nice 6-0 lead thanks to strong serving by Jazmine Stenger-Smith.  The Starlings allowed Temecula a peak at the lead but some excellent effort by the team to keep the ball in play, several diving saves/passes by Grace Tesdall, along with some key kills by Michaela Metcalf and Allie Sliva to stop a Temecula rally kept the Starlings in the lead.  Brooke Nelepovitz served 4 in a row with an ace to keep the Starlings on top, and some touches/blocks by Bridget Ingle allowed the Starlings to stay ‘in system’.  Game point was an excellent pass by Allie Sliva to Jazmine Stenger-Smith, who back-set to Becca Stoffel for a kill that hit the paint.  Starlings won 25-20.

A short 15 minute break and the Starlings faced High Tide for the Championship.  Things got off to a very rough start for the Starlings, as High Tide went up 5-0.   A key kill by Bridget Ingle stopped the Rising Tide and turned the serving over to Brooke Nelepovitz, who served strong and allowed the Starlings to go up 6-5.  A couple of kills by Allie Sliva and Michaela Metcalf kept the rallies going, along with many diving saves by Libero Grace Tesdall.  Becca Stoffel then served 8 rockets, 2 of which were aces to give the Starlings a commanding 23-13 lead.  High Tide was beginning to fight back when a nice kill by Jazmine Stenger-Smith set up Championship point.  High Tide then benefitted from a somewhat close call.  There was some minor discussion with the line judge, but the Starlings shrugged it off and continued to play.  High Tide served and there was quite a long rally, but then Brooke Nelepovitz spotted an opening and took advantage, delivering an untouched kill. 

The coaches were very impressed with the Starlings play at this very grueling tournament.  The girls played well, they played a lot, they played tired, and they stuck together. 

Day 2 Player Highlights.

Middle Blocker Michaela Metcalf finished Day 2 with 17 kills.  Her excellent hitting and blocking lifted the team at key times.

Setter and Co-Captain Becca Stoffel finished Day 2 with 8 kills, one of which was an outstanding kill to end the semi-final game.

Libero Grace Tesdall again provided excellent defense and got quite a few floor burns from her diving saves.  Liberos rarely show up on the score sheet, but they make plays that allow the offense to run. 

Setter and Captain Jazmine Stenger-Smith was the highlight server missing only 1 serve the entire day, ending up with a 98% serving and 8.5% aces.  Jazmine is also quite the Barrister when discussing calls with the referee.

Brooke Nelepovitz was the serving monster on Day 2 serving 54 serves with 6 aces while contributing 8 kills (the last was for the championship).   Many of those kills were to wide open spots on the court.

Allie Sliva was the tipping machine for Day 2, with 14 kills, 10 of which were tips to the ‘Black Hole’.  Some solid all around passing by Allie also contributed to the Starlings’ victory.

Bridget Ingle had quite a few key blocks, some touches to slow down the opponents hits, and continues to serve quality, tough serves and contributed 4 kills at key times.  Bridget also served quite a few times at game and match point and reacted well to the pressure.  

The Purples took first in the Lower Division Bracket at Regionals this past weekend.  Here is a very brief summary (details and stats added after the Punisher’s stomach lining recovers).  The team traveled to Cypress College on Saturday and suffered the “Cypress Curse” during the first match.  After losing the first game due to service errors, the Purples couldn’t get anything going and lost the second game by a fairly wide margin.  After a nice long break and a ‘pep talk’ by the Purple tree (yes it is purple).  The Starlings came back rejuvenated and took care of business winning the next 2 matches in 3 games.  The Starlings finished 2-1 in match percentage, but finished 3 because of game percentage; thus sending the Purples to the lower division Regionals Bracket  It was ironic as in other tournaments, the Starlings finished as high as 2nd with a 1-2 match record.  Such are the rules. 

On Sunday the club traveled to Club West, a facility similar to Rolling Hills prep, but with MUCH BETTER floor quality.  The Starlings came out fired up and took care of business in pool play, going 3-0 in Match play and placing them in the Championship Bracket.   It was a bit nerve racking as there were no SCVBA officials for our match, the teams had to do the reffing, and the over-worked SCVBA officials on site were a bit late in getting the information to the teams. 

The semi final game was won 25-22 (score may be corrected later as Punisher has misplaced the stats) and after a short break the Purples went to face High Tide in the Finals–a team that gave the Starlings a bit of trouble. 

Needless to say that the Starlings won! 

Congratulations to the Purples!!!! 

Details in a few days.