APAC at the Presidente Picante tournament in February

There’s a nice little article published on PrepVolleyball.com about APAC’s successful attempts of getting an Open Bid at Lone Star last weekend. A few excerpts:

To provide some context into how remarkable it is that APAC, which stands for “Asian Pacific American Coalition,” came to qualify in 16 Open, consider this:

1. The two-team club hails from El Paso, Texas, not exactly a hotbed of volleyball nationally or even in Texas.

2. The club formed three years ago. And while APAC was the best 14s team in the Sun Country Region its first year, it finished 42nd out of 48 teams in 14 National at JOs in 2009.

3. In two national qualifiers before Lone Star, playing 16 Open APAC finished 29th out of 64 teams at Crossroads and 29th out of 41 teams at the SCVA qualifier.

4. APAC entered Lone Star seeded 22nd out of 24 teams and was 4-4 when it took the court one last time seeking a bid. All four of its wins had come in three sets. The team had been swept in all four of its losses, including to Sunshine and Instinct in its Gold pool earlier in the day.

and:

Nakamoto attributed his team’s success to a talk they had in lieu of practice one day.

“We just spent the whole two hours talking,” he explained. “I told the girls we are playing to win not just to show up. That worked.”

Asked if he was surprised his team was able to qualify, Nakamoto answered honestly.

“Very much,” he said. “I didn’t expect it. I know that they were nervous. We were nervous, too. I think we were a little bit stronger mentally.”

To read the entire article, visit PrepVolleyball.com; if you don’t have a subscription, get one! There’s lots of great information on the site.

It’s fantastic to see a local team get such great coverage at a national level. Congrats to APAC for the recognition and putting in the hard work and earning the BID!

Congrats to the El Paso Wildfire for winning the Division 1 SURVA regional qualifier this weekend in El Paso, TX.

The Wildfire continue to be the team to beat in the region, holding off a tough NM Juniors 17 Jeff squad and the scrappy APAC-16 who finished #2 and #3, respectively.

Look for all three teams to head to the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier, on March 18, 19 and 20 in Denver, CO.

Photo courtesy of El Paso Wildfire.

Congrats to the El Paso APAC 16s team who beat a talented NM Jrs 17 Jeff squad to take home gold in the 18s division at last weekend’s Presidente Picante volleyball tournament in Albuquerque, NM.

APAC scored wins against AZ Saguaros 18′s from Phoenix, PVP 18 Rox from Amarillo, and NEVBC 18′s from Durango CO racking up an impressive overall record of 6-0-1 and 13-2 in sets.

Front row: Monica Claxton (S), Kelly Acosta (DS/L), Grace Park (L), Sarah Villa (DS/S/OPP). Back row: Meghan Miller, Celina Hernandez, Mason Mizener, Nivia Grajeda, Mariana Caballero, Meghan Kuykendall. Photo courtesy of Patrick Claxton.

• Mackenzie Clark
• Heather Danny
• Kristen Holt
• Sydney Kemper
• Mikella Lovato
• Daniella Montoya
• Ashley Newman
• Letisha Spencer
• Jayla Trombley

Photos courtesy of the NM Juniors!

The following is an article that was published late last month.

Varsity volleyball stars lead team to nationals

By Felix Chavez \ El Paso Times

EL PASO — The El Paso Wildfire 17s club volleyball team has emerged as one of the nation’s top squads, and players hope to make a mark on the national level this summer.

From June 24 to July 3 in Reno, Nev., the Wildfire will compete in the 17-year-old Open Division of the USA Volleyball Junior Olympic National Tournament against some of the top teams in the nation.

The Wildfire, composed of some of the top varsity volleyball players in El Paso, already have faced some of the nation’s best and fared well. The Wildfire have finished fourth, 11th and 13th in national tournaments this year.

Heading into the Reno tournament, the team has accumulated a 31-8 record, is ranked No. 26 in the nation by Prep Volleyball, No. 3 in the state of Texas by Lone Star Volleyball and is the No. 1 ranked team in the Sun Country region, which includes West Texas and New Mexico.

“This group of players has handled playing tough competition well,” said head coach Al Rosen, who is the current head coach at Gadsden High School. “It’s a talented group of players and a group which works hard to prepare. The chemistry has been tremendous.”
The Wildfire squad has plenty of talent to lean on as it heads to the national tournament his summer. The team includes hitters Caroline Brown and Monica Corrujedo, middles Nikira Fults and Rose Diaz, setter Alexia Heist and defensive standouts Alejandra Barraza and Megan Dominguez.

