2012 USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Qualifiers
Colorado Crossroads - Denver, Colo. Feb. 25-27: 12C, 13N, 13A, 14O, 14N, 14A, 15A, 16A March 2-4: 15O, 15N, 16O, 16N, 17O, 17N, 17A, 18O, 18N, 18A Contact: Front Range Staff (303) 770-9435
Pacific Northwest Qualifier - Spokane, Wash. March 23-25: 12C, 13C, 14C, 14O, 16C March 30-Apil 1: 15C, 15O, 16O, 17C, 17O, 18C, 18O Contact: April Stark (509) 993-3482
MidEast Qualifier March 16-18, - St. Louis, Mo.: 12s - 14s March 23-25, - Indianapolis, Ind.: 15s-18s Contact: Qualifier Staff (317) 839-5222
DRILL WORK: Zana Bowen gets some passing work in under the watchful eyes of teammates Aly Barry (left), Katie Price (middle) and Lucy Tilton.
Division I championship match in San Anto- nio in December: UCLA’s Rachael Kidder and Illinois’ Jennifer Beltran and Jazmine Orozco. Only two Sports Shack players have earned scholarships to Pepperdine in more than a decade, illustrating that Jensen has not blurred the line between college and club responsibili- ties. “If it’s right for a player to come to Pep- perdine, we will explore that,” he said. “But there isn’t any influence either way.” Sports Shack’s design on a third national title will be a difficult project. The tireless right arm of Jane Cro- son, who accounted for a large percentage of the team’s kills the previous two club sea- sons, will be difficult to replace. Croson recently finished a strong freshman sea- son at the University of Hawaii where she was a second-team Western Athletic Con- ference selection. “Jane was pretty spectacular for us and a special talent,” Jensen said. “We may not have anybody as dynamic as that in the lineup this season, but players have a tendency to step up when given new roles. Our philosophy is to
incorporate a system around our personnel as opposed to forcing a system onto the players. We have some fundamental things that re- main the same, but we try to assess what we have and build the team in that direction.” Sports Shack focuses on playing its best
volleyball at the end of the season. “We don’t try to rush out of the gate and put a lot of emphasis on winning the early events like Vegas,” Jensen said. “We just want to qualify for the nationals and then hope to be peaking at the end of the season.”
Not since Sports Performance in the early 1990s has a club been as successful in the oldest open age bracket. “With so many more quality clubs than there were 15 to 20 years ago to win back-to-back was something we are extremely proud of,” Jensen said. “From a talent standpoint, there have never been better teams playing in the USA Volleyball club system.”
Sports Shack suc- cess can also be traced to some continuity at a key position, where UCLA-bound setter Rebecca Strehlow returns to lead the 2012 team for a third straight time.
PARTNERS IN GOLD: Chris McGee, left, and Tim Jensen have guided the cham- pionship run for Sports Shack.
“This is my third and final season play- ing 18s,” Strehlow said. “I know every- body on the team is focusing on working really hard to make sure we go out strong. Both Tim and Geeter (McGee) are great about motivating us to
play out best, not simply winning.” Strehlow, who drives more 30 miles to practice from Long Beach to Beverly Hills on the congested Southern California freeways, said the discipline she has learned at Sports Shack goes beyond the volleyball
Southern California Qualifier - Anaheim, Calif. March 16-18: 16C, 16O, 17C, 17O, 18C, 18O March 30-April 1: 12C, 13C, 14C, 14O, 15C, 15O Contact: Ann Davenport (714) 917-3595
Big South Qualifier - Atlanta, Ga. March 30-April 1 (All ages) Contact: Lauri Dagostino (813) 837-8115
Mizuno Northern Lights - Minneapolis, Minn. April 13-16: 12C, 13C, 16C, 16O, 17C, 17O, 18C, 18O April 20-22: 14C, 14O, 15C, 15O Contact: Northern Lights staff (952) 808-0110
Show Me Qualifier - Kansas City, Mo. April 14-16: 16A, 16N, 16O, 17A, 17N, 17O, 18C, 18O April 20-22: 12C, 13C, 14A, 14N, 14O, 15A, 15N, 15O Contact: USA Volleyball staff (719) 228-6800
Far Western - Reno, Nev. April 21-23: 12C, 13C, 14C, 14O & 15C April 27-29: 15O, 16C, 16O, 17C, 17O, 18C, 18O Contact: Donna Donaghy (415) 550-7582
Event: Lone Star Classic - Dallas, Texas April 13-15: 13C, 14O, 14A, 14N, 15O, 15A, 15N April 20-22: 11C, 12C, 16A, 16N, 16O, 17C, 17O, 18C, 18O
Contact: Evan Bouilly (512) 479-8776 x 5122
NorthEast National Qualifier - Baltimore, Md. March 31-April 2: 12C, 13A, 13N, 14A, 14N, 14O, 16A, 16N, 16O April 6-8: 17A, 17N, 17O, 18A, 18N, 18O April 7-9: 15A, 15N, 15O Contact: Julie Rife (717) 764-6229
court. “I have grown both emotionally and mentally as a player and student-athlete at Sports Shack,” she said. “Balancing school, homework, practice and tournaments has forced me to budget my time and become disciplined.”
Strehlow will leave the club with more than gold medals and a college scholarship. “Both Tim and Geeter have created a family at Sports Shack,” Strehlow said. “Everybody in the club senses that no matter what your role. If one of the coaches is having a bad day, the other guy lightens the mood. They are a great pair and their chemistry is a big part of the club’s success.”
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