Practice Schedule

Player Spotlight

Tsunami would like to welcome Gary Lee, University of West Georgia head coach, to our coaching staff for the 2011 season. He is slated to coach our 181 South team. Welcome to the Tsunami family Coach Lee!

The road toward the National Championship started and ended with Hawaii for the 14U Tsunami team.  Although the tournament was held in Orlando Florida, the Surge began the tournament against Impact Hawaii Volleyball Club and ended in dramatic fashion in the quarter finals against the eventual National Champion, Ka Ulukoa Mizuno from Honolulu Hawaii.

The Surge went into the 130 team field as the 37th seeded team.  A seed that they believed was too high.  After a 9th place finish last year, this team was determined to show that they were better than the 37th seed and to prove that they could be a national contender.  Day one of the tournament added to their confidence with three convincing victories over teams from Hawaii, Texas, and Indiana.  Day two at the Orange County Convention Center proved again that this Tsunami squad was up to the challenge as they won three more matches against three different clubs from Ohio.  The girls are now 6-0 and have not lost a game in any of the six matches.  Day three put them in a pool with teams from Puerto Rico, Illinois and Georgia.  The Surge cruised through the first match against Las Nenas (2-0) and the second match versus Club Fusion (2-0).  The third match brought about some familiar faces with the 5th seeded A5 Club.  A5 won the first game 25-22, this was the first game the girls had lost all tournament, but Tsunami rallied back to win the second game and the third game tie breaker, 25-16 and 15-12 respectively.  The victories in day three gave them a 9-0 record and earned the Surge a #5 seed in the Championship Bracket the final day.

Day four and the 16 team Championship Bracket pitted Tsunami against the #12 seed Capitanas from Puerto Rico.  The Capitanas were a small, scrappy team but the 8 am start time seemed too early for the Puerto Rico team as both teams looked a bit sluggish, Tsunami prevailed in straight games 25-18 and 25-19.  The quarter finals were next.  After a two hour break the Tsunami Surge seemed to have found some energy.  In the quarter finals against the best team in the tournament, the Surge dominated the first game versus Ka Ulukoa Mizuno 25-13.  Ka Ulukoa bounced back; led by their three All Americans, they defeated Tsunami 25-18 and forced a third game.  The third game was intense; both teams were determined to win.  After a back and forth match, Tsunami held a 14-13 lead (game point) and had the serve.  The Hawaiians won the point and the game continued.  With the score Ka Ulukoa 16, Tsunami 15, the Hawaiians had the serve.  With the game on the line, they served the ball into the top of the net… the ball rolled over the top of the net and landed on Tsunami’s side.  Ka Ulukoa would advance and the Tsunami Surge’s championship hopes were over.  It was bitter sweet ending to a great tournament and a great season.  Tsunami’s goal to finish better than they did in 2009 was accomplished with the 5th place finish, but the thought of what could have been may last a while because Ka Ulukoa went on to win the National Championship game in easy fashion.

Joining the three girls from Ka Ulukoa on the All American Team was Tsunami’s very own Rhana Mitchell. Congratulations Rhana and congratulations Tsunami 14 Surge!

Congratulations to Rhana Mitchell of Tsunami 14 Surge on being named to the AAU All American team. We're so proud of you!

Tsunami wishes our graduating players good luck as they prepare to join their collegiate teams next year. Here is a list of players and the programs they have committed to for the coming 2010-2011 season.

Mandy Black
Tsunami 18-1 South
University of West Georgia

Kylie Jacob
Tsunami 18-1 South
Jacksonville University

Enjoli Johnson
Tsunami 18-1 South
Georgia Southern University

Lizzie Knapper
Tsunami 18-1 South
Mercer University

Katy McCollister
Tsunami 18-1 South
University of Mobile

Kaylee McGrew
Tsunami 18-1 South
University of Mobile

Tsunami 18-1 started the SRVA Tournament as the #2 seed. On Day 1 they defeated Rocket City 18-1, True Promise, and Alliance 18-1 all by 2-0 margins. On Day 2 they defeated Alliance 18-3 in 2 games before playing Choo Choo 18-1. Tsunami won a 3 set match winning the third game by a decisive 15-4 score. In an exciting Quarter Final match against Nashville 18-1, Tsunami 18-1 won 2 games to none.

