By Christine Jinbo

Many volleyball athletes, both boys and girls are competing at a national tournament at this very moment.  These athletes play for many reasons, one of which is to get recruited to play in college.

UC Irvine Mens Volleyball team recently bested USC in the NCAA Div. I National Championship in Provo, Utah. UCI Asst. Coach Mark Presho spoke with ESPN RISE Volleyball about building a national championship team and the type of athletes college coaches want to recruit.  He answered many common questions athletes have about the recruiting process.

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	Christine Jinbo/ESPN RISE
	Katie Slay reaches for the block.

The USA Junior Olympic Girls' Volleyball Championships, hosted by USA Volleyball at the Miami Beach Convention Center, crowned three champions in 17-and-under age division brackets. The 10-day event runs from June 26 to July 5.

The 17 Open Gold Bracket Championship found Mizuno Long Beach 17 Mizuno (Long Beach, Calif.) on opposite sides of the net from Northern Lights 17-1 (Burnsville, Minn.).

Northern Lights 17-1 captured the Gold Medal Championships in the 17 Open Division of the AAU National Championships (Orlando, Fla.), but could not repeat the feat and fell, 25-20, 29-27, 25-22 to Miz Long Beach 17 Mizuno.

Long Beach Mizuno, which won the major SCVA Las Vegas Invitational in February and qualified through the Southern California Regional, defeated Wave 17 Jeanne Spalding (San Diego, Calif.) 25-19, 26-24, 25-22 in the semifinals and Sunshine 17 (Los Angeles, Calif.) 25-22, 25-21, 25-16 in the quarterfinals.

Northern Lights 17-1 reached the title match with a 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 quarterfinal win over Texas Tornados 17 Mizuno (Houston, Texas) and a 25-22, 25-20, 25-15 victory over Vision 17 Gold (San Jose, Calif.) in the semifinals.(Read full post)

By Christine Jinbo

The USA Junior Olympic Volleyball Championships features 17 tournaments, overlapping between June 26 to July 5, 2009 in Miami, Fla. and divided according to age division. 

ESPN RISE Volleyball wants to hear from participants in the tournament. 

	Leonard Xu/ESPN RISE
	Kelly Reeves of Encinitas WAVE will compete at J.O.'s in hopes of winning another Junior Olympic Championship.

Register now, it's free!  Then come back to the Volleyball Blog and write a comment below.  We want to hear about your team.  How your team is doing?

The 14 Open Division features eight teams from the California with six from the Southern California Region, eight teams from Texas split between the North Texas and Lone Star Regions, and two teams from the same club, St. Louis CYC 14 Blue and 14 Green. 

The other bids in the division split between eight regions, which will vie for the tournament title of Junior Olympic Champions. Open teams listed below.

Once teams advance to the 15 Open Division, the regional breakdown becomes slightly more diverse as eleven other regions, besides California and Texas vie for the crown.

California teams grow in dominance, with eleven teams competing, eight of which hail from Southern California.  Texas teams have slightly less representation with five teams, three from North Texas and two from the Lone Star Region.

Come back as we break down the 16, 17 and 18 Open Divisions in the championships by region. 

&nb...

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By Christine Jinbo

Brett Anderson of the Riptides O.C. 17 Orange team spoke to ESPN RISE Volleyball after his team earned first place at the Boys Classic, hosted by Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA).  Riptides O.C. defeated the tournament favorite, Orange Coast Volleyball Club (OCVC) 17-1 in the final. 

The junior setter looks forward to the J.O.'s hosted by USA Volleyball.  His team finished as the runner up in the Boys Invitational that hosted over 300 teams from around the nation.  This recent first place finish, he hopes, will help his team in the Junior Olympic Championship in Atlanta, Ga.

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By Christine Jinbo

USA Volleyball conducts two large scale events which overlap and close out the junior club volleyball season, the Girls' and Boys' Junior Olympic Volleyball Championship. Miami, Fla. is the home for the 2009 Girls' JOVC and Atlanta, Ga. plays host to the boys.

	Courtesy Christine Mirick
	Peter Jasaits passes for MB Surf, a top contender from Southern California.

