On President’s Day weekend 2017 the Academy Volleyball girls teams went down to Washington D.C. to participate in the Capitol Hill Classic – one of the largest volleyball tournaments of the year. The classic usually takes up two entire convention halls that are situated next door to each other. The competition is always intense at this tournament and the Acad girls took to the competition and accomplished some amazing things. Read on…

13 Red

The girls 13 Red team kicked off the tournament by going 2-1 in the first round of pool play – picking up wins over the 13 Select and TCA Philly Thunder teams. The girls had a rough second day as they dropped all three of their matches, but were able to rebound and qualify for the Silver playoff bracket on the third day of the tournament. The girls made it to the semi-finals of the silver bracket, but fell to the eventual bracket champs, MVSA 13 Wahoo in three sets (25-22, 20-25, 8-15). Overall the girls finished tied for 9th place out of 23 teams with the NYC Juniors national team.

14’s

With 64 teams playing in the Open division and 94 teams playing in the Club division, the 14 year old age group had intense competition! The girls 14 Red team competed in the Open division and went 1-5 over the first two rounds of pool play. The girls picked up their win over CSA Hawkeyes in two straight sets (25-10, 25-13). On the third day of the tournament the 14 Red won their bracket by going 2-0, picking up wins over the DUVBC 14 Lime and CJVA Summit 14 Black teams.

The 14 White team competed in the 94-team club division. The girls went 1-2 during the first day of pool play where they defeated the Synergy Storm in two straight sets (25-15, 25-15).

On the second round of pool play, the girls swept the pool by defeating MVA, TCA Philly Mystic, and Firebird VBC. On the last day of the tournament the girls split their matches, going 1-1, where the defeated WLVBC, but fell to PVBDE.

15’s

Both Academy 15s teams competed in the Capitol Hill Classic. The 15 Red team competed in the Open division and the 15 White team competed in the Club division. The 15 Red team cam out strong by sweeping the opening round (going 3-0) and picking up wins over BRYC 15 National, Triangle 14 Black, and CALI 15 Black – all in two straight sets. In the second round of pool play the girls went 1-2, picking up a win over SYAVBC in three sets (25-17, 18-25, 15-3). For their performance, the girls qualified for the Silver A playoff bracket, where the girls made it to the finals by defeating the Keystone Juniors 15 Premier team in two straight sets (25-20, 225-18) before falling in the finals to FJVC. Overall they girls finished 19th out of 64 teams in the Open division.

The 15 White team also started the tournament strong by going 2-1 in the opening round of pool play. The girls picked up wins over NVVA Maroon and Arlington Elite 15 White. The second round of pool play was rough on the girls as they dropped all three of their matches. For the tournament, the girls qualified for the Bronze A playoff bracket where they made it to the finals after defeating the Beach Elite 15R Adidas team in two straight sets (26-24, 25-20). The girls fell in the Bronze A finals to Metro VBC 15 Central.

16s

All three Academy 16 year old teams went down to Washington DC to compete in this tournament. First up is the 16 Red team, who competed in the open division. The girls started out the tournament strong, going 3-0 during the opening round of pool play. In the second round, the girls went 2-1 as they dropped matches to SYAVBC 16 Blue and VA Jrs 16-1, and picked up a win over Revolution PGH 16 White. After the first two rounds of pool play the girls had a record of 4-2, which qualified them for the Silver A bracket. The girls won the Silver A bracket by picking up wins over Revolution Cburg 16 White in three sets (18-25, 25-15, 17-15) and American 16 in two straight (25-20, 25-20). For the tournament the girls finished 17th out of 64 teams – great job!!

Competing in the 16 Club division was 16 White Dills, who certainly left their mark in this tournament! The girls came out of the gate strong by going 3-0 during the first day in pool play, picking up wins over MVC, CJ Heat, and Keystone Juniors.

The second day produced more of the same as the girls also went 3-0 en route to the Gold playoff bracket. In the Gold bracket, the girls defeated MOJO 16 Explosion in three sets (15-25, 25-17, 15-11) before falling to Brick City 16 Ignite in two (12-25, 22-25). Congratulations to the 16 White Dills team who finished 5th out of 96 teams!

