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Bringin' it for the 2006 season;  Coach Jenny, Josh, Dillon, Martez, Coach e, Brent, Adam, Ryan, Joe and Trevor.

Magnets Wrap Season on Tough Day

The Zia 16-Chick Magnets, despite a sustained effort all day, just couldn't get it together and finished third in the Silver Division at Boy's Regionals on December 16th at HomeCourts in Tempe.

Our first match was against the #1 seed and eventual winners of the 16's division, the Rage 16-1's team. Despite some great play and effort, we dropped a 14-25, 12-25 decision.

Our next match was against the Az. Primitive 16-1's team. Game one, we just didn't show up. We got popped 11-25. In game two we competed but came up short 19-25.

Our next match was against a team we had handled all year, the Molten 16-Blue squad. This was a tough one. We lost a close game one on some silly errors 23-25. We came back and outlasted them 25-21 in the second game, but we let them hang around again with some silly mistakes and they nipped us in what was their biggest win of the season, 15-17 in the third.

With our pool done, we played the Rage 16-2's squad who capitalized on our deflated emotional state and took us out 17-25, 18-25. Again, we played well, but not well enough to put together a win.

With third place in the silver division on the line, we took on the Molten 16-Blue team once again for a one-game-to-25 match. Finally, our serves connecting as well as our setters and hitters, we toppled them and exacted a little revenge winning 25-19 and capturing the silver.

Jenny, Steve and I chuckle when we think of where this team was in Oct. When the most basic of drills was 45 minutes of practice time. The transformation of this team has been amazing. While they didn't necessarily show it at Regionals, they're improvement is substantial.

We want to thank all the fellas and their Parental units for their support and efforts this season. We look forward to seeing all the Magnets out on their high school courts this season and next. It has been a pleasure gentlemen.

        

Chick Magnetism Takes Third at SAJO

The Chick Magnets showed some resolve and the results of a couple of tough weeks of practice and took third at the December 2nd tournament held at the Salvation Army, the final tournament before Regionals.

The day started with the fellas playing the best ball of their season. They took out the defending Region Boy’s 16’s Champion Club Cactus 16-1’s who have won the past 4 Region championships. We played well, but they were a bit better. We stayed close but they sprinted to the end, winning 25-19. Game two was a terrific effort. We fell down a bit early, came back to take the lead late, and then played more controlled and smarter on the big points at the end to even the match up at 1 apiece with a 30-28 win. With a bit of the air taken from the Cactus guys, we continued our steady play and won the decider 15-12 for our biggest win of the season.

As great as that win was, our next match showed that we still have a ways to go. The Az. Sky 16-1’s team, who we have split with this season and always play tough, ran us into the ground. We lost a close first set 23-25, but then just folded losing 14-25. It was a disappointing effort after such a great first match. We called the boys out after that loss questioning their desire and intensity.

They answered.

We next played a Molten 18-Blue team that we have handled all year. We drubbed them 25-10 behind 15 straight service winners from Joe to end the first game. In game two, we lost a bit of focus but still handled them 25-19. 

We next played the Az. Fear 16-1’s team who had dropped us the last tournament handily. We came out on fire and won the first game 25-13! The second game was a dog fight. We lost game two 26-28 and then dropped the third game 17-19! While we lost, Steve said it was a great effort.

Instead of packing it in, we took the third place match seriously and played the Rage 16-1 guys. Again, with the first game relatively close, we played smarter at the end winning 25-23. In game two, it was a smack down. Josh served the final 10 points and we won handily 25-13, going 3-2 on the day and finishing in 3rd place.

The final Regional tournament is in two weeks, and we still have much to do to prepare, but all the coaches felt this tournament that the fellas “got it!” They transitioned, they defended, they blocked…they played hard and played well.

We will look for Regionals to be our shining moment…..

CM's Go 2-3 at Interstake

The Chick Magnets took to the courts at Mesa’s Interstake Center on November 18th for their fourth Region tournament and finished 2-3 on an inconsistent day.

We started out with the Litchfield Park 14’s team. Uninspired and playing as though they were just going through the motions, they plodded out a 25-20 win in the first game, and started to regain the competitive fire a bit with a 25-16 topping in the second game.

 The next team in our 3 team pool was the Primitive 16-1’s team. We came out flat again, and got smacked down 17-25 in the first game. Then again, we regained some fire and eked out a come from behind 26-24 win. In the third game we took a big lead, but couldn’t hold it. With the game at 13 all, we made a couple of key mistakes which cost us the match, 14-16. But they were playing well as we headed into our cross pool match.

 We played the Rage 16-1’s team and played the best game of our season, winning 25-18 and playing fearless and confidant. The second game we stumbled a bit, losing 20-25.  In the third game, we fought hard. We fell behind early 2-7 and fought our way back. We tied the game at 12 and again at 14. But inexperience and some inconsistencies cost us again, and we lost a heart breaker 16-18.

