6 more Bay to Bay teams earn promotion into the Gold division during Power League #1.

It was a great weekend for the club at the Grounds in Roseville. We had one tournament champion and 8 teams finish in the top 5 of their respective brackets. Check out how all of the Bay to Bay teams fared over the weekend below:

Bay to Bay 18-1: Due to multiple members of the team being on official recruiting visits over the past weekend the 18-1's played the tournament with only 7 athletes. With zero substitutions, the "Skeleton Crew" played every single point of the tournament and through an impressive showing of ball control, grit, and endurance were able to go undefeated and win Power League 1. Instead of celebrating, the boys laid on the floor and caught their breath:

Bay to Bay 18-Premier: Coach Mark's squad put together an impressive showing going 4-1 to earn promotion into the Bronze division. Their only loss was a forfeit when half of the team needed to leave early to get home for...

After a full year hiatus, Northern California power league returned and it was great to have our local volleyball community back together again competing at the Power League Qualifier (PLQ) at the Grounds in Roseville over the past two weekends. Here is a quick run down on how each of the teams fared during the PLQ:

Bay to Bay 18-1: The 18-1's entered the tournament with the #1 overall seed in Northern California and held their seed through the weekend by going 7-0. The 18's also helped lead the charge on weekend 1 of getting teams together to go cheer on other Bay to Bay teams, including a few rushed courts  

Bay to Bay 18-Premier: The 18-Premier team came in seeded 14th but suffered 2 match losses in their opening pool. They won their next four matches in a row to finish 5-2 and will start Power League 1 in the fourth division. 

Bay to Bay 17-1: Coach Alex and Ryan's team entered the tournament as the #4 overall seed coming off of their Bronze medal finish...

As our Bay to Bay teams travel in to Kansas City this week 13-Premier coach Kevin Lord put together a list of highly recommended KC BBQ spots within close distance to the convention center (as well as a few spots that are further away but you love great BBQ).

Kevin played collegiate volleyball just outside of Kansas City for two years and has plenty of first hand experience with the BBQ spots on the list. 

• Arthur Byrant's - One of the OG's of Kansas City Barbeque, Most famous for their ribs, burnt ends and sauce.  The original location is somewhat close to the convention center at 1727 Brooklyn Ave, Kansas City, MO 64127.  Can't go wrong with any of the meats.

SoCal Cup Showcase tournament recap

On Thursday June 10th sixteen Bay to Bay teams traveled to Irvine, California to compete in the SoCal Cup Showcase. The tournament took place at two separate sites in the Southern California area (Momentous Sports Center and AIM Sportsplex in Seal Beach). At the conclusion of the 3-day event, Bay to Bay teams walked away with some impressive finishes and many valuable lessons. Let's take a look at each of the teams performances from the weekend:

Bay to Bay 18-1: The 18-1's got into a groove while in Southern California. The team came in seeded 12th in the tournament but finished the weekend in a tie for 5th place. They defeated a number of Open qualified teams including 949 and Pinnacle. In their quarterfinal match they lost a a barnburner to the eventual champion Vanguard 24-26, 27-29. Cos Masters was selected to the All-Tournament team.

Bay to Bay 18-2: The 18-2's went 0-6 on the weekend while competing in...

SCVA Las Vegas Junior Boy's Invitational tournament recap

On Thursday May 20th fourteen Bay to Bay teams traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to compete in the SCVA Junior Boy's Invitational. With over 120+ courts in the convention center and over 1,000 teams between boys and girls this was the largest tournament that most of our players had ever competed in. At the conclusion of the 3-day event, Bay to Bay teams walked away with some impressive finishes and many valuable lessons. Let's take a look at each of the teams performances from the weekend:

Bay to Bay 18-1: The 18-1's were seeded last in the 18 Open division heading into the tournament which put a chip on their shoulder to say the least. In their opening pool, they swept the #6 overall seed Spike and Serve and then lost in two sets to a strong MB Surf team. Spike and Serve then went on to beat MB Surf forcing a 3-way tie in the pool. The tie breaker came down to point ratio in which our 18-1's lost by...

Bay to Bay sent 12 teams to the NCVA Boy's No Dinx Qualifier in Reno, Nevada this past weekend. 8 of our 12 teams earned a bid in their assigned divisions, and five teams brought home the Gold medal in their age group. Check out each teams results below:

Bay to Bay 13-1: Playing up in the 14 USA division, coach Beau and Hillary's squad went 2-5 finishing in 10th place. The young guns were all over the gym watching our older teams play. Coach Hillary stated that the 13-1's even started calling for "GO" balls after watching the 18-1's for one match  

Bay to Bay 14-1 : Going 6-0 on the weekend, the 14-1's claimed the only bid in the 14 Open division. Behind some stellar team play, the boys did not drop a set on their path to the championship. Even more importantly, the boys got some great team bonding time watching the older teams play as well as a round of bowling at the Grand Sierra resort.

Note: at Junior Nationals there are three distinct divisions: Open division...

Over the past year and a half you all have received many emails from Matt and I. Most of them have come from a place of navigating new territory as we tried to keep Bay to Bay Volleyball Club from completely blowing up through the difficulty that has been this pandemic. I am really pleased to say that this emails theme is a little different.  

I know I can speak for our whole coaching staff when saying that we are all so excited for this weekend and we are all thrilled to be back in competition mode. As a parent, I am also overwhelmed by thinking about how eager the Bay to Bay parents are to see their kids compete again. If I think too long about it, it makes me cry.  

Over the past year and a half I have been consistently hit with the same two thoughts. 

• First thought: I can’t imagine if I was going through this pandemic as a kid. How would it have affected my volleyball career? How would it have affected my life? 
• Second thought: I can’t...

Alex Jones has been a part of the Bay Area boys volleyball scene for well over two decades. First, as a player at Homestead High School and an old local club called CCVC.

Coach Alex would be the first person to tell you that he is not the most physically gifted of athletes. Now mind you, he does stand 6 feet 4 inches so he does have some God given attributes on his side, but his vertical jump is paltry, his arm strength is above average, and his speed is on par with a JV cross country runner . The physical side of coach Alex's game has never been his strength, it has always been and always will be the mental side of his game that makes him great.

Raised on the Workup Courts

As a high schooler, Alex spent almost every single day working on his game (he knew that his physical talents would not be enough, so he had to put in more time and effort than everyone else). Now, club volleyball practice was 2 times a week so he had to find a way to play and train the other...

One of the things I am most proud of at Bay to Bay is the tight knit nature of our coaching staff. There are so many great friendships that have been formed through coaching together, it is amazing to see how people invest into each other, and in turn get even more out of their teams.

On the flip side, this can be an intimidating environment for a new coach to join. There is usually an onboarding process for new coaches within the club to get a hang of how we approach training, tournaments, and the culture of the coaching staff off of the court. That was not the case with Arin Dadiw.

Seamless Integration

I can't think of any other coach that integrated into our club as seamlessly as Arin. Coach Arin is entering his second full season with the club, but he has been a part of Northern California volleyball for over a decade. When Arin first interviewed to join our staff, he had most definitely done his homework. He had picked up on all of the things that we preach behind the...