The Vision Volleyball Gold 18-year-olds has just defeated Team Z out of Ohio in the quarterfinals of the Junior Olympics in Houston, Texas, and they were going up against Golden West in the semi's—a team they had already beaten earlier in the tournament.

"We were worried about a letdown," said Edwards, Mansfield's assistant coach for the Vision 18 squad.

And the coaches had good reason to be concerned. The Vision girls had just outlasted their bitter rival, Team Z, in a hard-fought match in the quarterfinals. A year earlier, a loss to that same squad knocked Vision out of the tournament a match short of the medal round.

But there was no letdown. Vision came through with a win over Golden West to advance to the Girls 18 Open championship, where the locals dropped a decision to Mizuno Sports Performance 18 Elite.

"We really wanted to be successful this year," said Edwards, who recalls the disappointment of 2003 when the squad tied for fifth place, just short of the medal round.

"That was very disappointing," said Edwards. "Jay and I started talking about [returning to the Junior Olympics] in October, we had tryouts in November and our season began in January."

"Our goal was to make the finals, and beat Team Z," added Edwards.

To reach one goal, Vision had to accomplish the other. And the girls did that with the win in the quarterfinals.

"They played the match of their lives, we played the match of our lives," said Edwards.

Next up was Golden West, a team Vision had beaten earlier in the tournament. That's went Mansfield and Edwards got worried, but their worries proved to be unfounded.

"The girls stayed consistent and did a good job of refocusing," said Edwards.

"This was a great experience," said Edwards of the runner-up finish at the Junior Olympics. "This was a great group of girls who just worked really hard."

The squad—led by returners Jessica Gysin, Caroline Walters, Diane Copenhagen and Kelly Crow—took a 54-1 season record into the Junior Olympics. It was team that looked very much like the all-Central Coast Section girls volleyball team of the fall 2003 season.

Rounding out the squad were Kate Fisher, Brittany Leonard, Lauren Schaefer, Erin Downey, Bryte Nielsen and Alex Fisher.

Gysin and Copenhagen, who are both headed to USC in the fall, were named to the all-tournament team along with Leonard. Fisher plans to attend Georgetown and Crow is head to UC Riverside.

Four of the five juniors on the squad have already committed to universities—Fisher to Stanford, Downey to Loyola Marymount, Schaefer to the University of Colorado and Walters to Santa Clara University.

Vision teams win

The teams of the Vision Volleyball Club certainly lived up to their name at the regional championships—because three of the Vision Gold clubs won gold medals in the competition to advance to the Junior Olympics in Houston.

The Vision 12 Gold Volleyball Club won nine straight matches to take the regional title. The 12-year-olds were undefeated in regional play in Vallejo and Sacramento.

Members of the team included Shaina Olsen, Rachel Williams, Kate Walters, Katie Summers, Julianne Shearer, Audrey Proulx, Kristina Little, Jenni Case, Noel Kwalick, Ryan Shaffer and Hilary Hinshaw.

Playing for the Vision 14 team that won a regional title were Nicole Woods, Alexandra Nunnally, Amanda Gil, Katherine Knox, Lainey Gera, Katherine Douglas, Lauren Hoopes, Aimee Harris, Tanya Schmidt and Kathleen Dude.

In all, Vision Volleyball fields 13 teams for summer play. Members of the remaining squads include:

Vision 18 Blue—Cassie Ligh, Christine Dion, Lisa Gera, Sophie Schmidt, Elizabeth Dolye, Heidi Steinebrunner, Ashley Watson, Julie Fouts, Darcy Montevaldo and Briana McQuay;

Vision 17 Gold—Michelle Nelson, Lauryn Dowd, Ariel Baxterbeck, Rebecca Mason, Katie Glomb, Katrina Zawojski, Amber Kaufman, Michelle Johnson and Laura Trudelle;

Vision 16 Gold—Sylvia Schmidt, Chelsea Wilson, Chrissy Zirpolo, Whitney Leonard, Kelly Schmidt, Lacey Gera, Shannon McFadzean, Sheena Donohue, Diana Douglas, Stephanie Hodgman and Nina Sevastopoulos;

Vision 16 Blue—Shannon Harney, Allyson Fore, Alex Graves, Brittany Wells, Caitlin Torres, Kaitlin Martin, Jolyn Robards, Ashley Gardiner, Kristen Chou and Ashleigh Lee;

Vision 16 White—Mariah Bush, Julia Moorhead, Sharon Her, Mandi Fazio, Elizabeth Miller, Lucy Lanza, Becca Hagemann, Kristen Rowsey, Nicole Smithson, Elizabeth Evans and Elysia Myers;

Vision 15 Gold—Nicole Merslich, Julianne Dressman, Kaela Arnett, Kelly Hanson, Chaulet Scala, Melissa Davison, Lexi Aiassa, Lydia Johnson, Emily Ettel, Shannon Lowell and Emily Burke;

Vision 15 Blue—Claire Louie, Erica Gage, Heather Anthony, Margaret Johnson, Samantha Rohman, Christan Schaefer, Lindsay Baldwin, Camille Board, Ashley Curtis, Gracie Lerch and Elizabeth Parissenti;

Vision 14 Blue—Aly McKinnon, Alexandra Von Raesfeld, Jen Scharre, Michelle Sparks, Michaela Venuti, Talia Reyes-Ortiz, Michelle Fortune, Ariella Gould, Kelly Carlquist, Tarah Herning and Michelle Von Raesfeld;

Vision 13 Gold—Morgan Popolizio, Kelli Branning, Julia Curtis, McKenna Haniger, Lindsey Dowd, Kristina Graven, Bria Riparbelli, Megan Patterson, Taylor Smith and Elizabeth Fleming;

Vision 12 Blue—Jacque Scharre, Christina Estrella-Lemus, Andrea Reyes-Ortiz, Teresa Rao, Anne Robson, Rachel Nelson, Brittany Bozzini, Nikki Pho, Zoey Gamble, Emily Scher and Kimberly Lowell.