16R FIRE heats up the T3 Performance Tournament (1/20/24)

Yesterday, our 16s team launched their season with a full day in Avon, Ohio at the T3 Performance one-day regionals. We were one of ten teams in the Regional-level and placed in Pool A against three other teams from Kidron, Spirit, and Urban 419.

Rogue330 prepared all week, including some great scrimmages on Thursday against our 18U team and a 16R team from Ohio Xtreme at the Sport Dome. As Coach Mandy Dale said, “That 18s team is really preparing us well to play against some of the talented teams we will face in our age group. All credit to them!” We knew they would be prepared, we just didn’t know how well they would fare against teams we’ve never seen.

Coach Mandy’s team wasted no time in winning their first match in two sets over a scrappy Spirit team. With clutch front-row play from Gracie Dale, Khyla Blair, Carlie Bennethum and Abby Potashnik, Rogue330 quickly took control of this match. Parents and friends from back home enjoyed watching on our Live stream to a Private group on Facebook. While it’s fun to get our first win, this was just the beginning of an unforgettable day. Back row energy from Lilly Samaco, Julie Underwood, and Maddie Conn set the tone for the day.

Our second game matched us against another team from the Toledo area. It was fun to watch our 16s rise up again with terrific hustle and sets from Alexa Pablo and Summer Brown, while Emily Epperly had two fantastic kills. Coaches Mandy, Bitsy, and Jennie continued to encourage and coach our girls throughout another good match. Rogue330 won both sets, setting up a battle against another 2-0 team in our pool, the Kidron-Berry-16 team.

This Kidron-Berry-16 team was a terrific matchup and challenging test for our team. In our match, Kidron got off to a fast start and Rogue330 needed an early timeout in that first set. During the next 15 minutes, our girls came through with some clutch passing, setting, and hitting. Khyla and Grace presented all kinds of problems for their Kidron counterparts. But it was the serving streak of Captain Lilly Samaco that allowed Rogue330 to take the lead, build momentum, and never look back. Summer, Julie Underwood, and Alexa followed with serves and plays that led to a 25-17 win in that first set. 

Rogue330 carried their intensity into the second set, with strong play from the entire roster. At the end of the match, our 16s clinched a spot in Saturday’s Gold Bracket and a first-round bye. To be honest, it was super inspiring and fun to see them enjoy the game and pull off the sweep of their opponents in Pool A. We are so proud of their first tournament showing and all the hard work they’ve put in!

For the first bracket game, we faced Club Extreme’s Diamond 16R team from Massillon. Rogue continued to play with energy and heart, but simply couldn’t stop the momentum that Club Extreme had seized in this match. Though we fell just short of advancing to the Gold Bracket Final, this was a fun and promising first weekend for Coach Mandy’s team in Avon.