Regional Tournaments - 3/15/08

The Hammers 15's team arrived at St. Andrews College in Laurinburg ready to play volleyball. Their solid teamwork and aggressive play helped them go undefeated in 5 matches (8 games) to win their first tournament of the season. A couple of the games were close; however, the girls convincingly outscored their opponents 201-131 on the day. Their serving was also the best of the season with 95% service efficiency including 18% aces. Performance at the service line was led by Hannah McCloskey and Casey Stegall with 11 and 9 aces respectively. Paige Heeke led the team with 25 kills, and Rebekah Sturgess came away with 35 assists. Erin Sigmon led the team with 11 digs. The team has been gelling well lately under the direction of Wesley Woody and have their sights set on the Hi Neighbor Tournament in Asheville on March 29.

The Hammers 14 White team traveled to Sparta, NC for their March 15th tournament. The Lady Hammers played short one player this tournament, but they were excited and ready to play. Their first match of the day against the WNC Navy Seal was very close; however, with the Hammers making 49 out of 51 of their serves, they came away with a two game win (25-22, 26-24). The second match of the day was against the Alexander Aces, which was the first time the Lady Hammers played against this neighbor rival. With great net play and smart defense, the Hammers came up with another win (25-20, 25-21). The Hammers played their final pool match against the number one ranked PTVC 14 Gold. Unfortunately the Lady Hammers ended up losing this pool play (19-25, 17-25). The Lady Hammers did place in their pool and went on to play in the semifinals against the DCVA Amazons. With scores of (18-25, 15-25), the Lady Hammers couldn't come back to win this semifinal match, but they were in good spirits and are looking forward to the Asheville tournament.

Regional Tournaments - 3/1/08

Hammers 14 Blue were a little nervous heading into the weekend as they were starting the tournament with only 6 players! A starting player, Jenna Caldwell, has broken her ankle and 2 others could not make it. The Hammers came out in fighting form beating the NC Challengers in the first game, 25-14. Those 6 girls, Taylor Cummins, McKenzie Garrison, Abby Foster, Kelly Flanders, Hannah Cogswell and Beth Bumgarner, scrambled and fought for every ball. During this match, Beth realized that she had a nosebleed! The Hammers are charged with a time-out and the head referee said that since we did not have any subs on the bench, if Beth couldn't play, we would have to forfeit the match! Beth did not let her teammates down! With her nose stuffed, she headed back onto the court. The Hammers lost the next 2 games of the match but they played well and really showed a fighting spirit. The girls met up with the Triangle Black, the #1 team in the whole 14 division (we always seem to be in their pool!) in their second match and even though the Black won the match, the Hammers stayed with them point for point in the first game. In the last match of the pool, the Hammers came up against another tough team, the ECJVC. Now, with Elizabeth Rosson joining the team, the team was up to 7 players. They lost the first game but surprised the ECJVC by taking the second and third games, winning the match. The 14 Blue came away with some impressive statistics from the weekend. Not one girl came away with less than a 90% success rate from the serving line. The team's average was a record 94.8% with McKenzie Garrison leading her team with 100%! Taylor Cummins had 13 solid kills and Hannah Cogswell led her team with 17 digs, followed closely by McKenzie with 16, Taylor with 15 and Beth with 14. Abby Foster led the team with 11 assists and Taylor, setting for the first time, had 9.

The Hammers 14 White team started out their pool play with a great win over the number one ranked Cape Fear Surge (12-25, 25-24, 15-6). The Lady Hammers started out a little slow, but came back to win the match. With a serving percentage of 94%, the Lady Hammers showed everyone they were there to play. The Hammers then came up against the second ranked team, the PTVC Triad. The Hammers also won this match (25-13, 18-25, 15-4). The team gave a wonderful display of team work and smart plays. They never gave up. The third pool play match was against the HAVC Sparks. The Lady Hammers also won this match (25-21, 13-25, 15-8). With this win, the Hammers finished first in their pool play and were undefeated. They went into the quarter final bracket ranked fourth. The team came up against the Lake Norman Explosion and won their quarter final match (25-23, 25-18). The Lady's were on top of their game with great serving and net play. Next they went to the semifinals against the AAVC 14's. Unfortunately, they did not win this match, but the day was a success. The Hammers 14 White team played tough and accomplished a personal best by finishing fourth in the playoffs.

Regional Tournaments - 2/16 - 2/17/08

Sunday was a very intense day for the Hickory Hammer's 14 White team. With injured and missing players the team lost their first two pool matches to the Pitt County Rebels and the DCVA Amazons. These were tough matches with the Hammers going to a tie breaker in the first pool match of the day. The Hammer's 14 White team did pull together in the final match of pool play with a hard fought win over the Race City Rebels. The Hammers again went to a tie breaker, (16-25), (25-13) and (15-11), but came out with a win. The Hammers pulled together with four of the team members ending up with scoring percentages over 90%; Rebecca Scott, Samantha Job, Tiffani Champion and Madison Bolick. Sydney Roland led with Kills and tips, while Marisa Belcher, Madison Bolick and Savannah Bolton led in Digs. Rebecca Scott led the team in assists. The last game of the day was by far the team's best. They pulled together and worked as team. They are looking forward to the next tournament.