Also competing in the 16 Club division was 16 White Dave. The girls opened the tournament by going 2-1 during the opening round of pool play. They picked up wins over NC Elite 16 Silver in three (18-25, 25-19, 15-8) and WAVE 16s in two straight (25-19, 25-22). On the second day, the girls dropped three straight matches, but came back on the third day winning their final three matches of the tournament over CHVBC 16 Black, Rival 16 Black, and BEVBC 16 White.

17s

Also fielding three teams in this tournament was the 17s age group. Competing in the 17 Open division was the 17 Red, like so many of the other girls teams the 17 Red opened the tournament with three straight wins during the first round of pool play as they picked up wins over DUVBC 17 Navy, Team VB Rags 17, and SMASH 17s. The second day of the tournament produced more of the same as once again the girls swept their pool picking up wins over Sportime 17 Gold, PVC, and TCVA – all in two straight sets! The girls earned a spot in the Gold playoff bracket where they fell in the first round to SMASH in two straight sets. For the tournament, the girls finished 9th out of 64 teams in the Open division – Excellent Job!!

Next up is 17 White Dani, who came down to Washington DC and never looked back! The girls went through the opening round of pool play by going 3-0, defeating Volley FX 17, Quandomania 17s, and Champion 17 all in two straight sets. The girls were ready to go on day two as they once again swept their pool – all in two straight sets! For the girls outstanding play during pool play, they earned a spot in the Gold playoff bracket where they defeated the NYC Juniors in the first round (25-9, 25-10), the ECJVC 17 Purple in the next round (25-16, 25-16), and the Performance 17-1 in the semi-finals (25-9, 25-20).

In the Gold playoff bracket finals, the 17 White Dani defeated the Xtreme Xplosion 17-1 in three sets (22-25, 25-23, 15-8). Congratulations to 17 White Dani for winning the 17 Club division, coming in 1st out of 64 teams! This is the second tournament victory of the season for 17 White Dani as they also won the MLK Kick-Off Classic (their first tournament of the season).

Also playing in the 17 Club division was the 17 White Steve team. The girls opened the tournament on the first day by going 1-2, picking up a win over Firebird VBC in two straight (25-13, 25-15). The girls went on to win every match they played for the rest of the tournament as they swept their pool on the second day, defeating Rival 17 Black, Legacy 17s Premier, and TEVA 17-1s. On the last day of the tournament, the girls also swept their pool, picking up wins over GSA 17 Green (25-20, 25-9) and PVC (25-9, 12-25, 15-11). Great job girls!

18s

If you’ve never been to the Capitol Hill Classic, it’s really hard to grasp just how big and how competitive this tournament is. For those of you who have been to this tournament, you can really appreciate the accomplishments of the Academy girls teams. Playing in the toughest age group of all were the 18s. The 18 Red team competed in the 18 Open division and immediately grabbed three straight victories by defeating Team VB Rags 18 National, CORE Volleyball, and CJ Heat 18-1.

During the second day of the tournament, the girls swept their pool once again by picking up wins over Virginia Top Team 18, SRVC Storm, and CJVA 18 Black.

Coming off of two straight undefeated days, the girls qualified for the Gold playoff bracket. In the opening round of the Gold, the girls won over Revolution Cburg 18 White in two straight sets (25-19, 25-23).

In the second round, they defeated MDJRS 18 Elite in two straight (25-15, 25-11) before eventually falling to the Metro VBC 18 Travel team in three sets (25-20, 14-25, 12-15). The girls had a tremendous tournament as they finished 3rd overall out of 64 teams in the 18 Open division. Awesome job girls!

The 18 White team competed in the 18 Club division where, like so many of their Academy counterparts, also opened the tournament with three straight victories in the opening round of pool play. The girls defeated Aviator Sports 18 Black, Quandomania 18s, and Virginia Fusion all on the first day. During the second day of the tournament the girls went 1-2, picking up a straight set victory over Outbreak 18-1s (25-11, 25-22). The girls 4-2 record qualified them for the Silver A bracket where they fell in the first round to SJOC 18-1s.

Overall the Capitol Hill Classic was a resounding success for the Academy girls. Understanding how many strong clubs compete in this tournament – and just how massive this tournament is, every girls team represented themselves and Academy in an amazing way. Please join us in congratulation all of our girls for their effort in Washington D.C.