CANCELLED!-10/13 Charlie's Sandbox Tourney

Unfortunately, a low turnout means we've had to cancel this weekend's tourney. There is, however, a co-ed event at Sneakerz. Hopefully we'll have better luck getting the November event off the ground.

9/22 Charlie's Sandbox Tourney

You all know the drill, final outdoor tourney of 2007. You can see the indoor sand schedule posted up in the left. 8:30 check-in, 9:00 AM start - SHARP! PLEASE DON'T SHOW UP LATE, IT DELAYS EVERYBODY AND MAKES EVERYBODY SAD BECAUSE THEY HAD TO GET THERE SO EARLY! We'll have 3-4 courts, so expect lots of playing throughout the day. Pool play followed by double elim.
UPDATE - Results:
1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel; 2) Chris Roosild/ Brian Post; 3) Jeff Poole/ Matt Jensen; 4)Larry Cornwell/ Desi Vigil; 5) Adam Cabbage/ Ricardo Sanchez; 5) Jeff Hart/ Cameron; 7) Bryan Klein/ Maria Marion;7) Harris Zayee/ Kevin; 7) Ed Lucero/ Dave Lujan; 7)Aaron/ Le

Aspen, Aspen, Aspen :-(

PART I

PART II

Well, it was a disappointing finish in Aspen this year. It was our worst finish playing together up there. We had a tough draw and played a couple of very strong teams, and did some things well, and some, not so well. All 3 of the games we lost were by 2 points. The most frustrating part of the tournament was my inability to finish in the end, being up 14-12 in the third game of our second match and not closing it out. Just as bad as a couple years ago being up 14-11 in the third to get to 5th place in the tourney and not closing it out. That proved to be a real motivator the next off season and led to the great season we had last year. Good news is I have most of the events on tape, so something to study. I've posted our final match, which was actually pretty well played on both sides, but we came up short 23-25 on a few critical late game errors. Overall we won two and lost two. There is room for improvement, the question is how much of a commitment do we want to make to getting to the next level. As I see it, to push ahead, those two matches we lost would not have to be close, considering they are very good teams, we'd have to make a substantial improvement, which will take a lot of effort. Something to think about going into the off season, especially in thinking about how hard to train. Time to go back and build the mental toughness for sure, which felt as though it was lacking for most of the season, probably attributable to busy schedules and less focus on the sport more than anything else. Anyhow, check out the vids above and let me know your thoughts if you have any ideas on where to go from here!

Gearing up for Motherlode & Sneakerz Championships

Well, the Motherlode volleyball event in Aspen usually signals the end to the competitive season. Though we'll play through the winter, this is really the final time to see major national competition. This year should be a good one, as Crocs is now a major sponsor and is pumping $12K into the pot. Lots of teams coming out from late qualifying and early main draw rounds in the Cincinnati AVP to play the event, the field looks deeper and stronger this year than in the past. Loric and I are getting a couple of local tourneys and some practice time in this week to help us prepare. Last year we pulled a disappointing 17th out of 64, this year we are hoping to improve on our best finish of 9th a couple of years ago. We've had the opportunity to practice with the Spalding King of the Beach ball, so the adjustment moving up to the higher elevation shouldn't be as dramatic. Hopefully we will get a decent seed and come out firing this year. I know we have the ability to push good teams, but haven't had the chance too often this year. We'll have to trust that our top game will come out under pressure.

This weekend in the Sneakerz championship event. Tavake has been one of the cooler people in promoting competitive volleyball in the region, and has done another great job this year. Hopefully they can expand their facilities and grow the number of participants in the future. Unfortunately, Chris and Matt will be taking the weekend off, cutting into the depth of the talent pool, but we should still have a decent turnout. I received word that entry will be $20/ person for the event. Everything will be paid back out and there will be prizes and t-shirts given out.
UPDATE:
Props to Desi and Larry for being the first team to take us to 3 games in a final, playing well all day and pulling out game 2.
1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel;
2) Desi Vigil/ Larry Cornwell;
3) Jeff Poole/ Matt Jensen 4) Kameron Cheney; 5) Jeff/ Cameron; 5) Adam/ Aaron; 7-9) Chris Trujillo/ Bryan Sissel; Dave/ Ed; Harris Zayee/ Kevin; Eddie/ Rich; Paul Sanchez/ Fred Ader; Randy Beebe/ Frank

Back to the Sandbox!

