18 ASICS Black went undefeated all weekend with a perfect 9-0 record to win the 18 Open Division at the Emerald City Classic this weekend.  The girls played great every time they stepped on the court and the coaches are extremely proud of their team.  For many of their players who are seniors and have been participating in ECC for years it was an awesome way to finish their last Emerald City Classic.  They defeated Rimrock/OVA National from Prineville, Or in the final in commanding fashion with scores of 25-18, 25-12.  Jennica McPherson was named MVP of the tournament and Leigh-Ann Haataja was named to the All-Tournament Team.

18 ASICS Black wasn’t the only ITVC team with reason to celebrate.  Many of our teams were thrilled with their play at what was the last tournament of the season for all of our teams aside from 15 ASICS and 18 ASICS Black.  We’ll start with our youngest team.

While 12 ASICS record might not seem impressive as far as wins and losses go, their coaches were very happy with their play and saw some major improvements over the weekend.  Here’s what Head Coach Katie Kelly had to say:

“The huge difference between the first tournament and this last one was A-MAZING. Everything was working, and working well; digging, transitioning, hitting, setting, serving, communicating with each other, etc. It was awesome to see how much they have grown as players for such a young team.”

13 ASICS finished 15th out of 24 teams in 14 Club.  They were 4-4 for the tournament and unfortunately had to face our own 14 Blue team in the Bronze Bracket.  It was a great match between our two teams that went to three with 14 Blue coming out on top.

14 Blue went on to win the Bronze Bracket!  They finished 13th out of 24 in 14 Club.  Here’s Head Coach Milt Guerreiro’s take:

“ITVC 14 BLUE had a great exciting and competitive finals against Synergy from Canada. The parents from both sides were in it and loud from the first serve to the last point! It went to three close games! What a positive way to end the season!”

Way to go 14 Blue!

14 ASICS finished 17th out of 24 teams in the 14 Open Division.  They were very happy with how they competed all weekend and played some great matches.  Here’s what Head Coach Jake Putnam reported:

“Even though our finish was not where we had hoped, I believe that ECC was our best tournament. The competition was tough and we had a rough draw. We played competitively in every match, taking a game off the team that got third place, losing by two to the team that got second, and playing as competitive as we have all year against two teams we never beat all season. All of this while missing up to 3 players due to injury or illness. Everyone really stepped up their game and it showed how much we have improved over the season. This was a special, hard working, fun, and smart group of kids with incredibly positive and supportive parents. I am extremely proud of ITVC 14s ASICS and have been honored to coach them.”

15 ASICS showed great improvement over the weekend.  They came in ranked 40th and finished 23rd with a 5-3 record for the tournament.  The team had a great time together all weekend.  Nice work 15 ASICS!

16 Blue finished 13th out of 39 teams in 16 Club.  The coaches were very proud of the team’s effort throughout the tournament.  Here’s what Assistant Coach Zach Orcutt said:

“The girls came together and played hard all weekend taking big steps as both individuals and as a team. We placed 13th overall but on day one handily beat CCJV who ended up winning the whole thing. Danielle and I could not be prouder of the girls and how they competed all weekend and their commitment to each other. Their performance at the ECC was a great way to end a successful season both on and off the court.”

Head Coach Danielle Orong says that “Each and every player really improved this year and it really showed throughout ECC!”

16 ASICS showed major progress over the weekend.  Thanks to assistant coach Cy Klein for the following report:

“We had a great tournament. Started the weekend ranked 24th and finished tied for 15th. Throughout the weekend we showed our experience and toughness as 4 of our 5 wins went to 3 games.

Coming in seeded in D2 we held our seed the first day, winning all three matches to move up to D1. The second day we lost three tough matches against a solid pool of Capital, KJ, and Rose City. We were able to compete at times, but we struggled to maintain consistent serve receive. On the third day we won a tough match against Excel NW Silver in our crossover. We sided out at 15-15 and then Cassie Tsao served for an ace giving us game point. Her next serve got them out of system and forced a hitting error to give us the match 17-15.

In the first match of bracket play we ran into a hot Cascade Black team that used their energy and solid play to take the first game. We were able to rally in the second game coming back from down late to force a third game. Cascade again played well building an early lead and secured game point at 14-9. We were able to side out, and the serve again went to Cassie who again delivered. She stepped up with some outstanding pressure serving and served out the match to give us the 16-14 victory.

In the second match of bracket play we drew WAVA 15s. We were able to capitalize on our momentum and took the first game 20-25. In the second game we had difficulty siding out as our S/R began to break down and we lost 21-25. In the their game WAVA was able to generate some separation at the switch and we never recovered going down 15-10.

Overall it was a great team effort by 16 Asics with all members of the team contributing and coming up big. It was a great way to finish out the season.”

18 ASICS Blue finished 13th out of 32 teams in 18 Club.  They were 3-4 for the tournament.  The team is comprised of all juniors besides one player so we’ll look for them to build on the success they had this season at the 18’s level next season.

Overall it was a great tournament weekend for ITVC with all of our teams finishing in the bronze bracket or higher in their division.  It’s been a great season at ITVC and we hope that everyone has enjoyed it.  For complete ECC results head to their website below.

Emerald City Classic