Regional Tournaments - 2/2/08

Saturday's tournament at Greensboro College started out a little rough for the Hammers 14 White team. They lost a tough match to a previously seeded Gold team, the AAVC (19-25, 7-25). The Hammers came back to win their second pool play match against the Carolina Storm (25-23, 25-23). Serving was a key factor in this match. The Hammer Ladies came out strong with a 91% serving percentage for the match. The team went on to win their third pool play match against the YVVC Barbies (25-23, 25-9). This third match was very intense, and the Hammers came out playing as a team with smart decisions and good heads-up plays. Due to the pool play taking longer than expected, the playoffs were limited to one game. The Hammers 14 White lost to the UVC Blaze (18-25) but played a great game. We had great serving from Rebecca, Parker, Madison and Marisa all day long. Rebecca also led the team in assists. Sydney and Samantha contributed with kills, blocks and digs.

Regional Tournaments - 1/19/08

Braving the threat of bad weather, the Hammers 14 Blue hit the roads to Fayetteville on January 19th. The team started out slowly and lost the first match to the CJV Ice in 2 games. They then brought their game to court and beat a boys' team, the FVAA Spartans, in 2 games and repeated that effort with the Biltmore 14 Black team. They met the CJV Ice again in the championship game and lost the first set 26-28. The Hammers then put the pressure on and won the second set, 25-22. Unfortunately, they gave up the tie-breaker which put them in second place. Serving was an issue for the Hammers even though they were led by Beth Bumgarner (100% from the serving line) and Abby Foster (93.2%). Whereas the team's serving percentage was an outstanding 90.3% in their last tournament, they missed twice the amount of serves this weekend. Still, they managed to put it together to bring home the Silver in the Platinum Division. Taylor Cummins led the team with 39 digs and Abby Foster came away with 24 assists. Jenna Caldwell recorded 11 kills and also had the most aces in serving. Coach Catherine Fulton, the record-breaking player from Lenoir Rhyne and the new Assistant Coach for the Bears, believes that her team has yet to peak.

Saturday morning started off well for the Hammers 14 White's team in the tournament at St. Andrews College in Laurinburg. The team won their first match in pool play against the HAVC Sparks (25-20), (25-22). Rebecca and Tiffany lead in serves and Sydney with blocks and kills. The second match of the day was against the WNC 14's Navy Seals, (25-9, (16-25), (15-13). After pool play was completed, the Lady Hammers placed second in their pool. In quarter final action the Hammers came up against the Carolina Storm. Our team found themselves down 16-20 in the first game, but with team work and smart plays, the team came back to win the game 26-24. The second and third games did go to the opponent (22-25, 14-16), but the Hammers 14's White played hard and worked well together as a team. For the tournament, Rebecca, Sydney, Marisa, and Tiffani led in serves. Sydney, Samantha, and Parker led with kills and tips. Samantha and Sydney led with blocks and Rebecca with assists. This team has a lot going for them and we all look forward to more exciting matches and great heads up plays.

The Hammer's 13's showcased another strong showing January 19th at the Triangle VBC Tournament in Morrisville. Playing some of its stiffest competition to date, the Hammer's 13's battled evenly proving they could hold their own against the competitive squads. The Hammer's 13's started out impressively in its first two games against the Stealers. They lost the first game to the Stealers 25-19 and rallied back to win the second game 25-22, before bowing in the deciding third game. The Hammer's 13's then finished pool play by dropping a pair of close matches to Triangle Black and NC Elite. The tournament leaders included Kayla Champion, Emily Pazdera and Sydney Starnes serving over 88% accuracy. Madison Hayes and Mallory Sherrill led the team with a combined 13 hits and a combined 13 tips. Molly Cline, Roxanne Coffey and Madison Hayes led the team in assists. As a team, the Hammer's were 81% successful from the serving line.

Regional Tournaments - 1/5/08

The Hammers 15's team experienced a rough day on the court at the Triangle Volleyball Club as the overall competition level increased. The girls dropped their first match of pool play 0-2 to the CJV Slam. Their performance in the second was much improved; however, they lost in two games to the eventual tournament winner, Triangle Black (who had home court advantage). The 15's redeemed themselves in match 3 of pool play with a win against the CCVC Matrix. The tournament leaders were Casey Stegall (serves and aces), Paige Heeke and Rebekah Sturgess (kills and assists), and Paige and Casey (digs).

The Hammers 14 Blue started out strong at Greensboro College beating the IC Stars 14-1, 2-1. They went on to lose their next match to the eventual tournament winner but came back to beat the Triangle White in 2 sets. To move to the semi-finals, the Hammers had to play a sudden death game to 15 against the CVCC Jiggy. It was a disappointing, close loss but there were good things to come out of the weekend. For the first time, Coach Fulton had the 14 Blue run a 6-2 and they did a great job! Abby Foster stepped in with Corbin Evans to set which allowed Corbin to make 7 kills. Abby had 16 assists and Corbin had 15. Abby led the team in serving with 100% over 31 serves! As a team, the Hammers were 90.3% successful in serving. Corbin also had 11 aces. Jenna Caldwell and Taylor Cummins led the team with 10 kills each. Elizabeth Rosson had 36 digs with Jenna and Taylor following her with 20 and 16 respectively. This team is really starting to work well together.

