The Sunshine Volleyball Club 12-Westside team won gold at the Junior Olympic qualifiers in St. Louis on March 15-17, earning a berth in the Junior Olympics, June 29-July 2 in Dallas.
Finishing first among 25 teams at qualifiers, Westside will join a pool of 48 teams in Dallas, with 10 of those teams having earned bids from qualifiers with the other 38 earning bids from their region.
Contributing to the team’s success were two Palisadians: Caroline Wiatt, a fifth grader at St. Matthew’s, and Mary McGeagh, a sixth grader at Corpus Christy.
Head coach Lenka Jamrichova was proud of her team’s gritty effort against a competitive field of teams, including Westside’s finals opponent, Circle City from Indiana, whom Westside beat in straight sets, 25-15, 25-23.
“When the girls needed to step up they did,” Jamrichova said. When the games got close and tough they didn’t buckle, they kept playing and pushing all the way through.”
Wiatt and McGeagh, who knew each other prior to Westside from summer camp, both anchor the team’s back row.
“Mary’s got great defensive skills,” Jamrichova said. “She’ll go after every single ball and she’s scrappy. [Defensively], Caroline is pretty much the same, and she makes some tough plays. Her serves are also consistent, and she always knows what needs to get done.”
Wiatt recalls taking interest in the game after watching her older sister Isabel play. She attributes much of Westside’s success this season to Jamrichova and club director Cari Klein and said the team is looking forward to Junior Olympics.
“We couldn’t have done it without coach Lenka and Cari Klein,” Wiatt said. “Everyone on the team is really great, and good at volleyball. It’s been really fun. Now, since we have some pressure off, we’re going to go back to basics and work on things like our passing.”
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