With a maximum field size of 36 teams in the Open Division, there will be fierce competition among teams, which earned bids through selected "bid" tournaments

The tournaments selected as Bid Tournaments for the 2009 Boys season are as follows:

Bid Tournament - Dates - Maximum Number of Bids
No Dinx Boys Far Westerns
-   January 3-4  -   2
Dennis Lafata Gateway Boys Festival 
-   January 17-18  -   4
Rochester CAN-AM  
-  January 17-18   -   3
SCVA Junior Boys Invitational 
-   January 17-19 -   10
USAV Southeast BBQ  
-  January 23-25  -   2
Molten Wisconsin Boys Volleyball Festival 
-   February 7-8-   4
Nittany Ninvitational (17 & 18 Open)  
-  February 14-15 -   4
NIKE Great Lakes Festival for Boys 
-   February 14-15  -   3
Nittany 2 (14O, 15O, 16O) 
-   February 22-23 -    2
Boys East Coast Championships
-    May 23-25  -   2

USA Volleyball's goal for the Open Division of the Boys Junior Olympic Volleyball Championship, "is to produce an event which will promote the highest level of Boys competition."

By Christine Jinbo

After spending two consecutive four-day stints in Anaheim, Calif., it became ever clearer that the culminating season ending event regardless of geographical distance, is an essential part of a club season.  The final competition of a season enables teams to showcase their talent, battle in a championship atmosphere and achieve team goals.

Currently, the USA Junior Olympic Volleyball Championship (JOVC) is the only event teams must qualify to attend.  The nation's top teams attend the Open Division of the JOVC.  The tournament also hosts qualified teams in two other divisions, National and American.  There are four other season enders in which clubs may participate. (Read full post)

By Christine Jinbo

The Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA) concluded its Boys Classic Tournament with over 500 teams, many Atlanta bound for the USA Junior Olympic Volleyball Championship.

Michael Cate of Riptides OC 17 Orange spoke with ESPN RISE Volleyball after the team's championship run in the 17 Open Division.

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By Christine Jinbo

It would be overstated to say that Riptides OC 17 Orange shocked the world when it beat No. 1 seeded OCVC 17-1 in the finals of the Boys Classic, hosted by the Southern California Volleyball Association in Anaheim, Calif.

	Christine Jinbo/ESPN RISE
	Steady performances at the serving line, like this one from Chris Gibbons helped Riptides OC win the 17 Open Division.

Some may agree with the upset assessment, which is a valid opinion considering the player personnel on the OCVC team.  The OCVC team, seeded first in the 17 Open Division, contains three USA Volleyball junior National Team players, who either competed at the Select or Youth level for USA.  USA Volleyball named two players from OCVC to the 2009 USA Boys' Youth National Training Team, outside hitter Taylor Sander and middle blocker Spencer Rowe.

Though, the Riptides OC team should not be underestimated.  It has big game experience and has upset higher seeds in the past, namely OCVC.  Its steady play this tournament stemmed from its consistent serving and passing, which allowed the team to attack on every play.  The team defense made it difficult for other teams to score points and allowed the scrappy Riptides teams to stay in the game. 

The squad also has big tournament finals experience.  The squad appeared in the finals of the Boys Invitational in January, a national event hosted by the SCVA.  Also, this is not the first time Riptides has beaten OCVC 17-1 in a playoff situation.  At the Boys Invitational, Riptides defeated No. 1 seeded OCVC  in the quarterfinals, 27-25, 20-25, 15-12.  With similar scores (except for game one), it prevailed once more, 15-25, 25-20, 15-10, in the finals of the Boys Classic.

Riptides OC setter Brett Anderson agreed with the first statement. (Read full post)

By Christine Jinbo

ESPN RISE Volleyball has video and pictures from the recent Boys Classic hosted by the SCVA in Anaheim, Calif.  Visit the ESPN RISE Volleyball Group page to see photos from the Boys Classic and stay tuned for video interviews!

Leave a message on the group wall, so we know you were there!
 

By Christine Jinbo

The Balboa Bay Volleyball Club looks to dominate the junior boys' volleyball scene once again at the USA Junior Olympic Volleyball Championships (JOVC).  In 2008, the club captured three gold medals at the JOVC in the 15 Open, 16 Open and 18 Open Divisions.  The club had a team in every Open Division final except for the 14 Open, where it tied for third.

