Historic hometown team a repeat champ
The Orlando/Tampa Volleyball Academy’s 15-and-under team made more history on Thursday.
OTVA South Rox Red 15 of Orlando defeated PNK 15 of Louisville in straight sets — 25-19, 25-17 — to win its age group at the 44th AAU Girls’ Junior National Volleyball Championships at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports.
It’s the second consecutive AAU national title for a hometown squad that brought back most of the players who captured the crown in the 14 Open Division in 2016.
The team, composed mostly of players coming off their ninth-grade seasons of varsity play for area high schools, improved to 65-0 for the season in 15s competition.
“It feels amazing to make history,” setter Cierra Jenkins said. “It’s weird because we’ve worked so hard this year. We’ve been leading up to this moment, working hard in practice and tournaments, and it’s crazy that we won it again.”
Jenkins, a standout freshman setter for Lake Highland Prep last fall, was a defensive stalwart during the championship match. She had a team-high 10 digs en route to winning tournament MVP honors for the second straight year.
Teammates Leandra Mangual Duran and Elizabeth McKissock joined her on the All-Tournament team. Mangual Duran had seven kills for OTVA against PNK and McKissock added six digs.
OTVA dropped the first two points of the match but immediately rebounded and won the next seven to seize control of the first set. The Orlando team broke down PNK’s defense with hitting adjustments.
During a timeout, coach Carmelo Eleutiza stressed to keep the ball away from PNK’s libero. That strategy made it hard for PNK to counter OTVA’s outside hitters.
“I thought we put a lot of pressure, service-wise,” Eleutiza said. “We were able to keep them out of their system a lot. I think we have an advantage because our offense runs a little bit faster than them. … I’m going to be honest, I have so many weapons that I can use and I can combine.”
OTVA opened the second set with a 5-0 run and added a 6-0 run in the middle to cruise to the victory.
The 15 South Rox Red juggernaut now turns its attention to next week’s USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships in Minnesota. It has an 8 a.m. match on Monday at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Another national title would write even more history for Eleutiza and his top-ranked team. The group has won 130 of 132 sets played this year. They swept all but one of their 12 best-of-three match victories this week. They dropped a game for the second time in the quarterfinal round against Mizuno Sports Performance but rallied and dominated the third set to win.
Eleutiza said this team is even stronger than the 14s team that swept AAU and USAV titles in 2016.
“We have three new girls from the Longwood [OTVA] facility,” he said. “They help us out a lot, good experience. I believe [that] makes the team way better than it was. I’m really excited because they have worked so hard.”
The OTVA 17 Open team compiled a 12-1 record for the week and won the consolation division in its age group by defeating the Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold in straight sets, 26-24, 25-17, on Thursday.