In Last Round of Qualifiers, 9 Teams Earn Top-10 Finishes
Easter Weekend Closes Triangle Qualifier Season-Easter weekend saw 14 Triangle teams head to four different cities to compete in their final national qualifier of the 2014 season. Nine teams earned impressive top ten finishes; with at least one in every age group 13-18.
In total for the 2014 season Triangle had 37 qualifier appearances by 20 teams. Fifteen top 10 finishes were earned by teams from 12’s to 18’s. In addition, teams from the Black to the White level shared in top ten accomplishments which represents the best overall qualifier performance in Triangle’s history.
Results from last weekend follow:
Northeast Qualifier-Fort Washington [Gaylord], MD
TEAM
DIVISION
FINISH
13 Black
13 Open
5/23
14 Black
14 Open
21/30
14 Blue
14 USA
T5/27
14 White
14 American
2/48
Northern Lights Qualifier-Minneapolis, MN
15 Black
15 Open
T11/24
15 Blue
15 USA
T11/24
15 White
15 American
T9/55
Lone Star Qualifier-Dallas, TX
16 Black
16 Open
14/30
16 Blue
16 USA
T5/44
16 White
16 American
T84/161
Northeast Qualifier-Philadelphia, PA
17 Black
17 Open
T9/44
17 Blue
17 USA
4/63
18 Black
18 Open
T5/36
18 Blue
18 USA
T9/48
“What We Learned About Our Teams” by Mike Schall
This past weekend was a unique one in our history and certainly in my time here as the Associate Director. Triangle Volleyball Club sent teams to four different cities across the United States to compete in National Qualifiers. Two 18’s and two 17’s teams traveled to Philadelphia. Three 16’s teams went to Dallas. Three 15’s teams flew to Minneapolis. Three 14’s teams and one 13’s team hopped on a bus to National Harbor (Washington, DC).
For the first time in my tenure and in Triangle’s recent history, no Triangle teams earned a bid to Junior Nationals through a Junior National Qualifier yet it felt like the most successful season ever. This past weekend alone, nine of our fourteen teams competing finished in the top 10 in their respective age divisions. 14 White (American), 17 Blue (USA), and 18 Black all were defeated in matches that would have given them a bid to Nationals. Did we fall short of a goal. Yes. Triangle 18 Black even had set as one of their season goals winning a qualifier. We fell short…and I wouldn’t trade the attempt of going after something big for anything.
For the casual, and even interested, observer, the only measuring stick that counts is ‘win or loss.’ When someone asks, “how did you do,” they just really want to know the outcome of your match. That is the easiest and sometimes most misleading way to measure ‘how we did.’ Throughout my career, I have had good losses and bad wins. As Coaches, I think we should have a different set of criteria for evaluating success, especially when looking at it in the context of an entire season. Did our teams get better? Did we play the best that we were capable of playing? Did we play hard? Did we stick together? How did we handle adversity? How did we handle success? Did we take care of each other? Did we respect the game?
As a Coach (in case you didn’t notice, I think the title Coach should always be capitalized) and Club Director, I believe the criteria for success listed above can be achieved regardless of the outcome of a match, finish in a tournament, or bid qualification status. Would I rather win than lose? Of course. I think anybody with a pulse would agree. I was honored to coach a team this year that continued to get better (and we will continue that through AAU’s), cared deeply about each other, and competed at their very best in the biggest matches. We fell a little short, but we will be connected forever. I think that’s what matters most.
Go Triangle!