Girls Volleyball: June 2011 Archives

Led by MVP and former Plainfield North star Hannah Crippen,, a a 6-foot setter and Northwestern recruit, Sports Performance 18 Red won the Club division at the 38th AAU Girls' Junior National Championships held June 19-22 in Orlando, Florida.

Crippen's teammates included former St. Francis libero and Kansas State recruit Gina Madonia, Mississippi recruit and Benet graduate Lara Ontko, James Madison recruit and former Waubonsie Valley star Martha Stewart, Joliet Catholic graduate and Mississippi State recruit Lainey Wyman, and Wheaton Warrenville South graduate and Tennessee recruit Shealynn Kolosky..

The team also featured three members of the Class of 2012 - Neuqua Valley's Kaitlyn Novak, St. Francis defensive specialist Taylor Reckards, and Benet hitter/setter Jenna Jendryk. Jendryk and Wyman joined Crippen on the 18 Club All Tournament Team.

SPVB 18 Red won 26 sets without a loss at AAU's and defeated 1st Alliance 18 Black 25-16, 25-16 in the championship match.

Sky High 17 Black won the 17 Open division in Orlando, going 12-1 along the way losing only to St. Louis High Performance 17 Gold 27-25, 25-21 in the finale of the first round of pool play. Sky High defeated Texas Advantage VB Rags 17 Black 25-15, 17-25, 15-10 in the championship.

Team members included Crystal Lake Central's Amelia Anderson, Huntley's Samantha Boesch and Amy Dion, Burlington Central's Samantha Bohne, Marian Central's Abby Gilleland, Cary Grove's Melanie Jereb and Ashley Rosch, Lake Zurich's Amanda Orchard, Daiva Wise of St. Francis and Mary Striedl of Lake Forest.

Gilleland was named MVP of the 17 Open division and Anderson and Striedl were named All American.

1st Alliance 16 Silver won the 16 Open division. Team members were Hanna Lee, Kelly Marcinek, Sophia Dodd, Mallory Salis, Danielle Schroeder, Melissa Deatsch, Brittany Zeeb, Ana Vrhel, Sharon Anderson and Emily Milligan.

Sports Performance 18 Elite, 1st Alliance 18 Black (Club division) and Altitude 14 Black (Club division) won silver medals at nationals, and bringing home the bronze were 1st Alliance 18 Silver, Sports Performance 16 Elite, Sports Performance 16 White (Club division) and Fusion 15 Black.

Also named All Americans from Sports Performance were Natalia Skiba (18 Open), Courtney Thomas (18 Open), Emily Young (18 Open), Jessica Brezwyn (16 Open), Lauren Carlini(16 Open), Hannah Kaminsky (16 Club) and Cara Mattaliano (16 Club).

Alyssa Ehrhardt (16 Open) and Tara Blake (16 Club) were also named All American from Sky High.

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Due to some computer problems, the last two comments were accidentally deleted. Please re-post your comments if you wish. Also please note that Sports Performance was the only club to submit a photo and list their All Americans on their website at the time the post was published, but I will post team photos if they are submitted.

Lauren Carlini of Aurora (West Aurora High School, Sports Performance Volleyball Club) is one of 12 players named to the U.S. Girls' Youth National Team roster for the upcoming 2011 FIVB Girls' Youth (U-18) World Championship August 12-21 in Turkey, the U.S. Volleyball Association announced Monday..

Middle blockers selected for the team are Alexis Austin (Houston, Thunder Volleyball/Lone Star Region), Janae Hall (Centennial, Colo., Front Range/Rocky Mountain Region), Molly McCage (Spring, Texas, Woodlands Wave/Lone Star Region) and Amber Rolfzen (Papillion, Neb., Nebraska Juniors/Great Plains Region).

Setters are Carlini and.Nicole Edelman (Boulder, Colo., Front Range/Rocky Mountain).

Selected as outside hitters are Jordan Burgess (Tampa, Fla., Tampa Bay Juniors/Florida Region), Paulina Prieto (Miami, Boomers Volleyball Club/Florida Region) and Kadie Rolfzen (Papillion, Neb., Nebraska Juniors/Great Plains Region). The two opposites are Andie Malloy (Allen, Texas, Skyline Juniors/North Texas Region) and Nicole Dalton (Boulder, Colo., Front Range/Rocky Mountain Region).

The libero is Allison Palmer (Laguna Beach, Calif., Laguna Beach Volleyball Club/Southern California Region).

"It is a pretty athletic group," said U.S. Girls' Youth National Team Head Coach Jim Stone in reference to its strengths heading into this summer's competition in Turkey. "However, they still need to learn the whole game - hit, pass, serve and dig - as the international game has limited subs.

"That part has to work out in a short period of training time," he added. "We have good athletes and I was impressed with their work ethic, so I think they will be fine and ready for World Championship."

Burgess, Malloy, McCage and Palmer are repeat selections from last year. The foursome helped the U.S. Girls' Youth National Team qualify for this year's FIVB Girls' Youth World Championship by claiming the gold medal at the 2010 NORCECA Girls' Youth Continental Championship held in Guatemala.

"Ideally, you would want 12 players all returning with international experience," Stone said. "At the same time, you don't want to preclude any athlete who does not have international experience."

The U.S. Girls' Youth National Team will compete in the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships (HPC) July 26-30 in Tucson, Ariz. in preparation for the World Championships. At the completion of the HPC, the team will continue training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y., before departing for Turkey.

The U.S. Girls' Youth National Team roster was determined through a second tryout session held June 3-5 with 25 athletes participating at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

To be eligible for the Girls' Youth program, athletes must be United States citizens born in either 1994 or 1995.