Arizona’s
Finest Show Finest Finishes at Beach Nationals
The state of Arizona
was well represented by a slew of impressive finishes at the
2005 USA Volleyball Junior Beach Championships in Hermosa Beach,
California July 22nd and 23rd.
The
two day event saw doubles teams from across the country compete
in different age divisions for both girls and
boys. Nearly all of the Arizona teams competing
had participated in the Arizona Region’s Junior Beach program.
Scottsdale’s
Tara Mueller and Chandler’s Ashley Kelty backed up
their impressive Arizona Region Junior Beach debut season and took second
place in the Under 17’s division, losing 21-17, 21-19
in the final.
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Ashley
Kelty & Tara Mueller 2nd Place 17U
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“It was fun.” Mueller
said excitedly. “I hadn’t played much beach, so
the region tournaments were great. We didn’t get tired
at the end of the tournament, and that was a plus.”
In the
Under 15’s division, Ahwatukee’s Anna Gott and
Betsy Metter also took second place.
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Anna
Gott & Betsi Metter - 2nd Place 15U
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“I loved the
beach, even though it didn’t have anything to do with
the volleyball.” said Metter. These were the two highest
finishes for Arizona Junior beach players since the inception
of the Junior Beach Championships.
The
event was dominated by Southern California teams, which won
each age division and accounted for 84 of the 128
doubles teams playing in the girl’s division.
But Arizona had 11 teams finish in the top 10 of their divisions, most
of any other participating region.
Notables
included:
Danee Quail of Anthem and Tracey Vargas of Phoenix, playing
into a higher age group, tied for 9th in the Under 21 division.
Heather
Baron and Kami DeWitt,
both of Scottsdale finished tied for 9th as well.
Arizona
Region Junior Beach 18’s Champions Jenny Makowski and
Dani Serna of Peoria took 5th in the Under 18 division.
Arizona
Region Junior Beach 16’s Champions Michele Anderson of
Phoenix and her partner Sarah Svorinic of Scottsdale finished
tied for 9th in the Under
17’s division.
Kandiss
Anderson and Makenzie Snyder tied for 5th in the Under 16’s
division.
Arizona
Region Junior Beach 14’s Champions
Madison Orton and Kristy Friesen tied for 9th in the Under
16’s.
Kelsey
Brown and Megan Dudzinski, both of Ahwatukee tied for 9th in
the under 15’s division.
Melissa
Kohl and Lane Wall tied for 17th in the Under 14’s
division.
Arizona
Region Junior Beach 12’s Champions Alex Anderson and
Heidi Thompson of Phoenix took a 5th place tie in the Under
13’s division.
Bianca
Arellano of Ahwatukee and Katarina Schulz of Phoenix also
tied for 5th.
Phoenix’s
Vanessa Eubank and Erica Kane tied for 9th in the
under 13’s.
On the
boy’s side, Dakota Anderson and Hayden Anderson of Phoenix
took third place in the Boys under 13’s division.
Arizona
Region Junior Beach Boy’s 12’s and 14’s Champions
Andrew Gott and Mitchell Nielson tied for 5th in the boy’s
under 13’s.
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Andrew
Gott & Peter Nooteboom
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Andrew also played
in the AAU Boys National Championships tournament in Hermosa
Beach on July 17th and finished in 2nd place out of 15 boys
12'steams with partner Peter Nooteboom who lives in Manhattan
Beach.
Aug 2005
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