Synergy’s 18 Orange team powered to 4th place at the Northeast Qualifier on Easter Weekend, winning an Open bid to the girls’ junior national championships in Dallas.

A bid to play in 18 Open is among the most coveted honors in girls junior volleyball. While there will be five major divisions at the national competition (Open, National, USA, American and Patriot), only 32 teams in the country qualify to compete at the highest Open level. Last year, most of the members of 18 Orange won the Keystone Region’s bid to play in the National division, and the team won the 2012 17 National Championship.

The Open Bid award to the 18s capped off an incredible Easter weekend that saw several Synergy teams play their best volleyball of the season. Here are the results:

Open Division
18 Orange: 4th
14 Orange: 11th
16 Orange: 12th
15 Orange: 14th
17 Orange: 15th
17 Lehigh: 17th
15 Lehigh: 18th
16 Lehigh: 20th

National Division
12 Orange: 8th

USA Division
13 Orange: 17th
13 Lehigh Orange: 17th

American Division
16 Navy: 4th
14 Lehigh: 5th
18 Navy: 9th
17 Navy: 9th
14 Navy: 13th
13 Lehigh Navy: 20th
15 Navy: 28th

12 Orange rocked the Futura Dance Classic and brought home bobblehead trophies and gold!

13 Lehigh Navy survived three match points to net gold at Push the Rock.

Synergy’s youngest teams powered through the competition this weekend, winning two golds and a silver in three tournaments.

The 12 Orange danced their way to a championship at the Futura Dance Classic, a fun 12s competition that mixes dance routines with volleyball. The 12s went 3-0 in pool play, then defeated PVA Blue in the semifinals. In the finals, they battled to three sets against TCA 12s before winning the coveted Futura bobblehead trophy! Thanks to Coach Naomi Buckwalter and the 18 Navy team for helping to choreograph the team’s dance routines.

At the Push the Rock classic, Synergy’s 13 Lehigh Navy team won its first gold of the season after staring down three match points! The girls took second in their pool, and then battled in the semifinals to a third set against Push the Rock. They fell behind 11-14 but came back to win 16-14. The 13 Navy went on to another three-set battle against Highline, taking the championship and the team’s first medal of the season.

Meanwhile, the 13 Lehigh Orange team competed at the March Madness tournament in Kutztown, finishing 7-1 in pool play and defeating CAVA in three sets in the semifinals. But in the finals, they lost in two to TCA Black and had to settle for silver.

Congratulations to all of our young players who proved this weekend that Synergy’s winning tradition starts early! Go Synergy!

Synergy Lehigh’s 15s and 17s both won gold this weekend in KRVA tournaments.

Synergy’s Lehigh Valley 17s and 15s won two more gold medals this weekend in local tournament play, as King of Prussia Orange and Navy teams wrapped up tournaments in Denver and Raleigh.

The 17 Lehigh team has now won four championships in four tournaments. On Sunday, the team was undefeated at Spooky Nook, defeating TCA 16, Blue Hen VBC 17, Infinity 17 Black, Sparks 17, Quandomania Gals 17-1 and J-Stroke to win gold.

Meanwhile, 15 Lehigh and 16 Navy competed in the Bulldog 16 Open at Desales University. Both teams advanced to playoffs where they met in semifinals. 15 Lehigh won in two sets to advance to the championship match, where they defeated Club Integrity 15s.

Here’s a roundup of all the teams who played last weekend.

12 Orange – The team played up at the Ides of March 13s at Aspiring Champions. In pool play, the 12s split with Keystone and Infinity, the teams that eventually finished first and second, and swept Sparks, but dropped two close sets to Highline. The team ended the day with a 4-4 match record against older teams.

13 Orange-Lehigh – The Lehigh 13s also played up at the Muhlenberg March Madness 14s tournament, placing 5th out of 10 teams.

14 Orange — The 14s finished in 15th place at the Colorado Crossroads, a strong placement at one of the toughest national tournaments of the year. Along the way 14 Orange played Woodlands Wave, which eventually won 2nd, Texas MadFrog which placed 3rd and A5 Mizuno, which placed 5th.

15 Orange — The 15 Orange faced a series of challenges at the Colorado Crossroads, including illness and injury among both players and coaches. Along the way the girls won 3 tough matches and pulled together as a team. Thanks to 12 Orange’s Evan Liu for stepping in at the last minute to assist.

15 Navy — The team faced a challenging day at the Bulldog Challenge in Desales, and unfortunately did not advance to the playoffs.

15 Lehigh – Champions, Bulldog 16 Open.

16 Navy – Semi-finalist, Bulldog 16 Open.

17 Navy – The team had a challenging tournament at the Mid-Atlantic Power League in Raleigh, ending on the wrong side of four tiebreaks in six matches. Congratulations to the team for playing tough in a tough tournament.

18 Navy – Playing at the Mid-Atlantic Power League tournament in Raleigh, the team finished with a 4-2 match record and 29th out of 66 teams. The team took PVA 18s to three sets, but lost the tie break. They left Raleigh with great memories of winning two epic sets that went 38-36 and 35-33!

Congratulations to all of our teams for facing challenges, playing through adversity and representing Synergy so well in the KRVA region and on the national stage. Go Synergy!

Synergy’s 14 Orange after a day competing at the Colorado Crossroads National Qualifier in Denver. They compete in the Bronze Division playoffs on Sunday.

Four Synergy teams continued to do battle at national tournaments in Denver and Raleigh this weekend where they faced some of the toughest competition in the country.

