Las Vegas Desert Classic

The 24th annual Las Vegas Deser Classic held over Presidents' Day week-end in February was a real learning experience for 10 rookie Asics Vegas tourney competitors. The trip through PDX was eventful on its own, as the CVC van was inadvertantly locked at the curb with the engine running and tickets locked inside. A late arriving plane and a quick response from AAA got us back on track, but established a theme for this trip - "late flights".

We had a very advantageous schedule on Saturday, drawing the main venue of the Cashman Center, a 2:00 first call, and reffing to began it all. Our first opponent was South Valley of San Fernando, CA, where we were victorious in 2. Next up was
Hi-Intensity of Hawaii, a grossly underseeded #4 seed in our pool. Although we competed fairly well, our offense sputtered and it was not to be - we lost in 2.

Officiates and a win was with our next match was our only hope for redemption, and a spot in the top half of the draw. Facing #2 seeded, and 14th overall, Surf City, that was going to be a tough get. We had a chance to win the 1st set, but lost by
2, and fell off considerably in Set 2, to lose by 9.

Day 2 found us playing in the bottom half of the draw at Spring Valley High School. Our offense came back to life and supported our ball control and excellent setting. We were victorious in 2 sets over Western Colorado, and smoked Vegas Girls in 2 as well. This brought us to our showdown with Arizona Saguards, a dominantly tall, aggressive offense that would test our mettle for sure. In our best effort of the tournament we stayed on top of all phases of our game to win a stellar match 25-20, and 25-19.

This one ws a spectators delight with many aggressive and hard fought rallies. We were most pleased with the total team effort and the marked change in our blocking schemes.

The last day was a major disappointment as we traveled to Durado High School and "passed" on the opportunity to improve on our final placement. Our ball control vanished in Set 1 as Monsoon of San Francisco took it to us. Set 2 was a much better effort as we lost it 24-26 to close out our Las Vegas experience.

Leaders for Cowlitz over the 7 match events were:

Digs: Erin 32
Hannah 24

Passing: Erin 2.15
Alesha 2.05

Assists: Hannah 55
Kylie M. 49

Kills %: Kylie .438
Rachel .295

Kills: Rachel 35
Kylie M. 29

Blocks Hannah 7
(Stuffs) Kylie M. 4

Aces: Hannah 11
Erin 6

Points: Hannah 30
Kylie M. 26
Shantelle 26

Serve %: Kylie M. 88
Shantelle 88