COLUMBUS, Ohio (July 4, 2017) – Balboa Bay 18 Blue volleyball club out of Costa Mesa, Calif., won the 18-and-under title in the open division for the second straight year on Tuesday at the USA Volleyball Boys Junior National Championships at the Columbus Convention Center.
Balboa Bay beat 949 18 Black B-KC out of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., 25-23, 22-25, 15-10 in the final. Both teams are in USAV’s Southern California Region.
Balboa Bay’s Carlos Rivera-Vega was named tournament MVP. Garrett Halsey, Cole Pender and Cole Paxson also won all-tournament honors. For 949, Jonathon Minsburg, Kyler Presho and Charlie Siragusa were named all-tournament.
“All my teammates, for me, are MVPs,” Rivera-Vega said. “They supported me and gave their all for me to have this award. I don’t think this should be only mine. This should be everyone’s.
“We wanted to do it for Rocky also,” he said, referring to Balboa Bay Head Coach Rocky Ciarelli. “Rocky is a great coach and he always gives it his all. He always sacrifices so much.”
Balboa went 10-1 in the tournament, losing only one match to Yorktown out of Pennsylvania.
“We played very well. It’s a very good team,” Ciarelli said. “They have good ball control, good blocking, good hitting, good setting. It was hard for me to screw it up.”
MB Surf ASICS 18s and Rise T.O. 18-Adam tied for third.
In the 18 Club Division, Mizuno East Volleyball Club (MEVBC) 18-Ryan out of the New England Region defeated Kaizen Boys 18s Black from Oklahoma, 25-12, 25-18. Seaside 18-Black and VXS 18s Black tied for third.
MEVBC’s Timothy Herget was named MVP. Henrik Liapunov and Nicholas Laudati were named All-Tournament. Kaizen’s Joseph Miller and Logan Seeley were also named All-Tournament.
A record 510 teams and more than 5,000 top boys’ junior players, ages 12-18, from the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam are participating in the Boys Junior National Championships this year.
Sport Court is the official athletic flooring for the USA Volleyball Boys’ Junior National Championships.
USA Volleyball Boys Junior National Championships Results
12 Club: Gold: Borinquen Coqui 12-1M (Puerto Rico); Silver: Bay to Bay 12-1 (Northern California); Bronze: MVVC 12 Red (Northern California) and Vaqueros 12-1 (Puerto Rico)
18 Open: Gold: Balboa Bay 18 Blue (Southern California); Silver: 949 18 Black B-KC (Southern California); Bronze: MB Surf ASICS 18s and Rise T.O 18-Adam
18 Club: Gold: Mizuno East Volleyball Club 18-Ryan; Silver: Kaizen Boys 18s Black; Bronze: Seaside 18-Black and VXS 18s Black