Ella Jimenez's strong start to the season continues!

Jimenez earned a spot on the Mary Peterson Invitational all-tournament team after leading the Pirates to a 3-1 finish at the prestigious event hosted by highly-ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She averaged 3.7 kills and 4.6 points per set over 15 sets.  Whitworth defeated North Central, Wis.-Stevens Point and Lakeland, only losing to the host school.

Keep up the great work Ella!

Former SynergyForce Student-Athlete and current senior at Whitworth University star Ella Jimenez had 30.5 points to lead Whitworth volleyball to a pair of 3-0 wins in the season-opening Whit Classic hosted by Whitman College.

Jimenez had eight kills in a 29-27, 27-25, 25-18 win over UC Santa Cruz in the season opener for both teams.  She had 14 kills in a 36-34, 25-22, 25-13 win over Redlands later in the day.

Despite playing a new position, Jimenez, a 2023 second team All-NWC selection, has been the catalyst for a 6-1 start for Whitworth.

Go Ella! Keep making  SynergyForce proud!

SynergyForce Alumna Mimi Colyer, a junior at the University of Oregon, was named to the 2024 Big Ten Volleyball Preseason All-Conference Team.

Colyer was a 2023 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention selection with additional nods to the AVCA All-Pacific North Region and All-Pac-12 teams. She led Oregon with 471 kills and accounted for 4.43 points per set, good for fourth in the Pac-12. Colyer was second on the team with 13 double-doubles and had career highs in digs (302) and aces (44). She was tied for fourth in the Pac-12 in service aces.

Good luck to Mimi and the Ducks this season!

The US Women's team played a great match against Poland in the quarterfinals with an impressive 3-0 sweep! After a tough battle in the semifinals on Thursday, the team came out on top over Brazil. The final match for Gold against Italy will be Sunday at 4am PST. Let's cheer on Team USA as the Women's team attempts to win back-to-back Olympic Gold!

The US Men's team defeated their greatest rival Brazil in the quarterfinals 3-1.  After a difficult 5 sets, the team fell to Poland in the semifinals. The US Men will play Italy for the Bronze medal on Friday at 7am PST.

LET'S GO TEAM USA!

The United States volleyball team defeated Brazil (26-24, 28-30, 25-19, 25-19) in four sets during the quarterfinals of the men’s tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Tied 1-1, the United States rattled off consecutive set wins to finish off the Brazilians to advance to the tournament’s semifinals.

Now, the United States will face Poland in the semifinals. The Polish Olympic team are coming off a 3-1 quarterfinal win of their own against Slovenia. The winner of USA vs. Poland will play for a gold medal.

GO USA!!!

The U.S Women’s National Team fought hard Wednesday morning as they took on the reigning world champion Serbia. They came back in the 5th set to win 3-2 (25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 17-15). Chiaka Ogbogu was a standout player with 8 of the team’s 19 blocks and 14 points with 6 kills in her 11 attacks. This was an essential win after a difficult loss in their first match earlier this week. The U.S. is likely to advance to the quarterfinals, and can secure their spot on Sunday, August 4 with a win over France. 

Source

Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng, ranked No. 3 in the world, started their Olympic journey strong! The pair defeated Barbora Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova of Czechia 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) on Sunday. Their next match in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower is Tuesday, July 30 at 6am PT against France.

Miles Evans and Chase Budinger, a former NBA player, won their first match over Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat of France on Monday. The electric game ended with an 8-2 run to secure the win. The duo will take on the Netherlands on Tuesday, July 30 at 11am PT.

Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, ranked No. 2 in the world, won their olympic debut match 2-0 (21-17, 21-14) against Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec from Canada. Playing at Eiffel Tower Stadium at sunset the two dominated with an early lead to get the win. During their second match on Monday Kloth/Nuss beat Australia 2-0 (21-16, 21-16). They will return for their third pool match on Thursday, August 1 at 1pm PT.

The US Men’s National Team was victorious on Saturday against Argentina 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-16). Setter Micah Christenson was a standout player with a .500 efficiency percentage. The team will play again on Tuesday, July 30 versus Germany at 4am PT.

The U.S. Women’s National Team fought hard but lost their first game on Monday in 5 sets 3-2 (25-20, 25-19, 17-25, 20-25, 15-13). The team will be back on Wednesday, July 31 to play Serbia at 8am PT.

Miles Partain and Andy Benesh fell short in their debut match to Alayo/Diaz of Cuba 2-0 (21-18, 21-18). With two days before their next game against Morocco (Tuesday at 6am PT) the pair will have plenty of time to regroup and be ready for the rest of their pool matches.

By Jon Arrow

As a setter, it can be tempting to set your best hitters as much as possible. You want to win every individual point, and setting your best hitters gives you the best chance, right? However, the key to running a successful offense and WINNING, is by taking a more balanced approach. If you set your best hitters most of the time, opposing blockers and defenders are going to be more ready to position themselves and defend against those hitters. By spreading the offense out earlier in a match, the opposing team has to be ready to defend the entire offense, and your best hitters are more likely to get opportunities with only one blocker up later in the game, when each specific point is crucial. This is especially important when it comes to establishing quick attacks in the middle early. Success with the middles early in a match will force the opposing middle to stay home, and may even coax pin blockers to bunch in and help. This will allow your team’s Outside and Right Side hitters to swing at more court without worrying about having two blockers matched up against them. Late in games, the difference between 1 blocker up and 2 can mean the difference between a big kill and getting blocked, which can be all the difference in a match.

