Winter Park Volleyball Club 12U girls team headed for USAV National Tournament

Winter Park is headed for the national volleyball stage.

The Winter Park Volleyball Club Elite Black 12U girls team made club history last month, qualifying for the USAV National Tournament on their first attempt and becoming only the second team in club history to qualify at all.

Winter Park’s squad, comprising players from both Orange and Seminole counties, blew the competition out of the water at the 2017 Mizuno Big South National Qualifier in Atlanta. The team went undefeated with a 9-0 record through three rounds.

Out of 82 teams, Winter Park Volleyball Club won first place to capture the American division and earn a trip to Minneapolis for the four-day Junior Olympics national tournament.

“We went to a third set in the game to get (to nationals),” left back Sarah Webb said. “When we won that point, we were all just screaming. We were so happy.” 

“To win a qualifier in their very first attempt is pretty much unheard of,” head coach Shawna Webb said. “Teams and players can go their entire careers and not win a qualifier to get to go to the Junior Olympics. It’s a really big deal.”

The club earned their first nationals bid last year with the 17-year-olds. The 12-year-old squad this year will be one of 48 teams competing for the national title on June 26-30, Shawna Webb said. After winning Big South, the girls know they’re for real, she said. 

“Once you win a bid somewhere and you get to go to nationals, that means that your team has kind of arrived,” she said. “Your club is on the map for being a true competitor. It’s incredible for a program once you get there.”

The team hasn’t been lounging around since their success in winning the American division. They entered a National division qualifier tournament — which is considered more difficult — the next weekend and finished third out of 30 teams. They only lost to OVA, the top team in Florida, and A5, the top team in Georgia.

Sarah Webb said the team’s top-notch chemistry has helped them get this far.

“We’re all really good friends,” Sarah Webb said. “When we’re best friends, it helps how we play volleyball, because then we communicate more and tell each other how we feel about each other and how they play. It’s just really great.”

Shawna Webb said she has heard many times from competing teams that hers doesn’t get rattled either, no matter the score. They are ready to chase the national title with everything they’ve got, setter Lis Jermano said.

“I think we can do really well if we give a lot of effort and just give it our all and everything that we have on the court,” Jermano said. 

“We’ve had coaches come up to us in our club and say, ‘You know the girls can win this, right?’” Shawna Webb said. “They are prepared, and that’s all we can do. Now it’s up to them.”

Contact Tim Freed at 

[email protected].