Icebreaker Champions

On Sunday, January 29, Tsunami South 17-Dun defeated Atlanta Juniors 17-1 to take the championship in the 17 power division at the Icebreaker Invitational.  After a series of wins on Saturday, a win, loss and play off win on Sunday to qualify for the finals, Tsunami showed the spirit and skill of a team destined for more tournament wins.

Tsunami started off the play on Saturday with a 2 game win against Choo Choo City 17-1.  In the first game of the match, outside Emily Cappai had an amazing kill and right side Sahara Griffin landed a kill deep on the right side to advance the score to 9-1 in favor of Tsunami.  Defensive specialist Ashton Bigler, Libero Marisa Woodworth and hitter Annika Van Gunst all contributed ace serves in the first game.  The second game against Choo Choo City started off with a kill by middle Elissa Waldrop and a sole block by setter Micayla Patterson, but remained even at point for point until kills by hitter Annika and Teegan Van Gunst advanced the score to 24-20 with a final score of 25-23 for the win by Tsunami.

Match Two against A-5 17-3 saw several kills and blocks by right side Sahara Griffin which led to a final first game score of 25-11.  The second game was dominated by middle Miranda Houston with a kill shot and block leading to a tie score of 22-22.  Her ace serve put Tsunami in the lead at 24-22.  The final score was 25-22 with Tsunami taking the match.

The last match of the day against Birmingham 17-1 saw a couple of ace serves by defensive specialist Ashton Bigler, and ace by setter Micayla Patterson for a final first game score of 25-12 and a second game score of 25-10.  The second game saw middle Elissa Waldrop’s blocking contribution help Tsunami power through game two of the match.

Tsunami came back on Sunday as the winner of their 4 game pool into a 3 game pool for the right to play the championship game.  Tsunami struggled against GA5 17-1 in the first game of a two game match on Sunday afternoon.  Down 16-20, Tsunami rallied to win with a score of 25-22.  After hitting a groove, Tsunami overtook GA5 in the second game with a score of 22-8.  Tsunami could not find its groove in the second match against A5-17-2.  A5 won with scores of 26-24 and 25-21.  Undaunted and undeterred, Tsunami still remained in contention for the gold because of the win against GA5 who had won in their match against A5.  With a single game elimination, A5 17-2 took GA5 17-1 for a rematch between Tsunami and A5 17-2.  This time, Tsunami 17-1 wasted no time in blocking their opponent’s hitters and effectively shutting down their offense.  The defense by Tsunami was a key factor in their moving onto the finals by defeating A5 with a score 25-10.  With that game, Tsunami 17-1 made it known that it has what it takes to come from behind and be victorious. 

In the championship games against the #1 SRVA ranked Atlanta Juniors 17-1, Tsunami went into the match determined to take the crown from and “crush” the Atlanta Juniors.  With a goal of winning the match in two games, Tsunami started off and remained strong.  By using the same strategy against Atlanta Juniors that had worked so effectively with A5 17-2, Tsunami was able to shut down the offense of Atlanta Juniors.  The first game was Tsunami’s with a score of 25-15.  In the second game, Atlanta Juniors tried to adjust their offense and came back.  However, several ace serves by hitter Annika Van Gunst, kills by right side Sahara Griffin and team contributions from all of Tsunami led to the final score of 25-22 with Tsunami claiming the championship in the 17 power division.

All eyes are on Tsunami 17-1 as they play in the 18 power division of the Music City Block Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee on February 4 and 5, 2012.  As always, Tsunami 17 power will “Git R” Dun and come home a winner.