DALLAS, Texas (July 6, 2019) – A fifth-place finish at the SCVA West Coast Classic in June gave MB Surf Asics 15s the motivation it needed to win it all on Saturday at the USAV Boys Junior National Championships.
In the 15 Open final, MB Surf (Southern California) completed an undefeated tournament by beating SPVB B15 Elite (Great Lakes), 25-13, 25-11 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
Bay to Bay 15-1 (Northern California) and VAQUEROS 15-1 (Puerto Rico) tied for third. Owen Loncar of MB Surf was named MVP.
“The tournament before this, we didn’t finish as well as we thought we would,” MB Surf’s Mick Bakos said. “We came up short on the last day. We came in here with a grudge. We wanted to win really badly.”
MB Surf dropped only one set in the tournament, to Florida’s 352 Elite Boys Rox 15Lime.
“Being the No. 6 seed and coming all the way back through, we had a very difficult road to the finals and to win it,” Head Coach Robert McCarthy said. “It’s just a testament to the guys and how hard they worked and my assistant coaches, the parents, everyone who supported us. I think actually losing a couple weeks ago probably motivated us to keep working and not get too confident.”
15 Club
Balboa Bay 15White (Southern California) won the 15 Club title with a 25-13, 25-16 victory over Bay to Bay 15-2 (Northern California) in the final.
Although coaches Steven Duhoux and Jack Stafford had some tense moments during the semifinals, Balboa pulled out the 16-25, 25-20, 15-11 win over Victory VBC 15-1 (Arizona).
“This is definitely one of the more solid groups of players that we’ve been able to coach because every day they come and practice hard and want to get better,” Duhoux said. “They genuinely like each other.
“To be good volleyball players, it also has to do with how you handle yourself off the court. They handle themselves well off the court. I am really proud of them.”
BORINQUEN COQUI 15-M (Puerto Rico) finished third along with Victory. Quinn Welton out of Balboa was named MVP.