Francquee Acosta

Francquee Acosta, El Paso Americas star outside hitter and the latest Wildfire player to sign on to compete at the next level, will stay in El Paso and play for the Miners.

According to the El Paso Times, Acosta had her choice between UTEP, Fordham, San Diego State and Hawai’i. Look for Francquee to compete for a starting spot and make an immediate impact.

Acosta still has some work to get done before she moves on; the Wildfire squad will be traveling to Atlanta at the end of June to compete in the Junior National Olympics.

Good luck!

Read more about Acosta’s signing in the El Paso Times

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!

APAC, WF 18-1 and Russ all had some good finishes.

If any coaches have results from other tournaments, please send them on in!

Notable performances include the Wildfire 18 finish at #5 in the incredibly difficult 18s Opens, NM Jrs 17 Jeff finish #19 in the equally hard 17s Open and Net Force El Paso, who finish at #9 in the 17s American division.

Great job everyone!

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.

For the past few seasons, EL PASO WILDFIRE has just missed its quest for an Open bid. And this year they are off to a fast start, opening the season with a first place win at the Chili Spike tourney in Albuquerque. Gone from last year’s team is Caroline Brown, who is now an OH at Davidson, but there is a ton of talent back, starting with one of the state’s best setters in Alexia Heist, El Paso’s All-City MVP. And she has some weapons. Sophomore phenom Monica Corrujedo, Nikira Fults, Rose Diaz and senior Franquee Acosta can deliver the heat. The team has made some nice additions in Mackenzie Clark, a 6-foot senior All-State OH from 2009 New Mexico state champion Rio Rancho, and middle Jasmine Bryant. The defense should also be very solid, led by all-state libero Megan Dominguez and newcomers Victoria Castro and Judith Gutierrez.

Losing Brown was a big loss to the team, but it looks like the rest of the team is stepping it up nicely. The Clark mention was also pretty nice. Keep up the great work Wildfire!

Looks like another El Paso club team is starting to make some waves in the region. LoneStarVolleyball.com had this to say about the up-and-coming 16s team:

For example, we don’t have them in the Top 10, but out El Paso way, APAC 16 Black has the look of a contender for a bid to the national championships. APAC recently won the Silver Bracket in 16 Open at the Fiesta Classic in Phoenix, placing ninth out of 38 Teams. APAC lost only two matches — a tight battle with Laguna Beach, ranked #10 nationally, and Arizona East Valley Mizuno, which finished fourth overall. The team features a collection of the area’s top young talent from Franklin, Coronado, Burgess, Gadsden and Montwood.

Coached by Yoshiki Nakamoto, the team is made up by Meghan Kuykendall, Monica Claxton, Celina Hernandez, Grace Park, Sarah Villa, Megan Miller, Kelly Acosta, Mariana Caballero, Mason Mizener and Nivia Grajeda.

Keep up the good work!

• 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.