Salt Lake City, UT - Tuesday May 29, 2012
After a couple of days of pool play, the men of Empire Volleyball Club; Lenny Kushnir, Tim Meier, Andy McLeavey, Erik Seide, Dennis J. Park, Kevin Shalley, Felix Volyand and Patrick Agnew Dietz had their hands full with the daunting task of winning their Bronze Division Bracket at Open Nationals. Winning this bracket meant that these men, who came together in late December, would be one of the top 15 teams in the "BB" Men's Division in the country. Top 15 out 48, isn't bad!!!
Before we get into how team Prime did, lets set up the stage for why they were in the bronze bracket.
On the first two days of Nationals, Team Prime was in a state wonder. Why you ask? Well the answer was simple, how were they going to handle 48 teams from around the country. Actually, their real question was, "how do we beat 38 teams from outside of our own region (GEVA) all while trying to best ten (10) teams from GEVA?"
Over the course of the season Team Prime had its ups and downs, but this one tournament was probably going to put everything in perspective on just how good of a team these men have truly become.
The team had a great practice and scrimmage the Friday night before the start of the tournament. Their spirits were up when they received some bad news. Lenny was injured. He partially tore his calf muscle playing on the beach the weekend before Nationals. Ouch, now the team is set back one additional person, than they expected. Earlier in the month, Mike C had informed the team of a work issue. "Great.." was the sentiment ringing through the team. Knowing they would be without one of their middles, Prime searched for one, ultimately deciding to move Tim to the middle. Now with the loss of Lenny the team needed to find another outside hitter to help rest Felix and Dennis, call to action, Patrick.
On Saturday, the team was still becoming a custom to the new look. Couple this with the 8am start time and Prime wasn't in prime form. They dropped their first match in three sets 2-1 to a team from North Carolina, Mental Block. Though it was a loss, Prime took away much needed confidence into their next two matches, one of which they dominated and won in two (Clarke's Pool (AZ); 2-1 and Red White and Brew (SC) 2-0).Their last contest of day (did we mention Prime was in a seven (7) team pool?) was against a team out of the Yankee (Boston) region, MIT Alums. This is one of those teams that can surprise you with their athleticism and that is what they did against EVC-Prime. All three sets were highly contested with scores of 25-23, 23-25 and 15-10 with Prime on top at the end. This was a really high note for the seven man team and great way to end a long day of play.
On Saturday after a fun team dinner at one of Salt Lake's finer Mexican restaurants (the Blue Iguana - we suggest you try it if ever in Salt Lake) Prime was more awake and ready to do some damage on the courts.Their first opponent ZAXID, a group of Ukrainian nationals from Chicago, were win less in the first day of play. Not knowing what to expect, Prime came out hot and ready to win, unfortunately, so did ZAXID. Prime dropped their first match of the day in two (0-2) and this would prove to be a major blow later on in their standings.
Also on Saturday EVC-Prime received some unexpected good news. Lenny, who still made the trip out to Salt Lake even though injured, was able to play. Not knowing his status, he left the decision to play up to how he felt physically. This bolstered the team in numbers, and added some much needed team morale. The final contest of pool play was held at 10:10am on Saturday. This was a pivotal match for EVC. If they win there would be a four way tie for first place, if they lose, they would fall completely out of any award possibility.
Prime once again came out primed!!! The match was well played on both sides with lead changes two times in each set. Eventually, EVC-Prime won 2-1 with scores of 25-17, 22-25 and 17-15. This victory gave Empire Volleyball a chance to at be in the Gold Bracket, something not expected, but relished. Unfortunately, the loss to ZAXID, was detrimental to team Prime.
As a result of that loss, there was a four way tie for the top spot. USA Volleyball has a set of criteria in place just in case of this kind of situation. "In the case of your tie, we go to sets won and lost," stated George Egan, USA Volleyball Head Tournament Director. "Because of your lost to ZAXID, you put yourself in a bad spot. You have the lowest set winning percentage, compared to the other teams. Each of those teams are at 60% or better, your team is at 56%. You should have just won that game this morning..." After informing the team of the official decision, the group made a conscious effort to prove to USA Volleyball, they were wrong.And that is what was done!!!
From the match against Wyoming Volleyball Club to the Bronze Bracket Final against Shinkara-Prolifik, EVC-Prime never looked back. They dominated almost every match, with wins starting Monday morning straight into Tuesday night. Prime won their next six (6) straight matches, with some convincing scores 25-17 25-13 (Wyoming) for example. And even when they struggled they found ways to get it together and win, 23-25, 25-13, 15-13 (Servers U Otter Creek from Iowa). Lead by the hitting and blocking of Andy, Erik and Tim; fueled by the defense and serving of Dennis, Felix, Lenny and Patrick; and guided by the hands and decisions of Kevin, EVC forged through and established a great milestone in the club's history, #15 out 48 at the USA National Open Tournament in the Men's BB Division. Not bad at all!!Great job in Salt Lake gents!!! And special thank yous have to go out to the following people for supporting us while in Salt Lake City.
First and foremost, a very special thank you to the ladies of VBLI CRUSH, who finished #8 overall in the Women's Gold Division!!! You ladies ROCK!!! Thank you for being at our side as we were at yours during the long weekend. It was an awesome pleasure having your there. Thank you to Alison, Laura, Rachel, Kirsten, Jackie, Tracy, Chivonne, Jasmine, Brittany, Edeana, Danielle and Rhea
An incredible heart felt and emotional thank you goes out to Lee and Joy Jacobs, from Perry Michigan!!! Having such a great mom and dad combination (even though you're not our actual mom and dad) helped push us farther than we could have imagined! Lee thank you for the flag waving, cheering and confident words. Joy thank you for being a steady voice of encouragement and lobbying of us on bad calls. BOTH OF YOU MADE THIS EVENT EVEN MORE FUN!!!
Additional thank yous go out to the all of our GEVA compatriots that also followed and supported us throughout the tournament. Teams such as Blind Rage, NorthShores Gold and Black, Hassenet, Motorboat and finally the Men's BB Gold Bracket Runner Ups, Metropolis! They had a great run and almost pulled out the victory. Lost in the Gold Bracket Final; to then win the Gold Challenge Final to then vie for the Gold Overall again; that is a GREAT run gents. AWESOME job!!!
More thank yous go out to; Slick Shots out of NYC lead by Yas Daniels ad Melissa Hernandez, both former Hunter College standouts and "Hi-Ya!!" out of Central Jersey, awesome run ladies, both teams finished 22nd and 23 respectively. Team "Get Over It" Women's B. Thanks for coming over and screaming Felix's name during one of our matches. Made a few of us laugh to know he had some harmless groupies!!!
Special thank yous go to team Ohana, from New Jersey. You ladies are beyond great and I wish you had a better tournament, however, I know you all had a great time in Salt Lake. Thanks for being there at the end to cheer us on!!! We truly appreciated it all!!
This was a great Nationals. GEVA represented well and often. Next year is in Louisville, Kentucky. Pack your bags people and get ready for some fun times, Louisville is a great place and the barbecue is pretty exceptional too.
Thank you to all of our followers during the year and all of our families and friends. Keep your eyes open for the Leader of The Pack Tournament to be hosted by EVC sometime later this summer!!! It will be a fun King/Queen of the beach format tournament.
Thank you all, especially my brothers in arms...Andy Mac, Dennis P, Erik S, Felix V, Lenny K, Kevin S and Tim M...awesome Nationals guys fantastic year!!!
Lets do it again in 2013 in Louisville!!!
GO PRIME!!!
GO Empire Volleyball Club!!!
