AAU National Championship is a Wrap
24 Teams Seek to Excel at USAV National Championship
June 29, 2019 -
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AAU National Championship is a Wrap
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24 Teams Seek to Excel at USAV National Championship
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A5 Family,
In years past the AAU tournament was little more than a warm-up for Nationals. No more. Though I still wouldn't rate it as equivalent to USAV Nationals, it has become a huge and highly competitive event, drawing JVA teams and teams from Puerto Rico that we rarely see.
Competition is now complete, even as other age brackets have already begun at USA Volleyball Nationals.
The 16's just finished their competition, posting outstanding results. Coach Gabe Aramian (A5 16 Gabe) came within spitting distance of scoring his second AAU Open Level National Championship, but they fell in the finals to Sports Performance despite outscoring them 63-62. They finished with Silver Medals and I know this team wants more at USAV Nationals AAU Wrap
We've already covered the AAU results of our 14's and younger. Following are a few words about each of our 15's and older teams.
But first, here's a pic of A5 12 Jing sporting their Bronze Medals. The pic was not sent to me in time for the previous edition.
A5 14 Carlos (boys) blossomed in Orlando, finishing the event with a 6 - 2 record, good enough to win Bronze medals. Their two losses were to the champions and runners-up. What improvement this team has shown throughout the season! 3rd place of 24 teams in the 14 Open division is not too shabby. These guys are going to be really good in years to come. It doesn't get much closer than this. A5 15 Bob made it to the semifinals of the 15 Open division, but they were denied a spot in the Championship Match by a score of 24-26; 26-24; 13-15. (Remember the mantra.... Every Point Counts!) They finished the tourney with Bronze Medals. Consider this: in the U15 divisions this year, AAU included Open, Club, Classic, Premier and Aspire, totaling 582 teams. 15 Bob's #3 finish put them in the top .5% of U15 participants.
A5 15 LA won their first six matches as well as their final four, but the two matches they lost on Day 3 were enough to knock them from the Championship Bracket. They finished 24th of 82 teams in the 15 Premier Division.
A5 15 Ken won nine of their first ten matches in the 15 Aspire Division. They finished 19th of 103 teams in the division.
Also playing in the 15 Aspire Division, A5 15 Victor won nine of their first ten matches as well, but one of the nine was that all-important Challenge Match. They finished 9th in the tourney. A5 South 15 Marge streaked to a 10 - 0 start in the 15 Classic Division, but lost their first match of the Gold Medal Bracket to finish 9th.
GA5 15 Ayanna remained in contention in the 15 Classic Division until Day 3, when they
finished with a 1 - 2 record. However, it appears they made a mistake that virtually every coach has made once in their lives by assuming that with a losing record they were out of contention. In this event, however, they were in a three-way tie for second place, but when they failed to show for their tie-breaking match they were assigned a 0 - 25 loss, relegating the to the Diamond Division on day 4.
GA5 15 Jaileen finished in the Diamond Division as well, but in the 15 Club Division.
A5 Chattanooga 15 Aaron/Shelby Club finished 105th in the 15 Club Division.
A5 Chattanooga 15 Juliana finished 53rd in the 15 Premier Division.
We've already mentioned A5 16 Gabe's silver medal finish in the 16 Open Division. They finished the weekend with an 11 - 1 record. Their semifinal match, in which they beat a fine Munciana team 30 - 28; 26 - 24, was as much of a barn-burner as the finals.
For awhile it looked as if the 16 Open Division would feature an all-A5 semifinal match, as A5 South 16 Jason earned their way into the Championship Bracket. The World was denied another all-A5 matchup when A5 South lost to Munciana 13 - 15. They finished 5th.
A5 16 Liang rolled to a 6 - 0 record in the 16 Premier division, but they had a rough day 3 and finished the tournament in the Diamond Division, where they played with integrity, ending the tourney on a 3 - 0 winning streak.
A5 16 Stephen, competing in the 16 Club Division, won their first 8 matches to earn their way into the Gold Medal Bracket. They finished 9th out of 153 teams in the division.
A5 South 16 Charlette remained in contention for the 16 Club Championship right up until the Challenge Match on Day 3. Like A5 16 Stephen, they finished the tournament in 9th place. GA5 16 Christine, playing in the 16 Classic Division, stayed alive until day 3. They finished 54th.
GA5 16 Tim finished 54th in the 16 Club division.
A5 Chattanooga 16 Duane finished 95th in the 16 Premier Division.
Injury-riddled A5 17 Jing lost two of their first four matches, forfeiting the benefit of their #2 seed, but they remained in contention and went on a six-match tear to earn their way into the Gold Medal Bracket of the 17 Open Division. There they met a hot Mintonette Team - the eventual champion - that had not allowed more than 20 points to be scored on them in a given set all tournament long. 17 Jing finished in 5th place.
A5 17 Scott was one of Mintonette's victims. They finished with a 3 - 6 record in the 17 Open Division. 17 Scott enters the National Division of the USAV Championships well prepared to compete.
A5 17 Jordan was eliminated from contention for the 17 Club Championship on day 2, but finished the tournament by winning five of their last six matches.
A5 South 17 Joe finished with a 4 - 11 record in the 17 Open Division. They enter the USA Volleyball National Championships battle-tested and ready to excel in the 17 National Division.
A5 South 17 JMac ended their season on a high note. Competing in the 17 Classic Division, they remained in contention for the Championship until the Challenge Match at the end of Day 3. They finished 9th in a field of 104 teams.
GA5 17 Arieon also finished well, winning their final three matches in the 17 Club Division - to include a 15 - 13 thriller to cap their season. Unfortunately their two losses on day 1 knocked them from contention.
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