8/18 is the next beach volleyball event at Charlie's. 8:30 check-in, 9:00 SHARP start. Abbreviated pool play followed by double elim for the men, not sure what will be run for the women. PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PLAYING! Life is so much easier when we know who to expect at a tourney.
UPDATE: It was a hot day in the sun, but everything kept moving and we had a good turnout on the men's side with 11 teams, a poor turnout on the women's side with 3 teams. I don't think we will be running women's events at Charlie's unless somebody is willing to step up and coordinate. Apparently there was also a women's event on Sunday at Sneakerz, so that probably cut into the turnout. We tried a new format, with match play to 15 in the lower bracket. Seemed like a good compromise to keep things moving and ensure everybody got enough playing in. Matt and Chris gave us a real tough run the first game of the final, making some great digs and pushing the game to extra points. Second wasn't as close, but we finished everything before 5:00! Womens had only three teams, so they got lots of playing and finished a bit earlier. Here are the results:
Men
1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel; 2) Chris Roosild/ Matt Valencia; 3) Jeff Poole/ Matt Jensen; 4) Bryan Klein/ Larry Cornwell; 5) Paul Sanchez/ Kameron Cheney; 5) Shane Murdie/ Gary; 7) John Malcom/ Daniel Pimental; 7)Adam/ Aaron; 9) Sonny Marquez/ Cameron; 9) Harris / Harley; 9) Randy/ Ed

Women
1) Shannon/ Maddie; 2)Kathy Berry/ Kimber; 3) Gabriella Ramirez/ Jennifer Lechman

We are changing the date of the next tournament at Charlie's to 9/22 because the Bad Ass Grass will be the weekend of 9/15. No women's event unless somebody from the ladies side wants to step up and run it.

Winding Down the Summer

Reflecting back on our season so far, I'd have to give it a lukewarm rating. I think the biggest drawback has been the limited opportunity to play real strong competition, and to play them at a higher level. Last year, we started out season in California in March, playing some real strong players including last year's AVP rookie of the year who was on TV last weekend in the finals of the Chicago event. That helped to set the pace. This year, both Loric and I were bogged with work and other commitments, so we got off to a slow start and didn't really see strong teams come in until near the end of May at the Sandia tourney. We weren't as prepared as we would have liked to have been for that event, and had a somewhat disappointing finish. Then travel schedules and a poor showing in Denver led us to a good finish in Vail, though we couldn't finish the job after a long run through the loser's bracket, while still not playing our best ball, in my opinion. Since then, I got to play a quali in NJ and we got to train in Hermosa beach which was great, but returned to a disappointing turnout in Taos without any out of state teams, though there were certainly good players at the event. A few weeks off and here we are. In CA it felt like things were coming together, but that was a while ago now. Hopefully we can get some practice time in and play well the next two NM tourneys to have a good showing at the Motherlode tourney in Aspen. There will be a real good showing there, with many strong teams registered from around the country. Time to focus in and work hard so we can put together a respectable run and nail an exclamation point into our outdoor season for 2007!

Sneakerz Series #3

Time again to get down and dirty in the soles of Sneakerz. This third event in the series should be a good one, with some cooler weather and a bit of cloud cover. Same rules and format as usual, short pool and double elim. Chris will be running the show, plan on an 8:30 arrival and $30/ team entry fee. This is the last one before the championship, so be sure to get out there and position yourself for some bonus prizes! Should be some good teams this weekend.
UPDATE: Heard it was a great tournament. About 8 teams, but everybody got lots of play. Loric and I sat this one out. The finals sounded dramatic, with Nate and Thierry coming back to win a double final over Chris & Matt - congrats to them! Here are the results:

1. Nate and Thierry; 2. Chris and Matt; 3. Ricardo and Matt; 4. Jeff and Larry; 5. Adam and Bryan; Daniel and Bryan