By Christine Jinbo

	Christine Jinbo/ESPN RISE
	Back to back titles for the Balboa Bay team, which defeated Epic two yeaers in a row in consecutive divisions, 16 Open and 17 Open.

Southern California dominated the 17 Open Gold Division as Balboa Bay 17 Quiksilver met Epic 17-Jeff in the championship match of the tournament.  The O.C. prevailed in straight sets (25-14, 25-18) over Epic of San Diego for the crown.  Epic's upset of the No. 1 seed, Outrigger (Honolulu, Hawaii) in the quarter final round gave all-comers a chance at the crown.  

Balboa Bay owned a 4-0 game record against Epic for the tournament.  On the second day of competition of the four day event, Balboa Bay 17Q defeated its eventual finals foe 25-21, 25-23. Balboa Bay, defeated SMBC (Santa Monica, Calif.) in the quarterfinals, SCVC (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) in the semi's en route to the final match.

Setter Connor Olbright received the MVP award and Tim Frydendall, Weston Nielsen and Travis Woloson each received all-tournament honors.

	Christine Jinbo/ESPN RISE
	Listed in alphabetical order: Joey Booth, Connor Curry, Tim Frydendall, Nicholas Iorfino, Tyler Kulakowski, Robbie McNight, Weston Neilsen, Connor Olbright, Reed Thompson,  William Quanstorm, Travis Woloson, Assistant Coaches: Taylor Wilson and Scott Panaro and Head Coach: John Hawks

By Christine Jinbo

The USA Boys' Junior Olympic Volleyball Championship (JOVC), held July 1 through 8, hosted boys teams from around the country.  As the nation mourned the King of Pop, volleyball teams "got to be there" at the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) where the top teams contended for the national championship.

The No. 1 seed Outrigger 17-1 and No. 2 seed OCVC 17-1 must have felt "bad" after they lost in a "thriller", in the quarterfinals.  But after these two teams "beat it", the bracket opened up for all comers.(Read full post)

By Christine Jinbo

Orange County Riptides crowned National Championship in Atlanta.
 
The USA Junior Olympic Volleyball Championship gathered the best boys' volleyball teams in the nation in Atlanta, Ga.   The championship match for the boys' 18 Open Division, held on Saturday, July 4, featured Riptides OC (Orange County, Calif.) and Balboa Bay 18-Quiksilver (Orange County, Calif.).

In the all-Orange County final, both teams advanced through a bracket which contained high level Mid West, East Coast and California teams as well. The two-set championship thriller ended as underdog Riptides OC defeated Balboa Bay Quicksilver, coached by John Speraw, the Head Coach at NCAA Champion UC Irvine, (27-25, 25-22).

In a, riches to rags and back to riches story, Riptides OC dominated the Southern California Region early in the season. But without starting setter Arik Metzger, who was injured, the squad did not place in the Gold Division of the Boys Classic and bowed out to Epic (San Diego, Calif.) Volleyball Club in the semifinals of the Silver Division playoffs.

Riptides OC needed a player to fill the setting spot before J.O.'s and picked up 5-foot-10 setter Brett McGarry to replace the injured Metzger one week prior to departing for Atlanta.  Marking their solidarity and mission, the players shaved their heads the night before heading to Atlanta.  The squad, reborn, stormed through the brackets and defeated:

Adversity Elite 18 (Des Plaines, Ill.) (25-16, 23-25, 15-10)
Richmod Volleyball Club 181 (Richmond, Va.) (25-19, 25-13)
Balboa Bay 18White (Newport Beach, Calif.) (25-12, 25-23)
Eden Mizuno 18 (Eden, N.Y.) (25-15, 18-25, 15-11)
STLHP 18 Orange (St. Louis, Calif.) (19-25, 25-21, 17-15)
SMBC 18-Black (Santa Monica, Calif.) (25-19, 25-20)
Pali 18 Kaepa (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) (25-15, 26-24)
Seaside 18-Black (San Diego, Calif.) (25-12, 25-16)

Sports Performance Volleyball 18 Mizuno was the only team to get the best of the Riptides OC  Club, in a third set deciding game, 23-25, 25-21, 16-14.

Riptides downed both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds of the tournament en route to the gold medal.  In the Gold Division semifinal, it defeated first seed, MB Surf 18's (Manhattan Beach) (25-18, 25-23) and second seed Balboa Bay 18Q (27-25, 25-22) in the final.

McGarry, who was cut from his high school varsity team, Loyola (Los Angeles, Calif.) was an inspirational leader for Riptides.  He led the team through the week of competition and knocked out the Loyola replica team MBSurf.  The MB Surf team started four Loyola athletes and added Punahou (Honolulu, Hawaii) High School standout Maddison McKibbin along with other standout players.

Redeemed, McGarry stood with his gold medal around his neck.  He starred at the shiny memento and shook his head at the road he took to get there.

All Tournament Team:

From the Silver Medal Team; Connor Hughes (Mater Dei, Santa Ana, Calif.), Tanner Janzen (Santa Margarita, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) and Ian Castellano (San Clemente, Calif.);

From the Gold Medal Team, Maurice Torres (Orange Lutheran, Orange, Calif.), Chase Frishman (Dana Hills, Calif.) and "Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament" Dane Worley (Foothill, Santa Ana, Calif.).

