“Volleyball shows the way” plus 2 more |
- Volleyball shows the way
- Valley's Blair Brown Helps Penn State To Fourth National Title; Named Volleyball Honda Sports Award Finalist
- New youth volleyball organization targets masses
| Posted: 23 Feb 2011 08:12 AM PST  Tim Escher of Shalom Black in action. Mike Knott BUNVOL SCHOOL volleyball powerhouse Bundaberg High made a good start to its Bundaberg and District Secondary School Sports Summer series last week. It fielded four teams in the round and achieved three wins and a draw. The open boys had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Bundaberg Christian College after winning the first set 25-14, being edged out in the second 25-23, and being ahead 12-8 in the third but it was not able to be completed by the finishing time. Bundaberg High's junior boys produced a dominant performance to defeat Shalom Black in straight sets 25-17, 25-12, 25-14. Both of the school's junior girls' outfits were also successful with its Blue side also prevailing over Shalom Black in straight sets 25-23, 25-17, 25-17. But its White side was forced to fight back after losing the second set to Shalom Red, ultimately getting home 25-18, 20-25, 25-22. Gin Gin's two junior girls' teams were also victorious with Green outgunning North 25-14, 25-21, and Yellow accounting for Kepnock 25-20, 25-20. In golf, the opening round of the interschool play at Bargara saw some amazing performances from the students. BDSSS golf convenor Hugh Peers said St Luke's provided the highlights of the day in the three-man ambrose competition. "St Luke's junior team were even with the card after playing their five holes, while the senior team, headed by Jordan Curd, were an astonishing three-under par after playing their five holes," Peers said. "If this is a sign of things to come, Bundaberg Golf has some great prospects over the next few years." Bundaberg High touch teams were also victorious in four of the five divisions – open and under-15 boys, under-15 girls and under-13 mixed – with just their open girls side biting the dust. There was plenty of keen competition in tennis, ten pin, table tennis, softball and surfing. Meanwhile, 171 Bundaberg and District students will contest Wide Bay summer sports trials across eight sports today, with Bundaberg High the best-represented school with 60. Cricket and touch trials will be in Bundaberg at Salter Oval and Greg Duncan Fields respectively. The other venues will be Maryborough (golf), Hervey Bay (softball), Murgon (squash and girls volleyball), Rainbow Beach (surfing) and Kingaroy (tennis and boys volleyball). Results Volleyball - Open Boys: BSHS drew with BCC 1-1 (25-14, 23-25, 12-8 incomplete); Shalom Black d Shalom Red 2-1 (25-16, 25-11, 19-25) Open Girls: Shalom drew with North Purple 2-2 (15-25, 25-15, 25-13, 20-25); Gin Gin d Rosedale 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-12) Junior Boys: Bundy High d Shalom Black 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-14); Shalom Red won on Forfeit (North) Junior Girls: Bundy White d Shalom Red 2-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-22); Bundy Blue d Shalom Black 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-17); Gin Gin Green d North 2-0 (25-14, 25-21); Gin Gin Yellow d Kepnock 2-0 (25-20, 25-20). Touch Progress points – Open boys: BSHS 3, St Luke's 3, Isis 1, Rosedale 1, Shalom 0. Open girls: North 3, Shalom 3, BSHS 1, Kepnock 1, St Luke's 0, BCC 0. Under-15 boys: BSHS 3, St Luke's I 3, Shalom I 3, Kepnock 1, North 1, St Luke's II 1, Shalom II 0. Under-15 girls: BSHS 3, St Luke's I 3, St Luke's II 3, Kepnock 1, BCC 1, Shalom 1. Under-13 Mixed: Shalom II 3, BSHS 3, Isis 3, St Luke's 3, Shalom I 1, Shalom III 1, BCC 1, Kepnock 1. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Posted: 23 Feb 2011 06:27 AM PST Saturday night Purcellville resident Blair Brown managed to surpass even her most spectacular previous athletic accomplishments, helping her Penn State Nittany Lions teammates win an unprecedented four straight National Women's Volleyball Championship. The championship round is a best of five contest, but the Lions won three straight over California to gain the championship in Kansas City, MO. Playing for a team that is one of the most dominant women's volleyball forces ever, Brown herself is proving herself a dominant player nationwide. Brown has been named one of four finalists for the 2010-1011 Honda Sports Award, which determines the top woman collegiate athlete in volleyball. Her competitors include Texas' Juliann Faucette; USC's Alex Jupiter; and Cal's Carli Lloyd, all three of whom she knows well and against whom she has played often. The winner will be a candidate for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award. A member of the 2010 National Championship All-Tournament Team, Brown is the 10th Nittany Lion to be named a finalist for the Honda Award for volleyball. The 6'5" tall Brown, who was a standout performer on the Loudoun Valley High School girls' volleyball team, helped the school win the Group AA State Volleyball Championship in 2004. In 2004 and 2005, she was named the Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year. She graduated from Valley in 2006. After being red-shirted her first year at Penn State because of an ankle injury, she returned to the court in 2007 and was named to the Big Ten on the all-freshmen team. Over the past three years, Brown increased her importance to the Penn State team. Her stats and honors are impressive. Earlier this season, she became the sixth straight Nittany Lion to be named the Big Ten Player of the Year. She is a three-time AVCA All American. A three-time All-Big Ten selection, she earned Second Team laurels in 2008 and First Team honors in 2009 and 2010. Brown has started all 37 matches this season and leads the Nittany Lions with 521 kills, averaging 4.24 kills per set on .320 hitting. She is second on the team with 281 digs and 113 total blocks. Her 4.24 kills per set ranks second in the Big Ten and 21st nationally, while her .323 attack percentage ranks ninth in the league. Her 4.72 points per set ranks 18th in the country. Brown earned conference player of the week laurels three times. She surpassed the 1,000 career kills milestone this season and closed out her career with 1,295 kills. Brown is the 22-year-old daughter of Sgt. Jeff Brown, supervisor of the Robbery/Homicide unit of Criminal Investigations in the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, and Jaima Brown. Her volleyball coach at Valley remembered his former player with affection. "She was a wonderful young lady, who never lost sight of her family and whom she came from," Laird Johnson said, calling her "gracious" in her approach to teammates and opponents alike. A popular member of the Valley volleyball team, nevertheless she was also "extremely competitive," he recalled. But it was a competitiveness that never got out of hand. "She kept everything in perspective," Johnson said-no easy feat considering her success. Much of the credit for Brown being so balanced Johnson attributed to her parents, who "have done everything physically and financially" to support her career as a player. "Early on they realized she was a very special player and athlete, and they supported her 100 percent. They traveled with her everywhere, gave all the support she needed," he said. So did her brother Tyler, a county deputy who played golf at Valley. And her family was in Kansas City, Jeff, Jaima and Tyler, to see the culmination of Brown's college career. "It's been a fun, fun ride," her father said Monday, hardly believing that Saturday night's championship win was not the only glittering honor facing his daughter. "It's a tremendous award (the Honda Sports Award) to be considered for," he said. Fierce competitors all year, the four finalists for the Honda Sports Award nevertheless are friends and hold each other in the highest regard, Jeff Brown said. One of the highlights the Brown family will take away from the championship occurred on the academic front. Having been injured her first year and red-shirted, Blair Brown is a fifth year senior. Her graduation was set to occur Dec. 18, the night of the finals. Penn State President Graham Spanier is "quite a volleyball fan," Jeff Brown said. When Spanier called Coach Russ Rose to say he would not be able to make the Nittany Lions' final games because of graduation ceremonies, he learned that Brown would not be able to make his graduation event either, as she had her other "graduation" to attend to. Providing a personal note that touched Brown, her family and her teammates, Spanier came to the team's final practice before boarding the plane to Kansas City wearing his full academic regalia and handing Brown a cap and gown for her graduation, which he performed on the spot at the end of the practice. "She put the cap and gown over her uniform. You could see her knee pads under the gown," her father said. "We were all totally shocked; she cried, and so did her teammates," he recalled. "I'm very proud of her, she's a great kid," he said. Right now Brown is being flooded with offers to play professionally, either in the U.S. or abroad, including Brazil and Puerto Rico. But, she's taking a break from it all, although she will make up her mind as to future career choices in a couple of months. "She's off on vacation, visiting her boyfriend in Switzerland," he said. Reader Comments The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of Leesburg Today. Total Comments: No comments posted.You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your member ID will be posted with the comments. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| New youth volleyball organization targets masses Posted: 23 Feb 2011 08:06 PM PST [fivefilters.org: unable to retrieve full-text content] There's a new volleyball organization in town and they're looking for players that haven't had an opportunity to experience the spikes and hits of competitive youth volleyball, and even players that have the experience, but want to spend a little less for their playing time. read more |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Volleyball Sports - Yahoo! News Search Results To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment