The countdown begins. There are 10 teams still active and it all comes to a head next week in Minneapolis, MN the site of the 2007 USAV Girls Junior Olympic National event. The pools are out and the pressure is on for a number of teams in their respective divisions. All ten teams are seeded in the top 25 of the tournament. Seven of the ten teams are seeded in the top 15 and four of those teams are in the top five.

The 13 black had a fantastic weekend 6/10-6/12. Our final tournament was held in the best place in Wisconsin…….The Dells!!!! We started the weekend as underdogs seeded 11th in a pool of 16 teams from pretty much anywhere but Wisconsin. In our pool, Day 1 of the tournament, was Team Saint Louis 13-1's, Mizuno SPVB 13 Red, and Avalanche 13 Red. The first team we played was Avalanche Red. In the first game against Avalanche, we showed Avalanche who Sting is. We took the first game 25-10. And in the second game we didn't let them get the best of us, even though it was a closer game. The final score was 25-17. Our next match was against Mizuno SPVB 13 Red. We played our game and they played theirs, but unfortunately for them, they couldn't keep up. The end of the first game was 25-22. In the second game we put up a good fight, but SPVB managed to take that game 17-25. That didn't discourage us. We immediately shook it off and displayed the power of the Milwaukee Sting. We finished the game with a tremendous lead, 15-4, and took the match. Our last game was against Team Saint Louis 13-1's. We put up a great fight but ended up losing both games, 25-22 and 25-12.

Day 2 was a great, no that's not the word for it, AWESOME day for us. We started off the day by playing St. Louis CYC 13-2's, a team that had already qualified for nationals. And being Sting, we weren't scared a bit. We won the match, but made it a close call just to scare the parents and give them more gray hair. The final scores were 5-25 (CYC), 26-24 (Sting), and 15-13(Sting). Our next match of the day was against another tough team that qualified for nationals, TCV 13 Diamond. We played true Milwaukee Sting volleyball. We won the match in two game with scores of 25-23and 25-20. Our very last match of the day was against Springfield 12 Blue. For a 12's team they sure gave us a run for our money, but we were the team that came out on top. With a final score of 15-9 in the third game. Winning all 3 matches that day!!!!!!!!!!!! That moved us from 11th seed to 3rd seed, and 1 of only 4 teams that advanced to the gold bracket for the finals.

Day 3, the final day of the tournament, we played against St. Louis CYC 13-1's in the semifinals. We fought hard. There were several very….very ……very long rallies, some incredible hits, great blocks, unbelievable digs and consistent serving. But, it is volleyball, and sometimes the ball just doesn't fall where you want it too. Unfortunately we lost that match. Which gave us, Milwaukee Sting 13 Black, a third place title, and a title we are very proud of. This tournament brought us the toughest competition we have seen in a 13's tournament all season…….Yes, even tougher than the Northern Lights Qualifier as it had the best teams from about 7 states represented. OH….special thanks to Coach Colleen for being our assistant coach for the tournament. Your tremendous spirit, and great coaching from the sidelines kept us going. We could not have done it without you!!!!

With the season is done, now is the time to thank all of my teammates for giving their all to this team. We have all grown as players and as a team. And thank you to all of the parents for driving us countless miles to practice and spending your weekends watching us play (and for buying us all of those t-shirts at every tournament). Your support means the world to us. And finally, thank you to Coach Pat and Coach Kim for sharing your time and knowledge of the game with us. We go into the club season wanting to learn and become the best volleyball players around…..Milwaukee Sting Volleyball Players …..you have definitely succeeded in that area. Thank you for giving all of us the opportunity to achieve this. GO STING!!!!!!!!!!