Broward District Playoffs: Pompano Beach and North Broward Prep Advance

All season long, Pompano Beach prepared for this. In anticipation of a tough district tournament, the Tornadoes scheduled regular-season matches against some of Broward County's traditional volleyball powers.

Wednesday, that effort paid off as Pompano earned a 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 victory over Pine Crest in a District 14-3A semifinal.

The win means that Pompano not only advances to Friday's district championship, but that the Tornadoes are already assured a playoff berth in next week's regional tournament.

The other team advancing is North Broward Prep, which defeated Coral Springs Charter 25-17, 25-16, 25-7 in the late semifinal.

"We don't take anything for granted in this district," said Pompano outside hitter Peyton Schlosser (pictured - Hitting), who had 13 kills, nine service points and four digs. "This district is really tough, but I think if we keep playing aggressively we can be unstoppable. Everyone is working so hard."

Earlier this season, when Pine Crest (21-4) and Pompano met, the match was an emotional, five-set Tornado victory. This time, Pompano (15-6) used effective ball control to force the Panthers into several errors — and earn a three-game sweep.

Maddy Clawges had 31 assists and nine digs, while Stephanie Pellitteri added 10 kills and 13 digs.

Evita Conway had 16 digs and 12 kills to lead Pine Crest, while Carolina Berger added 17 digs and Catalina Jimenez had 14 digs.

In the other semifinal, top-seeded North Broward Prep (19-7) needed just over an hour to earn its dominating victory.

Senior outside hitter Callie Mitcham had 14 digs and 13 kills to lead the Eagles while Victoria McPherson added seven kills and four blocks. Melanie Garcia had eight kills, six service points, and five digs.

Morgan Haynes had 13 digs and Ashley Corona had six kills for Coral Springs Charter, which finished the season 9-15.
Defend your school: Round 2 of Mascot Madness is open. Your school could win $500

Special Thanks to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel - the Best Volleyball Coverage in S. FL.

New League opens in Miami to Great Success

We are always happy to see when a league opens in South Florida to help improve the skill levels of our young lady atheletes. Recently AAU club VoleiMiami opened league play at Southwest High School in Central Dade County with Great Success

On October 23rd, Voleimiami Inc. had a great turnout with their 2010 Girls Volleyball League's Pre-Season Games. The turnout included over 75 girls ranging from ages 8 to 14. All levels of play were represented and were very competitive.

This league will allow the growth of volleyball to continue here in Miami and is the beginning of Voleimiami's effort to improve the level of play in Dade County.

If you are interested in the league, individual training or Club information, please contact voleimiami@yahoo.com

We can only hope that more leagues sprout up in South Florida and allow more of our lady atheletes to learn and compete in the great game of Volleyball.

St. Rose Girls' Volleyball Team Takes Tournament Title for Eighth Consecutive Year

The girls' volleyball team from St. Rose of Lima School in Miami Shores successfully defended its title at the All Catholic Conference Preseason Tournament held on September 18 at Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School.

This is the eighth year in a row that St. Rose girls' volleyball team has gone undefeated in both tournament and season play. Pictured are (Front row, L-R): Erika Garcia, Maureen Gerhardt, Monica Tarczynski, Amanda Rey*, Jacqui Koebel*, Jackie Yao (Back row, L-R) Sasha Jenkins-St. Prix, Paige Zibelli, Sydney Armbrister*, Krystina Dorta*, Erin Donahue* and Mary Shelow*. (*Members of South Florida Volleyball Club (SFVC).

Way to go Ladies, keep up the good work.

USAV Club Try-Outs Starts for Middle School Players

As middle school teams are in the midst of their seasons, USAV clubs will commence try-outs through-out the week. Please click on the links on the right side to get more info on your prospective club or clubs.

We'd also like to introduce a new club to South Florida: Miami Select Volleyball Club.

Miami Select is headed by a true fan of the sport and it's development; Charlie Albano.



We recently sayt down with Charlie and discussed different elements of his club - Miami Select.

