COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – In 2017, the USA Volleyball Beach High Performance program shifted its junior pipeline process to focus on zonal assessments. Athletes competed throughout the season in four different zone skill assessment camps and most recently wrapped up with four zone championships.
Beginning in March, the beach high performance pipeline hosted skills assessment camps in Florida, California, Texas and Iowa. The breakout to assessment camps in lieu of tryouts was to provide attending athletes U13-U19 with an immersive program and accessibility to High Performance coaches.
In June, each of the four zonal events began with a camp, then ended with the championships for each of the four age groups in the junior HP program pipeline. The four zonal championships were held in the Central, Pacific, Atlantic and Border zones. The international style events saw each zone’s top talent from HP A2 athletes and region teams compete for a chance to win and qualify to compete at the USA Junior Beach Championships, which is July 31 – Aug. 2 in Hermosa Beach, California.
Central Zone Championships | June 7-9 Results | Cedar Rapids, Iowa
The first of the four zonal championship format, the event featured more than 50 athletes from eight states. Hosted at the Oasis Sand Bar in Cedar Rapids, the facility offers year-round training with its new indoor beach courts, which will be completed in the upcoming months. The Championships saw athletes compete in boys’ and girls’ U19, U17 and U15 age groups.
U19 Winners
Boys | Elijah Margetts/Kyle Dixon
Girls | Allison Ferguson/Miranda Greathoust
U17 Winners
Boys | Zeo Meyer/Edward Jakubauskas
Girls | Chloe Tome/Grace Mans
U15 Winners
Boys | Gavin Peters/Samuel Brey
Girls | Maya May Brown/Sarah Morton
Pacific Zone Championships | June 14-16 Results | Monterey, Calif.
Sixty-four athletes hailing from five states competed in this event, which also featured prominent international and national grade officials on the stands. This was the first zone championship to feature the U13 age group competing.
U19 Winners
Boys | Jeremy Lim/Evan Dragich
Girls | Caroline Schafer/Maggie Walters
U17 Winners
Boys | Benjamin Wood/Truman Natividad
Girls | Ciara Cantlen/Jillian Rodriguez
U15 Winners
Girls | Logan Scully/Elizabeth Anderson
U13 Winners
Girls | Anya Baklenko/Courtney Knapick
Atlantic Zone Championships | June 21-23 Results | Emerson, Ga.
Hosted at Rally Volleyball in their newly built sports complex in Cartersville, Georgia, this was the largest of the four zone championships, featuring 92 athletes from 12 states. The event also highlighted some of the top talent that has been training with the Beach High Performance program in previous years.
U19 Winners
Boys | Christian Phung/Luke Salm
Girls | Abigail Hughes/Jordan Smith
U17 Winners
Boys | Eric Winn/John Ziska
Girls | Lexy Denaburg/Rileigh Powers
U15 Winners
Boys | Christopher Connelly/Nico Paula
Girls | Brianna Dempsey/Stella Dees
U13 Winners
Girls | Camryn Ehlers/Alyssa Cadavid
Border Zone Championships | June 22-24 Results | Lewisville, Texas
This championship was hosted in the new hot spot outside of Dallas, at The Strand in Lewisville. Sixty-four athletes from six states competed in the final HP Zone Championship of 2017, including athletes with extensive USAV HP experience.
U19 Winners
Boys | Tristan Vassberg/Broderick Miller
Girls | Katherine Privett/Samantha Plaster
U17 Winners
Boys | Camden Miner/Ashton Thiemer
Girls | Josephine Miller/Madeline Speicher
U15 Winners
Boys | Alexander Chacon/Joshua Garcia
Girls | Ava Guerra/Hope Sabater
U13 Winners
Girls | Saylor Little/Giselle Groe
The USA Junior Beach Championships will be hosted at the end of the month of July, 31 – to August 2 in Hermosa Beach, California. The older age group in the high performance program, U21 and U23, will play in their season championship event, the USAV Collegiate Beach Open, July 6-8 in Huntington Beach, California.