By Christine Jinbo

St. Louis High Performance Volleyball (St. Louis, Mo.) had the biggest brains in the gym at the Boys Classic in Anaheim, Calif.  It has become, somewhat of a recent trend, for Ivy League schools that host mens' volleyball, to send their coaches recruiting in the same arena as UC Irvine, USC and other top NCAA Div. I programs.

Two Loyola (Los Angeles, Calif.) High School graduates, Michael Dye and Sean Cotter will head to Princeton (N.J.) in the fall and three St. Louis (Mo.) area athletes, who all play on St. Louis High Performance, will head to MIT (Boston, Mass.) and Harvard (Cambridge, Mass.).

These three athletes Matt Hohenberger, Rob Lothman and, Patrick Vatterott  spoke to ESPN RISE Volleyball about their choice to attend these academically rigorous schools.  Check out their video below.

Video Link

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.

Video Link

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.

Video Link

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.

Video Link

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.

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

By Christine Jinbo

The Boys' East Coast Championship (BECC) is an annual event played over Memorial Day weekend. The tournament will take place May 23 - 25, 2009 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

Richmond Volleyball Club in the Old Dominion Region of USA Volleyball hosts the annual event.  The BECC is part of the qualification process used to determine the "Open Division" teams at the Boys' Junior Olympic Championships (JOVC) and awards up to two bids in each age division.   If a team has already qualified, the bids will trickle down according to the USA Volleyball Boy's Bid Manual.(Read full post)

By Christine Jinbo

Videos, pictures and conversation, can be found on the ESPNRISEVolleyball group page.  Join the group and join the conversation.

Follow the links below to navigate to the group site:

1) Register here it's FREE… so you can join the group and see all the latest on the group page!

2) Check out the group by clicking the tabs within the group or click the links below:

Courtesy Molten Wisconsin Boys Volleyball Festival

The Molten Wisconsin Boys Volleyball Festival, hosted by Great Lakes Volleyball, will take place February 7-8, 2009 in the Waukesha area.  The Center Court Sports Complex (Waukesha) and Waynz World of Recreation (Big Bend) will host the event as the two main competition venues.(Read full post)

By Christine Jinbo

	Courtesy Christine Mirick
	Sean Cotter and Evan Licht.

(Read full post)

By Christine Jinbo

	Courtesy Christine Mirick
	Chad Smith takes a rip for MB Surf.

(Read full post)

By Christine Jinbo

Bids to OPEN Division at Nationals

The 2009 Dennis Lafata Gateway Boys' Festival awarded four open bids based on order of finish in the 16, 17 and 18 Open Divisions. In the 14 and 15 Open Divisions, three bids were awarded.(Read full post)

By Christine Jinbo

	Christine Jinbo/ESPNRISE.com
	Maddison Mckibbin winds up against Maurice Torres.

By Christine Jinbo

	Christine Jinbo/ESPNRISE.com
	Tommy Tsoi blocking from MB Surf

(Read full post)

By Christine Jinbo

This year, the Southern California Volleyball Association's (SCVA) Boys Invitational will award ten Open

	Christine Jinbo/ESPNRISE.com
	St. Louis High Performance sported big hair.

By Christine Jinbo

With girls' club volleyball getting underway, the boys' season reaches one of its last weekends in Southern California before the high school season hiatus.  The Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA), a region of USA Volleyball, hosts the Junior Boys Invitational, Saturday, January 17 through Monday, January 19.

Just down the road from the giant mouse, the tournament takes place adjacent to Disneyland, at the American Sports Center (ASC) in Anaheim, Calif.  The ASC boasts one of the largest wood floors in North America and houses 22 volleyball courts with state of the art equipment.  The wood floor is a major draw for the facility, which also houses the USA Men's National Volleyball Team.

Clubs from around the nation, from as far west as Hawaii and as far East as New York, attend the tournament for the high level competition. For those from the East Coast, the warm weather also draws teams to the Golden State. The Invitational, a USA Volleyball bid tournament, allocates 10 bids at this event, one of the highest, to the 2009 Jr. Boys National Championships.

Ann Davenport, mother to famous tennis star Lindsay Davenport, is the director of the SCVA and hosts the annual event as well as the Holiday Classic for boys. In addition to the boys program, Davenport runs the large girls contingency of the SCVA, which hosts the Las Vegas Classic and a Junior National Qualifier as well as tournaments with thousands of participants each week.  


Come back as we bring you up to the minute highlights and action from the event.

Are you at this event and want to submit a story?  Write a story about your team or player and send it to us. We are always searching for the next great talent and you could be our next published writer!  Get your story published on ESPNRISE.com! Email us now.

Join our Volleyball Group.    

Become a member of ESPN RISE Volleyball, FREE and leave a comment below

Posted by Christine Jinbo

Miami, Fla.  The USA Boys Youth National Team qualified for the 2009 FIVB Boys' Youth World Championships with a win over Mexico 25-21, 25-20, 25-18 in the NORCECA Boys' Youth Continental Championship semifinal match at Florida International University Arena.(Read full post)