by Adam Burns
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Talk about a gauntlet of a Power Pool. The Coast Volleyball Club 14s came to Triple Crown NIT to face the best competition possible, but little did they know they’d face three of the best teams in the country.
The competition? A5 out of Atlanta, Legacy from Detroit and Skyline from Dallas. All on Day 1. Coast, led by head coach Said Soukaine, dropped its first two matches in straight sets before beating Legacy in three sets on Saturday.
The road didn’t get much easier on Sunday as it dropped a three-set thriller to Dynasty, a Kansas City-based squad.
But as midday hit, Coast once again experienced the taste of victory in another three-set match, this time a win against OTVA (Tampa). It didn’t come easy (25-16, 21-25, 15-12), as Coast was forced to dig itself out of a 5-1 hole in the third set, thanks to a well-balanced attack from outside hitters Nariah Johnson and Lauren Shanner and middle Zoe Merz.
“It was a tough one to come back there at the end,” Coast setter Sierra Aswad said. “But coach Said told us what we needed to do and we came together to make it happen. We fought hard for the win.”
Coach Soukaine and his staff was impressed with his group’s grit.
“It was amazing to see the girls come together as a team,” said Dana Branavets, Coast assistant coach. “We trust our girls that they’re going to fight hard. They always do.”
Coach Branavets said the competition has, as expected, been tough.
“Some of these girls are hitting like college girls already,” said Branavets, who played at the University of California-San Diego. “It’s really cool to see. It was a tough first day, playing some of the best teams in the nation. But we beat one of them and it’ll prepare us for nationals and the future. It shows our girls that there’s room to grow. Our ceiling is high.”
They certainly showed that potential with a dominant first set that saw several key kills and blocks from Johnson.
“She is a fascinating player and a person,” Branavets said of the Coast outside hitter. “She’s a natural leader—on and off the court. She had multiple kills in crucial spots and carried us to a really big lead in that first set.”
As for what’s next, Coast will look to carry over momentum into a Monday morning Elite Championship bracket matchup against Madfrog. Just ask their setter.
“We hope to win, play together and play for each other,” Aswad said.