Saturday morning started off well for the Hammers 14 White team. They ended up winning two out of three of there pool matches, with wins over the DOVE 14 Blue 25/11, 25/17 and the ABC 14's 25/23 and 25/15. The Hammers rallied several times as a team to pull out the win over ABC 14's. Serving and heads up plays by the team were key elements in winning this match. After pool play was over, the Hammers 14 White team placed 2nd. This put them into the finals against another DOVE 14's team. The Hammers were not able to win this match, but were very excited about their overall performance for the day finishing 5th overall.

Greensboro Quest Tournament - 12/29-30/07

• 16's - tied for 3rd out of 14 teams
• 15's - tied for 3rd out of 11 teams
• 14's Blue - tied for 3rd out of (6) 14's teams
• 14's White - tied for 5th out of (6) 14's teams
• 13's - 1st place for the (3) 13's teams playing in the 14 & under division

The Hammers 13's team opened its season by capturing First Place in the Greensboro Quest Tournament. The squad featured seven members seeing their first action at this level of competition. The team settled in after the first game and proved to quite competitive in the tournament. Kayla Champion had seven hits, Molly Cline had two hits and one assist, Roxanne Coffey served 100% in 3 of the matches and had eighteen assists, Madison Hayes had three hits and four assists, Emily Pazdera provided several saves and good passes to set up plays, Mallory Sherrill served 100% in two of the matches and had eight hits and Sydney Starnes served 100% during one game and had four hits. The squad finished the tourney with a 12-8 overall record. Kassie Henri coaches the team.

The Hammers 14 Blue team came out with a bang at the Quest tournament! They easily won their first 3 matches but split the challenger match go into the play-offs seeded second. Sunday brought the play-offs and they lost to the third-seeded NC Challengers which put them in a respectable third place. The NC Challengers went on to win the division. Corbin Evans had an outstanding 95 serves during the tournament, missing only 7! She led the team with 29 aces. Corbin also posted 48 assists fueling almost all the of the team's 58 kills. McKenzie Garrison was the Hammers' kill leader with 15. With Abby Foster playing libero for the first time in competition, she came up with 43 digs. Coach Fulton was pleased with her team's play and has high expectations for this talented group of girls.

The Hammers 14 White team started out a little slow on Saturday morning, but rebounded with a solid win over the WNC Lady Flights with a score of 25-20 and 25-21. On Sunday the Lady Hammer's also won their Gold Seed Round match against PTVC-Mizuno 14 with a score of 25-23 and 25-21. They rounded out the day with a loss to the TVA Carolina 14's. Overall the girls placed 5th in their tournament pool. Rebecca Scott led the team with 81 out of 89 serves made, while Parker Spruill had 26 assists and Sydney Roland contributed 15 kills.

The Hammers 15's team began the first tournament of the season with a little apprehension but soon found their footing and won their first pool of the day with a 3-0 match record (needing only 2 games per match). In pool #2, comprised of the three pool winners from round 1, the competition was much stiffer. They lost their first match to the eventual tournament gold bracket winner, PTVC-Piedmont. The girls came out strong in the next match against the IC Stars and won the first game 25-21; however, in spite of continued strong performance, they lost the set in two very close games. One additional match was necessary to earn their #3 slot in the gold bracket, but they handled this easily in two games (25-16, 25-8). In gold bracket play, the girls once again faced the IC Stars in the #2 slot. Our girls captured the first game 25-23. They held a 4 point lead late in game 2, but a series of unfortunate events allowed the Stars to win 25-27. With momentum on their side, the Stars took game 3 to clinch the match. The final rankings put the girls in 3rd place out of 11 teams in the tournament, which is a solid performance in their season opener. We parents saw a lot of strong potential in these girls for the coming season.

The Hammers 16's earned third place at Quest. The team won the first round of pool play by defeating the PTVC-Sportsplex 2-0 (25-12, 25-5) and the Chaos 2-0 (25-18, 25-17). In the second round of pool play the Hammers lost a close match to the PTVC-Piedmont Nationals 0-2 (26-24, 25-23). The Hammers bounced back to defeat the PTVC Mizuno 2-0 (25-16 ,25-17) and earn a three-seed going into bracket play. They opened with a win over the Brick City Wildfire 2-0 (25-20, 25-20). The Hammers then lost to the Statesville I.C. Stars, eventual tournament champions, in the semi-finals 0-2 (25-18, 25-11). Tournament leaders were Taylor Pisel and Carson Godfrey (kills); Anna Gibbs and Courtney Porter (blocks); and Shelly Reitzel (assists). The Hammers return to tournament play on January 12th in Greensboro.