On Day 2 of the Colorado Crossroads in Denver, 14 Orange held its own in the gold division against three top teams, including Georgia powerhouse A5, top ranked Woodlands Wave and Kansas City’s Asics Mavs, the 2011 USAV National Finalist in its age group. The girls fought hard for every point but dropped all three matches, landing in Bronze bracket playoffs on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the 15 Orange came back from a disappointing Day 1 to defeat two strong Texas teams, El Paso’s 915 United and North Richland Hills’ Tejas Nfinity. They lost to Nebraska Elite, and will play in Flight 1 playoffs on Sunday.

At the Mid-Atlantic Power League tournament in Raleigh, the 18 Navy had a day of epic sets, posting a 3-1 match record. They defeated Academy 16 Diamond of Raleigh (35-33, 25-17), Delaware United 17 (38-36, 20-25, 15-9), and Peninsula Juniors VBC 17 Mizuno of Yorktown, VA (25-15, 25-11) before dropping the final match to Raleigh’s Triangle 17 Blue.

At the same tournament, 17 Navy battled in 11 sets, including three tie breaks, but fell to Set Point 17 Black (25-16, 25-15), Suffolk, VA’s Coastal 17 Blue (19-25, 25-14, 15-10), Delaware’s Brandywine Berserk (20-25, 25-13, 15-9) and Academy 18 Diamond (25-19, 22-25, 15-9).

Congratulations to all four teams for taking on the challenge of national competition. Check back on Monday for final results from Denver, Raleigh and local tournaments. Go Synergy!

14 Orange huddles before a match at the Colorado Crossroads In Denver.

Synergy’s 14 Orange and 15 Orange teams took on some of the top teams in the country at the Colorado Crossroads in Denver, with the 14s emerging in the gold bracket after the first round of play.

The 14s started the tournament with a 3-set win over Gold Cal Jrs (Eldorado Hills, Calif.) Then they defeated KC Power (Shawnee, KS) in two sets, avenging a loss last season at USAV Nationals. The winning streak ended in the final match of the day against Texas powerhouse, Madfrog (Plano, Tex). Ending 2-1 in match play, the performance was enough to stay in the gold bracket. The team faces a tough draw on Day 2, including Asics Mavs (Overland Park, KS), Woodlands Wave (Woodlands, Tex) and A5 Mizuno (Roswell, Ga.)

Meanwhile the 15 Orange started the day with a win against Delta Valley 15 Blue (Lodi, Calif.) That was followed by a tough three-set loss against hometown team Front Range VBC (Englewood, Colo.) In the final match, the 15s fell to Performance Volleyball (Overland Park, Kan.)

Good luck to all the players as they take on Day 2 in Denver. Go Synergy!

Synergys 16s, 17s and 18s ended the Colorado Crossroads tournament on a high note, posting strong finishes in Monday bracket playoffs.

Synergy’s 18 Orange posted the best performance of any East Coast team, taking 15th place overall at one of the most competitive national qualifiers of the season. The 18s nearly advanced to the silver bracket final, but were stopped by Arizona Storm’s 18 Thunder. After dropping the first set 20-25, Synergy unleashed a storm of its own, winning the second set 25-14. That set up a fierce tie break battle that ended 16-14 in favor of Storm.

The 17 Orange, which found itself on the losing end of three tiebreaks on the first two days of the tournament, faced three more tiebreaks on the final day. But on Monday, the 17 Orange won every match to win Flight 2. On the way the Orange defeated
Keystone rival Spooky Nook Volleyball Club 17 Elite (25-15,22-25,15-12), Tampa Stars 17-1 National (25-15,28-30,15-10) and Synergy Force Volleyball (15-25,25-17,15-12). The 17s posted a 6-3 match record.

The 16 Orange, grappling with several injuries, also rallied on the final day of play to win Flight 2 and post a 6-3 record for the tournament. They defeated Spiral 16 Black (26-24,16-25,15-12), AJV 16 Mizuno (25-20,14-25,15-11) and Synergy Force Volleyball (25-21,25-20).

Congratulations to all the players for representing Synergy so well on the national stage.

14 Navy wins gold and 14 Lehigh takes silver at Spooky Nook.

13 Lehigh Orange eyes gold at Spooky Nook.

Four Synergy teams won two golds and two silvers in local tournaments on Sunday, while the 18s prepared for silver bracket competition in Denver.

It was all Synergy at Spooky Nook with 14 Navy and 14 Lehigh advancing to the finals. The teams battled to three sets, but in the end it was 14 Navy that took the win, capturing its second gold of the season.

In 13s competition at Spooky Nook, Synergy’s 13 Lehigh Orange met 13 Lehigh Navy in the semi-finals. Orange won the match and then beat PVA 13 Blue in the finals (25-23, 25-19), avenging two losses earlier in the season.

Meanwhile 12 Orange was undefeated in pool play at Spooky Nook. In playoffs, the 12s defeated TCA (25-22, 25-19) in what assistant coach Evan Liu called “a crazy, hard-fought back and forth battle.” The team lost in the finals to PVA (25-19, 25-19), taking it’s second silver of the season.

At the Colorado Crossroads in Denver, 18 Orange was 1-2 on the day, facing a tough pool and two of the top teams in the country. They vie for silver bracket honors on Monday. By Sunday night, the 17 Orange had won its first match on Day 2 of the competition, while 16 Orange was 1-1 in the afternoon wave. Play continued late Sunday night. Watch this space on Monday for final results from Denver.

Go Synergy!