The Beach Volleyball Club of America is holding its 9th annual National Championship from July 15-19 in Hermosa Beach. Age groups participating include 18, 16, 14 and 12U and have staggered start days. All of the previous beach tournaments we’ve covered have been teams which were not playing for and representing a club, but this tournament is and all teams have been picked by the club directors. This introduces different pairings with exciting skill sets and dynamics involved. Below we highlight the Day 1 Show Stoppers from the 16s and 18s.
16U
Kate Morley/Stacey Reeves – The No. 1 seed overall, this duo impressed. Their ball control allows them to contend with any team, but it’s their defensive intensity that will give them separation from others.
Charlotta Bell/Savanna Lau – Bell’s got one of the best blocks on the beach, which allows the speedy Lau to cover most of the back row.
Kealy Dirner/Mackenzie Miller – Miller is impressive at the net. The blocker can bring the heat and with her high reach has some extreme angles that she creates with her arm speed.
Haylee Lafontaine/Danielle Sparks – Their ball control allowed them to breeze through pool play. Sparks shined with her defense and conversions, whileLafontaine had strong serving runs and impressive kills.
Elise Lenahan/Kiera Tanioka – We loved watching this duo play. A strong team with good communication and sound ball control. They can rally with any team. Tanioka makes good reads and completes the play with well-placed shots.
Ingrid Timon-Johnson/Mallory LaBreche – LaBreche plays with the steadiness of a veteran. She makes good reads as a blocker and playing the net well. Nothing rattles her.
Kiki Remensperger/Isa Wiklund – This team caught our attention with their energy and teamwork. They both did a good job of rotating around each other and communicating during broken plays, saving many points. Wiklund’s vocal and positive energy is fun to be around.
Ella Irwin/Lilianna Tosches – Irwin and Tosches pulled of a mini upset coming in third in the pool and eventually taking first. Tosches does a good job as a defender with her reads. She covers a lot of court and her conversion rate leading to points is excellent.
18U
Maggie Boyd/Gabriella Walker – Fresh off winning the AVP tournament last weekend, this duo cruised through pool play. Walker showed great athleticism picking up shots then transitioning with some thunderous kills.
Bailey Showalter/Kyleen Filimaua – This duo stands out. Both are over 6-0 tall and can punish balls at the net. Whether it’s blocking, attacking or defending their skills are excellent and will allow them to make a deep run.
Savannah Standage/Erin Inskeep – Standage impresses at the net with her powerful swing. Paired with Inskeep’s ball control and this group had no problems on Day 1.
Kelly Belardi/ Jenna Colligan – Belardi – a Stanford indoor and beach commit – plays with great court vision. She has a good sense of where the defense is positioned and has a good arm swing to be able to place it where she wants.
Tawny Ensign/Skylar Ensign – Winners of the silver bracket at the AVP last week, this team had no problems in pool play. Tawny is very quick as a defender and able to read and pick up tough cut shots. She then has a good ability to convert usually with a good line shot.
Ashley Pater/Kennedy Coakley – Coakley’s strong presence at the net, combined with Pater’s defensive intensity make them a fun and exciting team to watch. Rallies are usually finished with Pater hustling for a ball, then converting with great angle shots.
Zoey Henson/Clara Stowell – A good mixture of Stowell’s net play and Henson’s ability to defend and convert points made for an easy day for this duo. Henson’s serve with good pace and accuracy could give them a chance at a deep run.
Kelly Mccloskey/Finley Rollins – Rollins is another impressive blocker we watched. When she squats down and then explodes up to block, she actually gets her elbows to the tape and intimidates the opposing attacker.