SFVR: What was the inspiration to open a "NEW" club in Miami?
ALBANO: We felt that with some local clubs downsizing or folding all together, our opinion was that the growth of volleyball in Miami would take a step backwards if another club was not created. Our goal is to not take players away from other clubs but to add to the quality of players in the area. I have always been a forward thinker and I would love to eventually see the kids in Miami compete at the highest levels. That will happen if every club realizes that they have a certain role in the process. We certainly have the quality of athletes to grow our programs here in Miami and I think with cooperation we can help the Miami volleyball community become a national powerhouse. I have personally trained hundreds of kids at the middle school level only to watch them go on to play in high school and lose focus on the passion that they once had when they were younger players. If more kids played year round, this short coming would be turned around. We want to instill great work ethics at a young age and continue that through the high school years. We are providing an avenue to keep the kids away from falling into the trap of the electronic age and social networks that take away their focus. Our kids don’t have the same physical fitness programs that many of us had when we grew up and I feel that it is important to keep these kids active by some means. Volleyball provides an awesome opportunity for the kids to do that. With the amount of growth the sport has seen in recent years in both the girls’ and boys’ programs we think the time is right to help put Miami on the volleyball map.


SFVR: Briefly go over the types of coaches and general experiences that they bring to the club?
ALBANO: Our coaches are a young group. All of them have played in high school, club, college and some have pro-experience. They are currently coaching at different levels, which give them the opportunity to help our players grow in progression through the years. They all share similar philosophies on how to coach and if there are indifferences about any coaching techniques it gets discussed in an open forum at our weekly coaches meetings. We call it the knights of the oblong table. Everyone throws out different ideas at the table and after much deliberation will agree on a common goal. This is what is so great about our coaching staff. Although they don’t always agree on things they are open minded and will reach a common goal for the benefit of the program. Not only are they great coaches but also great people. Their goals as a group are to not only create great players but also create great people and leaders in the community. They understand that in training elite athletes, they must focus on keeping the kids in top shape as well as in good mental form. The pre-season forum came to the conclusion to improve every player, every day. They know if that happens that victories will certainly come along with that type of re-inforcement.

SFVR: What is the goal for the 2010/2011 Club year?
ALBANO: To improve every player that walks into our gym everyday. We also want to be a club where every coach, player and parent feels a sense of ownership and are proud to be a part of Miami Select. Every member of the club should feel comfortable with the coaches and club director that they can offer advice as to how to improve our product. We know we can’t be all things to all people but we can be great mentors for the young players who play with our club.

SFVR: Congratulations, we feel that your addition to the South Florida Volleyball community will help all players at all levels to excell and become the best that they can be. We at the report wish you a great year as you join the fraternity of great clubs in South Florida.

TRY-OUTS: The Miami Select Volleyball Club will be conducting tryouts for 11U-14U age divisions on Monday, October 18th. and Wednesday, October, 20th at the Killian High School Gym. Information and registration will be from 6:30pm and 7:30pm. Tryouts will be run from 7:30-9:30pm.

For more information, please visit www.miamiselectvolleyball.com

Cardinal Gibbons outlasts St. Thomas Aquinas

Fort Lauderdale — — After dominating early, Cardinal Gibbons nearly let one slip away Wednesday.

The Chiefs didn't need much time to take the first two games and build a big lead in the third.

But St. Thomas Aquinas found its rhythm and rallied to force a deciding fifth game.

It was then that Gibbons regained control and secured a 25-22, 25-18, 23-25, 27-29, 15-9 victory over the rival Raiders.

According to Chiefs coach Kathryn Farland, it was the first time since 2006 that Gibbons has beaten St. Thomas.

"None of us have won against them so this is the icing on the season right now," said junior Katie Hillman, who had 22 kills, 19 service points, 14 digs, 10 blocks and four aces for Gibbons. "It's definitely a big thing to win and it shows a lot that we were able to pick ourselves up after some tough calls."

Despite Gibbons' fast start, St. Thomas (6-4) wasn't about to let the Chiefs earn a sweep.

After Gibbons built a 20-15 lead in the third game, St. Thomas chipped away, eventually taking a 23-21 lead on one of Crystal Dedes' three blocks.

Dedes also had 18 kills, one of which allowed St. Thomas to pull within 22-19 in a tough fourth game the Raiders eventually won.

But St. Thomas couldn't finish its comeback attempt.

In the fifth, Gibbons scored five consecutive points on the strength of four Raider errors to build a 10-5 lead.

"We didn't play well and we haven't played consistently well all year," Raiders coach Lisa Zielinski said. "We've been working on it, but we can't close out a match."

Caiti Donahoe had 38 assists, eight digs and five kills for the Chiefs (12-1) and Jessica Wynn added 18 kills, 15 digs and eight blocks.

Allison Belanger and Cassy Congemi each had 18 digs for St. Thomas.

Special Thanks to the Sun Sentinal for their excelent coverage of ladies high school volleyball.