This is “Dots,” VolleyballMag.com’s weekly look at 10 things in club volleyball, past or present, that interest me and hopefully will interest you. Look for Dots every Tuesday through Junior Nationals this summer:
• If you were looking for meaningful volleyball action this past weekend, you did not have to go far.
Northeast? The Boston and Northeast Qualifiers sated you.
Midwest? How about the Bluegrass Tournament, one I wished I’d seen (see below; Hint: my luggage made it to Louisville).
South? The Sunshine Classic in Orlando had what you were looking for.
West? Red Rock in Vegas had the younger folks and a national No. 1 team from Texas. The Sierra National Qualifier was supposed to happen in Reno, too, but was postponed.
Rocky Mountains? Colorado Crossroads no longer is a national qualifier with elite teams and massive turnout, but 332 teams — 12 thru 18 – went to see the Big Blue Bear in Denver.
• If you were hoping to play an 18s national qualifier in Reno this past weekend, Mother Nature got you. The Sierra National Qualifier saw upwards of five FEET of snow in the Sierra Nevada range the Monday and Tuesday before. With travel to the region by car promising to be treacherous at best or likely nonexistent, especially with more white stuff expected on the weekend, the Northern California Volleyball Association told folks to stay away and rescheduled the event for March 17-19, not for Reno, but for the Cal Expo in Sacramento, home of the Volleyball Festival many years ago.
Note that Far Westerns, over two weekend late in April, remains on the books for the Reno area. Travelers might not have to worry about snow then, though I have seen flakes in Reno at that time.
• My plans called for a weekend at the Bluegrass Tournament in Louisville. The goal was to watch all the best teams and players from the Junior Volleyball Association, mixed in with many of the best USAV teams from that swath of the Midwest.
Ah, the best laid plans …
The Friday flight from my home along the Central Coast of California to Dallas-Fort Worth was uneventful. I wasn’t worried about my connection to Louisville, because the severe weather in Kentucky was supposed to clear up by my scheduled landing time. But that Louisville flight was canceled while I was still in the air, and the later flight had already been filled up from passengers whose other daytime flight to Louisville had already been canceled.
When I landed, American…
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