 In our first bracket game, Jenny Steve and I didn’t know what to expect. But they came out and beat Molten’s Red team 25-21, 25-21. The scores weren’t indicative of just how decisive the match was in our favor. We out served, out hit and out dug our friends from Mesa and evened our record on the day at 2-2.

 Our final match was against Az. Fear’s 16-1’s team. I’m not sure if we were tired, if we were overconfident or what, but we didn’t show much in this match. We lost 12-25, 14-25 in an old fashioned butt kicking. The day ended on a down note, but the coaches saw some good things and continued improvement.

 With only a month left, only one tournament left and the Regional tournament December 16th, the training goes in hyper drive for the final month’s push. We’ll see you on the court.

The Magnets Battle in the Old Pueblo

The Chick Magnets got roughed up a bit in Tucson November 11th, but showed some pluck and spirit along the way.

Having moved up a division, our first match was against the Molten 18-Red team, who had moved down a division and clearly weren't happy about it. They punked us pretty good, 25-7, 25-10 as we showed with a rash of errors and some inconsistant play that we weren't quite ready for the big time just yet.

The next two matches were reruns of our first tournament. We played the Az. Sky 16-Chris team that we had beaten in three the last tournament. We showed up for this match, and behind some inspired play from Ryan, Adam and Joe, took it to them. We dropped a close one 23-25 and 24-26, but our effort and game was back.

We ended the quick day/night with the Mesa 17's team who had beaten us twice the tournament before. The results were similar as the older gents handled us 15-25, 13-25, but again, our play was better and more energized.

Jenny and I continue to see good things coming from the Fellas, and with only a month to go, and another tournament this weekend, the Magnets are looking toward bigger and better things to come!

Chick Magnets Impress in First Outing

Zia’s Chick Magnets went into their first tournament with mixed expectations and many more questions than answers, but they came away with a 2nd place finish after a long day at Cactus High on October 21st.

 The team took the court as the #32 team in the Region, after having to forfeit the first tournament. Molten’s 16-Blue was the season’s first opponent. Behind some nifty serving and some inspired play from Dillon, Joe and Adam, the Magnets dropped the east siders 25-21, 25-17.

 With Dillon off to swimming regionals in Scottsdale, we got a break from the other teams who wanted to play instead of sit, and reffed the next two matches. We then took on the Mesa VBC’s 17’s team. They were bigger, better and confidant, and they thumped us 25-12 in set one. But in set two, we came back and fought like junk yard dogs. Trevor owned the back court and Josh, who had just come from his PSAT’s, was a setting demon and kept the game nip and tuck throughout. In the end, Mesa won 25-23, but both Jenny and I were impressed with the competitve nature shown by our CM’s.

Finally, we took on the Litchfield Park 14’s team. It was a lesson for us in finishing matches and keeping our intensity up as we won the match 25-12, 25-14. We finished pool 4B in second place and moved to the Championship bracket of the tournament.

 We drew the 4A top team, AZ Sky 16-Chris in our first tournament contest. We stayed with them in set one, but came up a bit short, losing 25-21. In set two, in the sunset of a very long day, we showed once again some real fight. Brent was a serving machine and Martez, who moved to middle, was shutting down the bigger taller middles across the net. Joe, who was a true court leader all day, hustled all over the court and made the Sky boys pay. We took set two 25-22. In the third set, we raced out to an 11-2 lead and an obvious win….but the team learned a great lesson about coasting and thinking the other team was going to make all the mistakes. Sky to their credit stormed back and took the lead 12-11. After a time out, and the obvious inclination to fold, again, our Magnets dug in. Trevor had some key digs, Joe and Josh some key sets and swings, and Martez with some solid defense and lo and behold, the Magnets topped Sky 15-13 in the final stanza.

 We took on Mesa’s 17’s again in the final, and the first set was all Mesa, 25-11. We again fought valiantly in the second set, but came up well short 25-16. Mesa is bigger and better right now…but there’s a lot of season left! Well done fellas, your efforts were admirable!

   Hillcrest Middle School Dominates Field

Chick Magnet Assistant coach Steve Cecil, who helps coach the Hillcrest boy's team, won the Northwest Valley Middle Level Conference title this past Saturday with his boy's posting a perfect 12-0 mark. Congratulations to Steve, his wife Jody and the boys of Hillcrest Middle School.

2006 Arizona Region Boys Calendar

November 11          Boy’s #3 in Tucson,

November 18          Boy’s #4 in Phoenix

December 2           Boy’s #5 in Tucson

December 16          Boy’s Regional Tourney in Phx