In the Finals Match against the number 1 seed A5 18-1 the girls won the first game 25-22 before falling in the second game and tie breaker. With the second place finished Tsunami 18-1 earned the right to attend the USA Volleyball Jr. National Championships.

The 14-1 Surge began the regional tournament as the number one seed in their pool and number five seed overall. The team went 3-0 in their pool Saturday defeating Alabama Juniors, NASA-2 and Alliance-3 without losing a game. Going into bracket play Sunday, they remained the five seed. They defeated Team Sting in the first match then faced the overall four seed, Alliance 14-2 in the quarter finals. The Surge played possibly their best match of the year and handily defeated a strong Alliance team 25-18 and 25-11. That win set up a semifinal match against the number one seed (and eventual champion) Alliance 14-1. The team played very well but lost in a three game tiebreaker.

The girls then had to turn around and play A-5 14-2 for third place with a bid to nationals on the line. Tsunami battled through both games for the victory, a third place finish and an invitation to Reno Navada. Congratulations Girls!!!!

Thank you to everyone for their concern and prayers for Devon Valastro after her on-court accident on Sunday. She sustained a concussion and a bruised vertebrae when she fell during a match. Thankfully she did not miss any school and appears to be in overall good health. Once again thanks for all of the support and help during a scary situation. Devon we're glad to see that you're back on your feet and feeling better!

Another set of overdue congratulations, this time to the 14-1 DeKalb team. They were tournament champions at the North Atlanta Tournament at the end of March. Keep up the great play!

15-1 Dekalb came together as a team for several hard fought wins on the way to the championship of the Choo Choo City Tournament in Chattanooga. Going 7-1 in pool play they were tied for first but due to the tiebreaker they went into the playoffs as the #2 finisher. In the semi-finals they managed to totally dominate a very good Kingsport 15-1 team that had been undeafeted in pool play. In the finals against a much taller and rapidly improving Choo Choo City 15-2 team they split the first two sets and then won going away in the last set 15-6.

So, this one is long overdue, but better late than never! Congratulations to the 16-1 South team as they were tournament champions at the North Atlanta Tournament early in March.

18-1 South, 18 Rays, took home tournament championship this weekend at the A5 Ice Breaker tournament. Going undefeated in pool play on Saturday with victories over GA5 18-1, Atlanta Boom 18-1 and K2 18-1 gave our 18 Rays the #1 seed going into Sunday's playoffs. Our massive blocks and tenacious defense were too much for our first two opponents of North Atlanta 18-1 and A5 18-2 as they fell quickly in 2 sets which took us into the Championship Match. Facing TCA 18-1 in the finals, the team struggled to find a groove in the first set. With points going back and forth, the team made a defensive stop at the end to win the first set. With momentum on our side, we took control of the match in the second set to win 25-23, 25-16. Congratulations ladies on your first tournament win!!

Congratulations to the 14-1 South team for capturing their first tournament championship of the season. They took first place in the Heart of Dixie tournament this weekend in Montgomery, Alabama. Go Big Wave!

Here are the Tsunami Head Coaches for the 2009-2010 season.

Tsunami South:
13-1 - Tad Sahara
14-1 - Eric Hawes
14-2 - Travis Hylbak
15-1 - Sarah Roberts
15-2 - Shawna Laurendine
16-1 - Wendy Weaver
16-2 - Amanda Mahoney
17-1 - Amanda Cook
17-2 - Mary Louise Hunt
18-1 - Dun Hahn

Tsunami DeKalb:
14-1 - Kelsey Freeman
15-1 - Bill McGoldrick
15-2 - Steve Bittle
16-1 - Kim Fletcher
16-2 - Stan VanSant
17-1 - Ana Ramirez