Brown is headed to Division I school Davidson next year on a volleyball scholarship, Heist is being recruited Tennessee, Texas Christian and Auburn for her services and Rosen is high on Corrujedo, who has stepped up as a young player on a team full of older players.

“We have big expectations for the national tournament,” Heist said. “We’ve really competed well against top teams, and we compete hard. If we get down early, we’ll be patient and play well. Going to nationals will be a learning experience for us, but one we are ready for.”

Rosen said close to 50 teams will be in his team’s division.

“We’ve had experience going up against top teams, and that will help,” Rosen said. “We have good leadership and players who are committed to playing at a high level.”

Added Corrujedo: “It’s been a learning experience going through the big tournaments and playing against the elite.”

This year’s trip to the national tournament will be the fourth consecutive season that the program has advanced to the Junior National Championships. Last year, the team finished eighth in the tournament in its division.

Felix Chavez may be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6374.

Wildfire
Caroline Brown, senior, Coronado; Alexia Heist, sophomore, Eastwood; Alysha Blanco, sophomore, Eastwood; Rose Diaz, junior, Coronado; Monica Corrujedo, freshman, Montwood; Megan Dominguez, junior, Chapin; Alejandra Barraza, sophomore, El Paso High; Francquee Acosta, junior, Americas; Nikira Fults, junior, Chapin; Coach Al Rosen, head coach at Gadsden High School.

El Paso Sunspots shine on volleyball court, in class

By Steve Escajeda \ Special to the Times

The high school volleyball season may have ended last November, but things are just heating up for some of the best high school volleyball players in the area.

The El Paso Sunspots, a club team made up of 18-year-old players from the area, will compete at the 2010 USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships in Reno, Nev., June 24-July 3.

The Sunspots qualified for the national tournament by capturing the Sun Country Regional that was held in El Paso in March.

“It’s funny, our goal at the beginning of the season was not necessarily to qualify for nationals,” said coach Eddie Portillo.

“Our biggest goal was to get the girls playing at the level that — by the time their club season was over — they wouldn’t go to college and just sit on the bench.

“Meanwhile, they kept getting better. We got very good and the next thing you know we’re out there competing with some of the top teams in Dallas and throughout the state.”

The national tournament, which will be held at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, will be tough enough without the distractions this time of year brings for high school seniors.

“The most difficult part about coaching 18-year-olds is that they have so many things going on and they’re already thinking about going to college,” Portillo explained. “But the girls have decided that they are going to put all their effort and focus on the national tournament.”

And the Sunspots have more than their share of players going to college.

“Every player on the team will play volleyball in college somewhere next year, except for one player who chose to go to college on an academic scholarship,” said team Director Jeff Farmer.

“We give the kids a chance to play the game all year round and naturally they get much better when they play the game all the time,” said Farmer, who has been with the program for 10 years.

One of the Sunspots’ players will be returning to continue her volleyball career at UTEP after the national tournament.

“I feel honored because I come from a very small school from a very small town and scholarships aren’t offered very often here because all the athletes have to play many sports and they don’t usually get to shine in just one,” said Victoria Valencia, the San Elizario senior who recently signed with UTEP.

“I’m very confident because this is our last club season. Next year we’ll all be off to college,” Valencia said. “Most of the girls we’ll meet at national have already signed with (NCAA) Division I schools so we know it will be challenging. But I think we’re up to it.”

Valencia is ranked third in her class academically with a grade average of 100 and will study physical therapy at UTEP.

Another academic standout on the team has earned an academic scholarship to Baylor.

“This is my third trip to nationals and most of the other girls have been there once or twice so we’re pretty confident going in,” said Coronado senior Jen Misenhimer.

“We’ve meshed really well from our first day together,” Misenhimer said. “I’ve played with almost every single girl on the team at one time or another before and that helps us a lot at big tournaments.”

Misenhimer, who chose to attend Baylor for academics rather than continue with volleyball, carries a 99.3 GPA and will major in biology and plans to attend pre-med classes.

“For me, this is the last tournament I’ll ever play so it means so much,” said Misenhimer. “I consider these girls more than teammates, they’re my family.”

Portillo also would like to see his players succeed for more than just what they give him on the court.

“It’s a great honor to coach this team,” he said. “I’ve had the pleasure of watching these girls grow from 12-year-old kids, who can barely walk and chew gum at the same time, to seeing them today, succeeding and on the verge of going on to better things in the future.”