As the 2016 travel season comes to an end, the administration here at TVC encourages our athletes and their family's to reflect on the past season. This is as important in the growing process as any step taken in the gym. To train and compete without reflection and analysis is to lose out on some of the most important gains one can make. Parents, as you reflect if you find you want to express some input for improvement or a compliment to TVC, our End-of-Year evaluation is still open. Click here to access that survey, it takes about 10-15 minutes.

On the administrative side of things, we meet with coach's individually to receive/give feedback, analyze the end-of-year survey responses--we're up to 123 as of publication, review tournament results, and look back to our mission statement to reflect on our  performance this past year (click to read more). Toledo Volleyball Club's mission statement reads:

Empower young athletes to grow through discipline, commitment, and teamwork.

One of the things Toledo Volleyball Club does best is emphasize teamwork & family. It was the first thing I noticed when I walked in to the Rec Center in 2011 for the first time to coach a regional team. Director, Michelle Hills, was involved yet so personable in our early interactions and in those interactions I saw in that first year here at TVC. Its why I stuck around and a huge reason why I even entertained taking on an Associate Director position.

This year, Sydney and I worked with coaches to up the intensity in the gym and the demand on our athletes in practice. This 'embrace the battle' mentality was re-enforced with our high school age kids during Thursday 'competition days' where our 15-1 & 2, 16-1 & 2, 17-1 & 2, and 18-1 teams played games to 15 with winners advancing a court and non-winners dropping a court. We determined a champion of each night by keeping a running score for each team--for example, win 25-23 and your team receives a +2. 17-1 won the last competition night on June 15th (pictured right). We both feel this stronger intensity & discipline in practice is important because it simulates the 'stress' of competition for the athletes and helps them learn to channel that pressure and handle it in a positive manner during competition.

Commitment is something we all need to continue to foster here at TVC. We have some athletes and families that are extremely committed to the grind of the club season, whose attendance and promptness rarely waiver. However, at a recent staff meeting we reviewed the importance of commitment in those last two months of the season where we noticed some drop off this year. May and June are critical to success at Nationals. As school winds down and summer starts, its easy to get complacent. Winning takes sacrifice. It can't be one person or four people willing to sacrifice. Volleyball is a team sport, everyone needs to be on the same page. We brainstormed several solutions for this which I am sure you will hear about at Meet the Team next December!

As for our tournament performance this year, I cannot emphasize enough how important tournament scheduling is for a team's success. Michelle takes great care to schedule our teams--some registrations need to be made before team formation is even complete! Here at TVC, we firmly believe that to be the best, you have to compete with the best. This year we entered our National teams in Open--the highest competition division possible--at several big tournaments in March including Bluegrass Pre-Qualifier in Louisville, Mideast Qualifier in Indy, and Windy City Qualifier in Chicago. On paper, some of our teams "didn't do so well" at these tournaments.

A prime example is 16-1. At Bid in April they were even ranked below our 16-2 team in the region because we competed at a lower division in these larger tournaments and our region does not 'weigh' results for Open in a manner that rewards risk taking. So why is it worth it? We have to ask ourselves: what is our goal? To be good in March? Or to peak in June/July? With each age group's ability level in mind, competing in the open division gives our teams a chance to face some of the nations top players in front of the most college coaches. This also exposes our athletes to a quicker speed of the game, helping them adapt to more efficient decision-making & emphasizing the importance of proper technique.

2016 Nationals Results

At the Ohio Valley Region Bid Tournament in April, two TVC teams punched their ticket to USAV Girls' Jr. National Championships. 13-1 Coached by Jeff Pitzen & Mike Varn as well as 16-1 coached by Sydney Antonio & Alison Mugler.

