Volleyball

Charlie Brande

For over 20 years, the Balboa Bay Club gymnasium has been the

summer home for volleyball youth clinics and legaues for all ages.

Hundreds of Newport-Mesa young athletes have learned about volleyball at

the BBC gym, but also more adult players have enjoyed the competitive and

exciting open leagues.

The Balboa Bay junior high school co-ed league is always a highlight

as the girls’ and boys’ skill levels are very similar at this age.

The net height is also the sdame for the last time (the high school

boys’ height is raised to eight feet). This summer’s champ;ions were the

Green Machine, coached by Taylor Buyrnham, Kelly Coleman and Morgan

Smith. The coaches are players for theire high school teams and this coac

hign experience helps in their development as players.

Patrick Joyce, Brooke Burgner, Shelly Langford, Brian Reynolds, as

well as Jordan and Adam Smith, led the Green Machine team. Placilng

second was the team coached by Newport Harbor’s Taylor Govaars and

featuring Claire Allen, Alexis Kerns, Charlie Farmer, Taylor Young and

Morgan Govaars.

The open women’s and men’s leagues are the most competitive indoor

summer leagues in the nation. The qualify of the league is enhanced by

top college players, as well as former collegiate players who are still

very talented and much more experienced.

The women’s league was very balanced in talented teams, including the

Newport Harbor High 1999 girls’ team. One team featured mostly Ivy League

players, such as Princeton’s Sarah Petry, Rose Kuhn and Erika Hansen,

Brown’s Laura Wells, Corre Myers and Audrey Anhood, as well as Jordana

Havriluk (Cal) and Shannon “The Cannon) Noonan (UC San Diego), which are

both very academically-oriented schools.

My favorite team was “Team Squirrel,” featuring Brooke Truninger,

Linda Burton, Kirsten Conklin and Pam Brande, as well as Chickie and

Trina Moiso. This team provided experience as most of their players had

played locally in the ‘80s.

The most experienced team has been the reigning champions of the

Balboa League for the last three years. This team is led by Kari

Campbell, Anne Yardley, Liz and Trish Echternach, Mary Lackey Glenn and

Diane Pestolesi.

Wendy Humphries usually plays with this team, but took this summer off

to have her third child. Marcie Nowack from Hawaii made her bi-annual

appearance in the league. The team also featured Paula Weishoff, who has

represented the United States in three Olympics.

The 1999 summer league champions were a feisty group of players

featuring Rachel Wacholder, Julia Schnurstein and Melissa Schutz. They

defeated the defending champions despite the absence of Sacha Caldemeyer

and Tara Kroesch, who were in Hawaii coaching the Newport Harbor girls’

team.

The men’s league always provides great excitement, as well, with great

volleyball, and this summer session was no exception. The final four

teams provided four different generations of local players who were very

well matched.

The third place finishers were “The TVC’s” (a Matt Herrington name)

and “Nguyen” (named for the late Billy Iler Nguyen).

The TVC’s were led by former Corona del Mar players Ty Price, Matt

Herrington, Brooks and Blair Hoppe, Jason Perkins, Tom “Tony” Schriber

and Evan Burden.

“Nguyen) featured Russell Gan, Joe McCarthy, Mark McAnlis, Matt

Feurbringer, Wes Badorek, Jay Tufano, Amin Mirhadi and Matt Schutz, as

well as recent Newport graduates Ty Tramblie and Matt Jameson.

The second-place finishers were led by former Orange Coast college

setter Rob Cammarata and featured former OCC stars Fernando Sabla and

Dave Spegon.

The championship team for the 1999 Balboa Men’s League is a team that

has played together since the inception of the Balboa Bay Club leagues.

They have won the league more times than any other. Captained by Dan

Glenn, the championship squad features Albert Gasparian, Mike

D’Allesandro, Rocky Ciarelli and Tom Pestolesi. With so many coaches on

one team, the timeout discussions must be interesting.

The 1999 Balboa Bay Club summer volleyball clinics and leagues were

tremendously enjoyable and successful. All of the players, young and old,

will have lasting memories of their fun-filled time at the Balboa Bay

Club.