The first thing we hear most volleyball players tell me when we recommend yoga to them is, “You don’t understand, I’m not flexible, like.. at all.” Good news! Flexibility is not a prerequisite to begin a yoga practice that can add value to your volleyball experience in a variety of ways.

So why do yoga? There are indeed some physical benefits, and yes, you will probably gain some flexibility and functional mobility. But yoga is also great to improve core integration and stability around the hip and shoulder joints, which will aid in the execution of the fundamental skills of volleyball. Then there is the proprioceptive awareness you can gain by moving your limbs around in a variety of planes. Volleyball is repetitive, yet infinitely variable. Improving your relationship and understanding of how your own body moves through space can help you meet the challenge. The physical benefits are cool, but I don’t think they come close to matching the mental, emotional benefits you can experience from a yoga practice. The best volleyball players in the world are able to stay calm under pressure, nothing seems to phase them.

Would you like to be more like that? Yoga can give us a place to observe our reactions to a variety of stimuli including failure, embarrassment, or learning a new skill, all things we might experience on the court. How do you react when you make a hitting error? When you shank a pass? Our reactions have the potential to control us in a negative way unless we practice, just like we practice our other skills. Yoga can offer the power of enough pause to bring intention to our reactions so they become more positive even in the face of adversity.

Chase Budinger excelled in both basketball and volleyball in high school, but ultimately chose to continue his athletic career playing basketball at University of Arizona. After eight years of playing professionally in the NBA, Chase transitioned back to volleyball in 2018.

Since then, he has steadily climbed the ranks of team USA Volleyball and making a name for himself on the beach. Last week, it was announced that Chase made Team USA and will partner with Miles Evans at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

There are a lot of similarities between basketball and volleyball players. At the highest levels, both sports tend you favor taller, athletic, quick-twitched athletes. However, being the best at two sports is an inrcedible achievement and we congratulate Chase and will be rooting for him in Paris!

As the summer starts, we are pleased to announce that 15 SynergyForce student-athletes are continuing their playing careers at the next level:

Kate Fagundes - Vanguard

Caroline Foraker - UC Santa Barbara

Addisen Hamilton - CSU San Bernadino

Abby Hoybjerg - BYU

Keely Hummel - Fresno State

Addie Kannegeisser - UC Irvine

Margo Melgoza - UC Santa Cruz

Ainsley Mochrie - Lewis & Clark

Maddie Papia - UW- Whitewater

Malia Pilimai - Nevada

Isabel Smart - Southern Idaho

Mia Urosevic - Claremont McKenna

Elle Weaver - Brown

Katelyn Wilfrong - Sacramento City College

Reagan Wilkerson - Lincoln Memorial University

Congrats to you all! You have made us all at SynergyForce so proud!

By Jaime Toedtemeier 

 As someone who took a lot of physics in college and found math to be their favorite subject as a kid, it is no surprise that I find myself using these concepts in the game of volleyball. While points, stats, patterns, tendencies, etc. are all behind-the-scenes aspects of the game, math can also be used to better one's physical skills.

As a setter, it is used in squaring to the target, and determining the arc of the ball to each set location. As a passer, the geometric angle of your platform is a critical key in a good dig. As a server, you adjust your hand in order to change the velocity on the ball (hard & deep float vs. soft short serve). As a player I found that comparing a skill to a concept of math helped me better understand not only how to do it, but why it works. As a coach I now find myself using analogies like this to get across to my players.

I know it's hard (and silly) to believe when an Algebra teacher says you'll use math your whole life, but it's true that it can be used as a masterful skill in volleyball. Point of the story, do your math homework!

Our very own Emma Villanueva was named one of the twenty-five distinguished male and female volleyball players in the country who display academic excellence, leadership, responsibility, and acts of selflessness.

Academically, Emma has a 4.3 GPA as a junior. She tackles a rigorous course load, including advanced courses and dual enrollment classes at Sierra College. She is also her school's student council treasurer and Page Editor for the Yearbook Committee.

Outside of school, she spends her time volunteering with local Elementary schools as a tutor, working with local charities, and working at a restaurant. She also helps as an assistant coach for a local high school's volleyball team.

Congrats to Emma on this well deserved achievement! 

by Jon Arrow, National Coach & Boys Program Director

Preparing for tryouts can be a stressful time. Yes, everyone is nervous, wondering how they’ll perform and where they will land. Clinics, evaluations, and tryouts offer a great chance to showcase your skills and gain confidence, along with practicing the tips listed below. Coaches look for skill mastery and the athletic skill set that matches their level of team. Can you demonstrate skill and the physical and mental potential to grow into higher-level volleyball throughout the season? Movement and effort is critical. Coaches love players that move fluidly and are always active on the court. On the contrary, players who do not show effort and are slacking are likely to be the first crossed off the list. Good communicators and positive teammates are another thing coaches like to see. You can relieve any doubts about yourself as a teammate by communicating early and often through drills, asking good questions, and providing a positive presence on the court.

Here are some positional tips that coaches look for:

Setters - Do you communicate with your hitters between plays? Are you balanced as you set, both in and out of system?

Pin hitters - Are you showing your versatility by hitting on both the outside and the right side? Don’t forget to demonstrate your serve/receive and defensive skills!

Middles - Are you working hard to be available in transition every single play? Are you ready defensively?

Liberos - Are you reading the game unfolding in front of you? Are you taking charge of seam assignments in serve receive? Can you set out of system?

Enjoy the process! Bring your joy and energy and we will see you at tryouts!