The Ellsworth Community College Athletic Department is proud to announce that ECC's new volleyball coach, Ashley Clark, just helped coach a 15-and-under girls team to a national championship in Florida.
The club team, called the Southern California Volleyball Club (SCVC), is based out of Redondo Beach, CA. Coach Clark, an assistant for the team, has been coaching the group since the first week in December along with head coach Stewart Soloman. The team competes in the Southern California Region, where they finished ranked 15th out of 255 teams in their division.
In additional to their 15th ranking, the team took two 5th place finishes in back-to-back Junior National Qualifiers in Big South in Atlanta, GA, and LA Qualifier in Los Angles. "This was a very special group of athletes with outstanding team chemistry and a natural desire and ability to compete," commented Clark. "They were a fast learning group and made adjustments that we asked of them almost immediately."
The team practiced three days a week for a total of 7 hours of practice per week; they dedicated 15 minutes of daily practice to serving accuracy, which paid off all season. "We used their team chemistry to our advantage while improving their technical and fundamental volleyball skills," says Coach Clark.
During the AAU National Volleyball Championships hosted in Orlando, the team went in ranked number one overall. The team played a total of 13 matches at best 2 of 3 games with a third game to 15. They dropped only one set all weekend and beat most teams by at least 10 points.
"We knew from day one that we had a great opportunity ahead of us," said Coach Clark. "This is an extremely special group of talented and deserving young athletes. They worked hard day in and day out to improve and compete at a high level. I'm so proud to have spent this club season with them and to see all their hard work and dedication pay off. They really deserve all the success in the world, and this group will always hold a special place in my heart because of the people they are."
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Photo Caption: AAU National Volleyball Championship, 15 Roxy along with Assistant Coach Ashley Clark and Head Coach Stewart Soloman.