13-1 began play in an eight team pool, completing pool play over three days. By the end of the last match, 13-1 was in a four way tie for first in the pool with only the top three teams able to advance to gold. On the brink of elimination and after some very confusing tie break protocol, 13-1 Pitzen had to play off for 3rd place in the pool, facing a tough Uno 13 Elite out of Illinois who beat them in pool play in straight sets. They continued their winning ways on Day 3 of play, finishing with two more victories to earn their way into the eight team Gold Bracket! After a convincing first round win, 13-1 secured a spot on the podium with a guaranteed 3rd place finish. They faced Vegas Aces 13 Black in the semi-finals and the match did not disappoint. Both teams played well, however; TVC couldn't quite overcome a slow start in the third set and went on to lose the match 21-25, 25-17, 13-15. Finishing 3rd at Nationals was a great accomplishment and thrilling to watch.

Here is our Q & A with Head Coach, Jeff Pitzen:

Kelly Felix, our six rotation outside hitter, was a strong presence in serve receive for us. As I mentioned earlier, she also had some great attacks out of system and was hard to stop when we were in system.

TVC 16-1 began the day after 13-1 finished their run! They also played in an eight team pool, completing pool play over three days. By the end of pool play on day three, 16-1 held a record of 6-1 and was first place in their pool. They continued their winning ways on Day 3 of play, after received a bye in the first round of play-offs, they faced a strong Arizona team. After dropping the first set, 22-25, TVC came back with a vengeance winning the second set 25-19. In the deciding third set, 16-1 had a decent lead but AZ would not be put off. AZ eventually caught up and TVC even faced a match point, down at 14-15 when a block kill by MB Justice Wingate and RS Cass Calamunci tied the set at 15s. After that, TVC went on to win 17-15 to advance to GOLD! After a convincing first round win, 16-1 secured a spot on the podium with a guaranteed 3rd place finish. They faced large OT Asics team out of the Florida Region who was the #1 seed in the tournament. Despite a valiant effort and a lot of fight, the team fell in two sets 23-25, 19-25. Finishing 3rd at Nationals was a great accomplishment and thrilling to follow, great job coaches and players!

 

What were some of the keys to success for your team?

 

Coach Antonio: My kids were motivated and all had similar goals of becoming better players and stronger athletes. They all came 30 minutes before every practice and did extra work on what they needed to improve on as players. When a team shares similar goals it's easier to be successful. We were all working together to become better.

 

Attendance was not an issue for this team, and I think that speak volumes of where we ended up. How much you put in to a season is how much you are going to get out of it, and I think this team is a true testament to working hard truly does pay off. These girls became more explosive, trusted their teammates, and learned the essence of a team.

 

What was the benefit of tournament scheduling and playing in the Open division at some of your biggest tournaments?

 

CA: There were times where we struggled and it was hard for parents and players to see the strength of our schedule as being a positive, however, I am a true believer in order to be the best you have to play the best. Playing open was a great experience for our kids. The amount of college recruits we saw are uncountable, and we learned to run a faster offense at a much faster rate than had we not played at the open level.

***TRUST THE PROCESS***

 

What were the keys to success for 16-1 at Nationals?

 

CA: They all played absolutely amazing at Nationals. I can't even pin point one player or one play because there are so many. I think a great deal of the success that we had at National's comes from our parents. They remained positive through the whole year and trusted the vision TVC, Mugs and I had for this team. They could have very easily gotten discouraged or become selfish parents or players but they did not. Players, teams and coaches can feel the positive energy coming from parents on the sidelines and this group of parents were some of the best parents I have had.

 

Who were your Most Outstanding Player(s)?

CA: Our defense came alive at Nationals. Miko, Giavanna, Jillian and Heidi played some of the best defense I have ever seen out of any TVC team at Nationals. I had multiple parents and coaches come up to me after games and say how fun this team was to watch.

What was your most memorable moment?

CA: The most memorable moment at Nationals was winning our challenge match 17-15 to go to Gold. That moment defined who we had become as a team. We were no longer a team that was satisfied with making it to the challenge match; we were a team that fought for each other to win any game at any cost. 

You've said a couple times this was a unique group, what was so special about this 2016 travel season?

 

CA: This team made me a better coach. I wanted to learn more and continue to push them as much as possible because we saw the talent they had! To this day, I am still sad to think this season is over. These girls had the best attitudes and I couldn't ask for a better group to work with. Where this team started and with the level they were playing at towards in the end of the season, I can't wait to see what they will all do this fall as well as next club season!