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Back row - Ashley, Corey, Brittany, Makaela, Erika, Breana
Front row - Shelby, Katelin, Jessica, Audrey, Katie, Stephanie

Arizona Region Tournament #6

Match 1 of the Region #6 tournament saw the Crush take on the number 1 seed, R-Pac 14’s. Game one saw the Crush blast out to a 9-1 lead behind the serving of Makaela and Katelin, only to see R-Pac claw back into the game at 11-10. The Crush then decided to get serious outscoring R-Pac 14-5, to win game one 25-15. Game two was a close game throughout with many lead changes. Although fueled by the great play of Katie, Breana, Shelby and Corey, the Crush fell short, losing 25-27. Game three started with Makaela serving bullet serves. By the time her serve was broken the Crush had a 7-1 lead and never looked back winning the game and match 15-7.

Up next was Phoenix Joys 14-Green. A familiar foe that the Crush had defeated twice

 before with both matches going three games. The Crush’s serving, passing, setting and hitting was tremendous in this match resulting in a 25-16, 26-24 victory. Congratulations to Makaela, Stephanie, Shelby, Brittany, Breana, Erika, Corey and Morgan for showing the resolve and determination to win a very competitive game two.

The match for first place pitted the Crush against IMUA 14’s. Wow, what a first game. This game was not for anyone with a weak heart. It seemed like neither team was able to obtain a lead of more than a point or two throughout the game. Both teams played exceptionally well on defense to consistently shut down the other team’s service game. Lead by Audrey and Ashley, the Crush came up with that extra effort at the end to win game one, 27-25. Crush sealed the deal, crushing (no pun intended) IMUA 25-13 in game 2 to win the match and take first place.

Congratulations Crush! This was the best team performance of the year. All players demonstrated very good serving, passing, setting, hitting and defensive skills throughout the tournament.

Crush ended the six Arizona Region Tournaments with a 14-4 match record, including winning three of the six tournaments. The Crush is looking forward to continuing its performance at the Arizona Region Final tournament.

Arizona Region Tournament #5

Region Tournament #5 had the Crush heading to Chandler on a raining Saturday morning. There were 7 teams in this tournament versus the usual 8 team tournament. Crush was in the pool with Club Summit 14-2 and our old friends Gila Valley 13 ’s.

Up first was Gila Valley 13’s. Crush & Gila Valley have played twice before, with each team winning one match. Nothing good to say about this match. Gila Valley just dominated the match winning 25-15 and 25-9. This game had Coach Doug wishing he was on the beach in Mexico instead of Coach Elise.

Next up was Club Summit, the number 1 seed. Crush needed to win this match to have a chance to finish third and move up for the next tournament. Although the Crush started slowly in the first game, but finished strong behind Shelby’s three consecutive service points to win the first game 25-21. The second game saw the Crush smoke Club Summit 25-11 behind the strong serving of Shelby and Erika.

Match three was against number 2 seed AZONE 14-Phoenix. Crush put it all together against this tough opponent. Crush serving and serve receive play was awesome. The ladies shed their concrete shoes and were flying all over the court. Crush won game one 25-18 behind the play of Katelin, Katie and Brittany. In a tough game two, Stephanie made a great return of a tough serve for a critical side out and then Katelin served out the game for a 25-23 game and match win. Outstanding players in game two were Corey, Jessica, Stephanie and Shelby.

Arizona Region Tournament #4

Region tournament #4 saw the Crush come in riding a big wave into Buckeye High School, having finished 1st in the last two tournaments. The first match was against High Altitude 14-Red. It looked early as though the Crush was heading toward a huge wipeout. Crush was being dominated in the first game, but after an early time out, Crush came storming back to win the game 26-24. Game two saw the Crush serving for the match at 25-24, but a serve into the net and two more points for High Altitude, resulted in a 27-25 loss. Game 3 was a seesaw affair. Crush loss the race to 8, fought back ferociously to pull ahead at 11-8, only to eventually fall 15-12.

Crush was well aware after losing the first match, 5th place would be the best possible finish. 5th place and remaining in the same division now became the goal. It would take winning the next two matches to accomplish the goal. Up first was Club Red 13-1. Crush annihilated Club Red in the first game 25-9 behind Makaela’s 10 consecutive service points. Game 2 saw Club Red fight back for a 25-23 win. Crush won game 3 convincingly 15-9.

The match for fifth place was against West Valley 14-Fury, a team that the Crush had beaten twice in the previously two weeks. The Crush players got loosened up for this match by forming a pre-game back massage line. The massage worked well as the Crush handily took game one 25-18. Game two saw West Valley finish strong winning the game 25-21. Crush was now in their 6 straight 3-game match. After an inspirational “we don’t want to move down a division” speech from the coaches, the Crush went out and won game 3 and the match 15-12 to remain in the same division for the next tournament.

Kudos to Morgan, Katelin, Shelby, Makaela and Stephanie on their serve and Katie, Brittany, Katelin and Makaela on their serve reception percentages during this tournament.

Arizona Region Tournament #3

Up first for the Crush in the third Region tournament was Gila Valley 13’s, a team that beat the Crush in the first Region tournament. The Crush was able to even the score with a 25-22, 13-25, 15-7 victory.

Up next was West Valley 14-Fury. The Fury was the first of two teams the Crush would end up playing for the second time in back to back two weeks. After losing game one 20-25, the Crush roared back winning the last two games 25-14 and 15-12.

Standing between the Crush and their second 1st place finish in a row was the Phoenix Joys 14-Green team. Crush took the first game 25-21 and the Joys earned the second game win 26-24. The Crush started and finished strong winning the third game 15-7.

Highlights of the weekend were the all-around team effort and enthusiasm in each match win.

Click here for earlier tournament reports