JANESVILLE VOLLEYBALL CLUB CONTINUED SUCCESS

The Janesville Volleyball Club ended its 2024 season on March 23rd when our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teams competed in the AAU State Tournaments. Our 6th and 8th grade teams also played in their respective State Tournaments on March 16th. These teams represented our Janesville Volleyball Club well at the statewide tournament sites and competed well against some very strong teams in all five classes.

The 6th grade team advanced to the Gold Bracket (top 24 of 60 teams competing) after going undefeated and getting first place in pool play. They won their first two matches in bracket play but then fell short to a very good Wolfpack team, finishing in a tie for 5th place.

The 8th grade team advanced to the Silver Bracket, after finishing 3rd in their pool, but lost a hard fought battle in the first match of bracket play.

Our 5th grade Black team finished 4th in pool play, advancing them to the Bronze Bracket, but they fell short to a LeMars team in their first match. Our 5th grade Gold team finished first in pool play advancing them to the Gold Bracket, putting them in the top 20 out of the 50 teams competing. However, they fell short in a very close match in the first round of bracket play.

Our 3rd and 4th grade teams faced some tough competition throughout the day, and ended up not advancing to bracket play, but they played hard and had fun!

Our 7th grade team did not participate in the State tournament due to scheduling conflicts, but they competed well in their tournaments this season where so much progress was made, as they improved throughout the entire AAU season and gained valuable experience.

Congratulations to all players and teams for all their success during the 2024 season. This wraps up the 33rd season of tournament play for the Janesville Volleyball Club. Coaches volunteer a lot of their time in order for these players to gain experience by playing in the AAU tournament season. High school coaches Shelly Sorensen, Dana Sorensen, and Katy Sweeney, along with Alexis Olson, Mike Zwanziger, Al Sweeney, Brittany Wegner, Destiny Christopher, Kamryn Umthum, and Allison Fisher coached our AAU teams this season. And a special thank you to Jayden Umthum for stepping in to help with a 5th grade team at State!

Much experience was gained and so much improvement and progress was seen during these tournaments where teams played up to six matches a day. These young ladies should be proud of themselves for all that they have accomplished. It was great to see the growth and improvement made by all players and all teams throughout the club season. Thanks to the parents and family members who must sacrifice a lot of their time in order to allow these young ladies to participate. Thanks to all of you who helped by transporting teams and coaches to tournaments, providing good lunches and snacks, line judging, scorekeeping, officiating and a huge thank you to all who helped clean up following our home tournaments. We cannot do this without you!. Thanks especially to all of the parents for your support of this program. Coaches truly appreciate all that you do and for being so supportive of all that we do. A very HUGE THANK YOU to all of the coaches who volunteered your time and efforts to help me in giving these girls the opportunity to participate in the Janesville volleyball club program. Thanks to all of you our program continues to be a success.

article written by Shelly Sorensen