	Christine Jinbo/ESPN RISE
	Balboa Bay 18Q takes the Boys Classic

Balboa Bay displayed dominance at the Boys Classic close to that of its performance at the 2008 JOVC, with two first place teams in the 18 Open and 16 Open Divisions.  The Boys Classic, hosted by the Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA) this past weekend, serves as a warm-up event for the JOVC, which utilizes the same format.  Other clubs from around the country attended the event as their culminating, end of the year tournament.

The 18 Quiksilver team went undefeated en route to a first place finish.  It ended with a 24-3 game record and a 12-0 match record.  The squad played twelve matches in four days and looked as fresh in its twelfth match as it did in its first.

In Friday's first round, Balboa Bay18 Q's played three best of three matches and defeated Seaside 18-Black (San Diego, Calif.) (2-1), California 18 Gold (San Francisco, Calif.) (2-0), and Riptides OC 18 Blue (Orange County, Calif.) (2-0).(Read full post)

By Christine Jinbo

Tayloyr Sander of Norco (Calif.) High School has in impressive volleyball resume.  He started on the  USA Youth National Team as an outside hitter in the NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championships.  His club team, Orange County Volleyball Club, is currently the first seed in the 17 Open division of the SCVA Boys Classic in Anaheim, Calif. 

Sander spoke with ESPN RISE Volleyball about playing in the CIF State Southern California Div. II Regional and what the CIF Sportsmanship Award means to him.

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By Christine Jinbo

Beach volleyball tournament aids scholarships and honors the memory of All-American volleyball player Kim Blankinship.

The KB Memorial, a 4-Woman tournament hosted by the Kim Blankinship Memorial Foundation, features an array of activities and engagements.  The event includes a silent-auction/raffle, a pre-event

	Bill Jinbo
	Kim and me, hanging out at a club tournament, waiting for the next wave of matches.

party and a 4-woman tournament with a $500 prize for first place.

In order to more closely honor Blankinship's life the tournament changed its original format.  The format will now host two divisions: a women's division and a high school division, where athletes enter along with high school teammates to compete at the event. 

The event aims to reflect Blankinship's fun loving personality, her amazing athleticism in high school and pursuit of excellence in college and in her career.

The foundation brings together the community to honor the memory of Kim Blankinship and pays tribute to her by giving scholarships to athletes who live the gift, which she did throughout her short life. 

The foundation, supported by friends, family and the Torrance community raises funds for four scholarships given to multi-sport high school athletes at area schools, selected from applicants by a scholarship committee.

If you would like to participate, donate or register for the event:

Phone or email:
310.791.1142 xt. 4440 or John@StudentSports.com

Tournament:
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Torrance Beach, Calif.
Limited entries, $25/per player

Tournament Check-in:  
Friday, July 10  
6:00-8:00pm

Party:
Friday July 10, 8:00 pm
Redondo Beach, Calif.
HT Grill

Kim Blankinship held 12 varsity letters at Torrance High School.  She played volleyball, soccer and track and went to Loyola Marymount University (LMU) on a full athletic scholarship for volleyball. 

The multi-sport star played volleyball for the Lions from 1993-1996 and led them to three West Coast Conference titles and three NCAA postseason appearances. As a junior, Blankinship was named WCC Defensive Player of the Year.  In her senior year, Blankinship earned All-America honors, only the third athlete in LMU history to do so. She also earned LMU Female Athlete of the Year and WCC Co-Player of the Year honors that year.

Kim Blankinship was not just a great athlete, she was my friend, my teammate and I miss her dearly.

By Christine Jinbo

ESPN RISE FAB 50 No. 5 Mater Dei earned its first CIF Championship in boys' volleyball this year.  Salvatore La Cavera III spoke to ESPN RISE about team, championships and the chain around his neck.

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By Christine Jinbo

Connor Hughes spoke with ESPN RISE Volleyball about playing in the CIF State Southern California Div. II Regional, the teams' strategy and playing his senior year.

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By Christine Jinbo

ESPN RISE Volleyball talked to Christian Workman of No. 1 Loyola (Los Angeles, Calif.) High School about the CIF Sportsmanship Award and the meaning of team.

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