With the weather warming up and most local attention paid to beach volleyball, many local players brought home medals from indoor tournaments, as USA Volleyball (USAV) held its Junior National Championships that included teams from Canada, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Three Southern California Volleyball Club (SCVC) teams from Redondo Beach earned medals at the USAV Boys National Championships held at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minnesota.
Manhattan Beach’s Christopher Orenic was named Most Valuable Player after leading the SCVC 17 QS team to a thrilling gold medal victory over the Manhattan Beach Surf team in the 17 Open Gold Division.
Although the teams were 2,000 miles from home, the players were quite familiar with each other as the match pitted high school teammates, friends and neighbors against one another.
“It’s a great rivalry,” Orenic said. “It made the match more exciting because we weren’t just playing for the gold medal but also for bragging rights.”
SCVC rebounded from a 21-15 loss in the first game to beat MB Surf 25-20 in the second set but found itself down 12-9 in the final game to 15 points.
“That last game was amazing,” Orenic said. “To score six straight points was a great comeback. Fortunately, I got to make the last few kills before we dog piled each other on the court.”
Orenic said he was pleased to win the MVP award but was more excited to win the gold medal in front of local family members from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.
“I even had cousins drive up from Dallas to watch me play. That was real special for me,” Orenic said.
Under the tutelage of head coach William Ferguson and assistant coaches Jeff Alzina and John Xie, the SCVC was mostly comprised of players from the South Bay.
Orenic was joined on the team by Mira Costa teammates Grant Cederquist, Chris Griebenow, Kevin Inlow, Matt Tsao, Brooks Varni and Keith Waddell.
The squad also featured Manhattan Beach resident Michael Mullahey (Loyola), Alex Stephanus (Vistamar), Michael Shepard (Palos Verdes) and Vincent Rios (South Torrance).
The Manhattan Beach Surf team was well represented with South Bay players including Mira Costa’s Jackson Carr, Michael Debevec and Duncan Lau, along with Redondo’s Brandon Hiehle, El Segundo’s Bobby Romano and Palos Verdes’ Shane Dyer.
Representing Loyola High School were Parker Boehle, Driss Guessous, Jared Palmquist, Nick Porterfield and Alex Slaught. The team was coached by James Ka and Aaron Mansfield.
Along with Orenic, athletes from South Bay teams named to the all-tournament team included Mullahey, Stephanus and Varni from SCVC and Boehle, Porterfield and Slaught from MB Surf.
Varni credits the cohesiveness of the team in winning the gold medal.
“We worked together very well, which was the strength of our team,” Varni said. “We could always look to other teammates for support which was a result of good coaching and the personalities of our players.”
Varni is looking forward to joining players from his SCVC team and the MB Surf squad when they unite to form a team that will compete in the Charlie Saikley 6-Man tournament in Manhattan Beach at the end of the month.
Bringing home silver medal in the Boys Club Gold Division was the SCVC 13 QS team which was defeated by the Washington Lightning in the Club Gold Division championship match.
Former Mira Costa and UC Irvine standout Keegan Featherstone, who has plenty of experience mentoring girls teams, served as head coach of the SCVC boys squad.
“One of the main differences between the girls and boys, from a coaching standpoint, would be their mentality towards playing,’ Featherstone said. “When I would walk into a practice with my girls, they would be waiting for me on the side, chatting with each other. The boys, however, would either be playing short court with their own ball they brought to the gym, or come charging over to me to grab a ball as fast as they could to start to play short court. They have a one-track mind when in the gym and that’s to play volleyball. It’s awesome to watch and Stewart Solomon, my assistant, and I have had a ton of fun with the boys this year. But once practice starts, both the boys and girls are eager to learn and ready to work hard. I have been extremely lucky to have been able to coach such great athletes, both girls and boys, at SCVC for the past two years. We’ve had great kids, great parents, great coaches, and great teams.”
Featherstone said the strength of the team was ball control.
“We are not a big team and relied on our serving, passing, and defense to win games,” Featherstone said. “We worked on these ball control skills for over an hour each practice and it paid off in Minneapolis.”
