Our Juniors have just smashed through their preliminary round of the U16 Junior Volleyball Grand Prix with outstanding results!
Last weekend our two U16 Indoor Volleyball Boys teams and our U16 Girls team took their first steps in the top level of junior volleyball competition and made Deep Dish very proud with their performance at the first competitive event of the season. Check out the individual team results below.
TIER 1 U16 BOYS | 1ST PLACE
The tier 1 boys team were in a pool of 3, facing Ashcombe and hosts South Hants. The young men took their time to settle in during the first set against Ashcombe, but some great serving from Zach and Stanley helped Deep Dish secure the first set. The second set saw Deep Dish get into their stride. Some great attacking and blocking from Bailey gave the team an early lead. Rei provided excellent passing that enabled middles Ethan, Orin and Archie to score freely. All Leading to a 2 sets win.
The second match against hosts South Hants had a thrilling tight first set, testing our passing unit and our block defense. Rei provided leadership to the passing unit and some great attacking from the wing hitter steadied the ship. Tomo making his first appearance as a setter did a fantastic job setting at pace, splitting the block and allowing all the hitters to score freely. The second set saw fantastic serving from Orin and Zach again to take an early lead. With this serving pressure the team picked up multiple blocks and claimed a 2-0 win.
Deep Dish U16 T1 Boys topped their pool which should help them gather those valuable Grand Prix points to qualify for Last 8’s.
TIER 1 U16 GIRLS | 4TH PLACE
The Tier 1 girls were in a pool of 4 facing Tendring, ATS Academy and hosts Cambridge. We had an amazing turnout with a squad of 15 - making the long early morning trip to Cambridge!
With this being the first competitive tournament for many of them, the girls got off to a nervous start. After shaking off the jitters, they got into their rhythm with some great serving from Ava. awesome passing from Libero, Ilenia, and some big swings from Polly! The girls continued to gel throughout the day, building momentum.
The team morale was high throughout the day with some fun new team cheers and loads of support from parents! Although they came 4th in their pool, there is huge potential with this team and we can’t wait to see what the next GP holds. Coach Ella said "Amazing turn out by the girls! They fought hard against some tough, experienced teams from Cambridge, Tendring and ATS but just fell short. They showed great team spirit and kept morale high throughout with some new awesome cheers. Lucy and I couldn’t have been prouder of how they performed - with it being the first ever tournament for many of them."
TIER 2 U16 BOYS | 2ND PLACE
After winning their first two matches comfortably against Winchester Eagles and Tonbridge 2-0 with great setting from Sid, finding Riley in the middle and Julis on the outside, making the team's sideout very clinical. Great defense from Federico throughout the whole day was exceptional! Coach Josie rotated Sami, Hector, Tom and Emilia who were all new to competition play and contributed greatly to the team. Sami being our youngest player representing the club, did a great job on court.
The young men played VBDC with the winner topping the pool and winning this round of Grand Prix 1. It was easily one of the best matches of the day with Deep Dish losing the first set and then coming back strongly in the second set with Wilbur making some great defenses and hitting strongly on the outside to take the match to a third set. Digby delivered some incredible attacks as an opposite, taking the match to a third set. Sid set the tempo in the third set with some great setting and outside hitters Wilbur, Julis and Digby delivering. Unfortunately as the set went on, VBDC started to build a gap, but Federico's defense and Riley's blocking kept the team within reach. However, it wasn't meant to be and VBDC took the match 2-1.
Deep Dish U16 T2 Boys came second, but will be looking to go one better in the next round on the 9th of December. This was an incredible display from the team.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR JUNIOR U16 BOYS AND GIRLS FOR AN OUTSTANDING WEEKEND!
If you are interested in signing your children up for our Junior Club please email us at info(@)deepdishbeach.com.