Absolute teams performing well at Junior Nationals event

>> At a regional qualifier back in April, the top age-17 team from San Rafael's Absolute Volleyball Club missed an entry in the nationwide Open Division by two points.

This week, as 17 Black and other Absolute girls volleyball teams for the 16 and 17 age groups compete in the Girls Junior National Championship, the talentstacked Marin teams have pushed hard in their respective bids in the National Division, one step below the Open.

“We played a really great tournament at Far Westerns,” 17 Black's Dylan Whisenant said. “We walked out a better team. But after losing that opportunity, we had to refocus on coming into Nationals in the National Division looking to do the best we could.”

Whisenant, who plays libero for the Branson School, competes for Absolute alongside Branson's Sadie Snipes and Redwood High's Jaden Hendrickson, both outside hitters. Several players from other parts of the Bay Area complete the team.

The Junior Nationals — known as the “Junior Olympics” of girls volleyball — offer an intense competition for club teams from across the nation. The competition wraps up Thursday during bracket play, with 16 Black gunning for Gold and 17 Black pushing for Bronze. (17 Pink will compete in a lower bracket.)

On Wednesday, 17 Black wrapped up pool play with a 25-17, 21-25, 15-5 victory against TAV Houston 17 Adidas. Even as the TAV team pushed a strong serve, Absolute's “insane” middle blockers secured a resounding third set, Snipes said.

“They connected really well today,” Snipes added. “We were able to give them a lot of opportunities to go score with a one-on-one blocker and a not fully-formed block. They did a great job of that and finding different locations.”

Coached by Jake Spain, the former Marin Catholic coach, 17 Black has persevered through various injuries and setbacks this season as it looks toward a strong finish on Thursday. Such persistence played out as Kinnari Atluru (University High), Preslie Yates (Berkeley High), Snipes and others thundered deep spikes to finish long, defense-fueled rallies.

“One of our opponent's strengths was pushing out the go ball as fast as they could and trying to get past our right-side blocker,” said Ally Black (Los Gatos High). “But Kinnari did a great job shutting one of their few strengths down.”

Anaya Thrower (Vanden High) pushed a block that effectively shut down parts of the opponent's offense during critical moments.

“She takes away so much court and leaves very few options for the opposing hitters,” Whisenant said. “It makes the back row defense's lives so much easier. And it makes every day a little less frantic.”

After falling behind late in the second set, the Absolute team made a remarkable offensive run during the third set, ending 10 points ahead of TAV. Snipes logged an ace to make the score 14-5. After the next serve, she finished the game after unleashing a spike that forced a return error.

Thursday will mark the final day for 17 Black, capping off the team's long journey to Nationals in Chicago. Even if the close-knit team just barely missed an Open bid, 17 Black — plus its other Absolute counterparts — will finish the club season by bringing Marin and Bay Area talent to a national stage.

“It's our last day playing together as a team,” Black said. “It's a really special group. We're going to go out with a bang. I already know.”