DALLAS, Tex. (July 3, 2016) – All season, Balboa Bay 14 Blue Coach Patrick Eaton and his coaching staff focused their team on a single goal: bring home a USA Volleyball Junior National Championship.
On Sunday, the Balboa Bay (Southern California) completed its goal, defeating SCVC 14 Quiksilver (Southern California) 25-18, 25-14 for the 14 Open National Championship.
Less than two hours later, Balboa Bay claimed a second BJNCs championship when 14 White won the 14 Club division, topping UVS 14M (Puerto Rico) 25-20, 17-25, 17-15. Including the 18 Open final, Balboa Bay has won three national championships at the 2016 Boys’ Junior National Championships.
“After last year’s (14 Blue) team won gold, our team goal was to come back and compete for a chance to repeat,” Eaton said. “They were hungry and with the work they put in, they deserve it.”
Balboa Bay led the entire first set, although SCVC never trailed by more than three points until a pair of aces by setter Byrce Dvorak put Balboa Bay ahead 12-7; the team never looked back, racing ahead to take the first set 25-18.
Strong attacks – both front and back row – by SCVC’s Luke Turner and Clarke Godbold kept the Balboa Bay defense on its toes throughout the second set; however. Balboa Bay was equally relentless at the net with its block.
“We’re known as a big blocking club, so we focus a lot on that and I thought we did a great job showing our game today,” Balboa Bay’s Sebastian Rodriguez said.
And did the 18 Open championship one day earlier help to inspire the team? Absolutely, Dvorak said.
“We were here for the match and after we told ourselves, ‘We have to follow on their footsteps,” he added.
The 2016 Boys’ Junior National Champhips title matches began Friday with the 12s division. Hosted in Dallas for the second time since 2012, the 2016 tournament features 463 teams on 39 courts. The 12 and 18 age divisions began competition on Wednesday, June 29; the event concludes on July 6.
Monday’s competition features the start of the 13s age division and championships in the 16 Open and 16 Club divisions, as competition for other age groups continues.
14 Open
Gold: Balboa Bay (SC)
Silver: SCVC 14 Quiksilver (SC)
Bronze: Team Rockstar 14-1 (SC)
Bronze: Borinquen Coqui 14-1 (PU)
14 Club
Gold: Balboa Bay 14 White (SC)
Silver: UVS 14M (PU)
Bronze: SMBC 14 Adidas (SC)
Bronze: Ponce Pumas 14 (PU)