The head coach also credits Manhattan Beach resident Rob Mullahey for his team leadership.
“The MVP of our team, hands down, was our setter Rob Mullahey (Manhattan Beach),” Featherstone said. “He is such a great leader and player and knew exactly what to do during crunch time. Keep your eyes out for him in the future as his volleyball career continues.”
Team members included Donovan Brandsness (Parras Middle School), Matthew Donatucci (American Martyrs), Quinn Jones (Chadwick), Ryan Kirkpatrick (Chadwick), Lane Krai (St. Lawrence Martyr), Alden Lundy (Palos Verdes), Rob Mullahey (American Martyrs), Luke Nassif (Palos Verdes Middle School), Matthew Reubenstein (Manhattan Beach Middle School), Noah Viklund (Westside Neighborhood), Jackson Wedbush (Manhattan Beach Middle School) and Declan Wright (Manhattan Beach Middle School)
Two boys teams from the South Bay also brought home bronze medals from Minnesota. The SCVC 16 QS and the MB Surf 15’s placed third in their respective Open Gold Divisions.
The SCVC team included Mira Costa players Riley Mallon, Scott Stephanoff and Riley Thomas along with Redondo’s Ryan Baker. Completing the team’s roster were Palos Verdes’ Cole Fiers and Brendan Hong, Loyola’s Jackson Bantle, Michael Breen, Chris Kennedy, Joseph Kiley and Garrett Mohr and Nick Rademacher from Long Beach Poly. The team was coached by JJ Riley and John Xie. Kennedy and Mallon were named to the all-tournament team.
Duncan Avery, head coach of the Redondo Union High School boys volleyball program, led the MB Surf to a third-place finish in the 15 Open Gold Division along with assistant coaches Matt Wade, Larry Mirick and Peter Jasaitis.
The team included Redondo’s Tyler Bird, Vincent Pizzuti and Louis Richard, Mira Costa’s Jack Payne and Stefan Palombo, Loyola players Chase Corbett (Manhattan Beach), Anthony Daegele (Manhattan Beach), Bobby Nolan (Manhattan Beach), Nick Zoppi (Manhattan Beach), Cole Paulin (Rolling Hills), Hayden Boehle and Riley Moore. Representing Palos Verdes was Sea King Jackson Habus and Peninsula High’s Aaron Brill.
The USAV Girls Junior National Championships were held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta where South Bay players captured gold in two divisions.
Continuing in her siblings’ success on the volleyball court, Skylar Dysktra shone as the Sports Shack 18-Asics team became only the second team to win back-to-back national championships in the 18 Open Gold Division.
“Last year we had Lara Dykstra and this year we had Skylar. That is pretty special,” said assistant coach and Manhattan Beach resident Chris McGee. “Skylar played incredible. She played like someone who had been waiting for that stage her whole life. As a sophomore moving up to the 18 division the speed of the game is usually the hardest for kids to adjust playing at that level for the 1st time. Skylar worked very hard this season and improved every single week and on the biggest stage, she played her best. She was very steady in serve receive, and defensively, I am not sure there was anyone better in the gym.”
The Sports Shack team also included Jessy Hoeschler of El Segundo.
Dykstra’s teammate at Redondo, Sade Mendez, helped the Mizuno Long Beach Rockstar win the 16 Open Gold Division championship.
In the 14 Open Gold Division, the Mizuno Long Beach Rockstar team enjoyed a silver-medal performance with the help of many South Bay players.
Manhattan Beach athletes Kelly Byrne, Skylark Caputo, Hannah Chalk and Payton Chang joined Redondo’s Abril Bustamante along with Sophia Gayton (Palos Verdes Estates) and Taylor Rudeen (San Pedro) for a second-place finish. Other team members included Natalie Anselmo, Sydney Beyma, Kit Chavers, Christina Cornelius, Megan Delgado, Norene Iosia and Sabryn Roberts. The team was coached by Tina Stevens and Darren Ong.
