Volleyball qualifier a net gain

Teenage girls from as far away as Hawaii spiked their way through competitors at a weekend volleyball tournament that set the stage for the nationals.

“What I love about this is the energy and enthusiasm you see from these young women who are just playing their hearts out,” said Lori Shoemaker of Bothell, Wash.

Shoemaker’s daughter, Cara, was playing with Space Needle 17 Titans, a club volleyball team that competed at Sports USA on Saturday.

The 2005 Pacific Northwest Volleyball Qualifier attracted 2,000 players, ages 13 to 18, who hoped to scoop a victory and land one of six qualifying positions for the national championships in Salt Lake City this summer.

Accommodating the 190-team tournament required multiple hotel rooms and gyms that stretched from Cheney to just outside Liberty Lake.

Back-to-back games were scheduled Friday through today at Eastern Washington University, Cheney High School and Sports USA, and some hotels were bulging.

“We are booked this whole weekend for the volleyball tournament,” said Heidi Begovich, a Best Western Peppertree Liberty Lake Inn employee.

All three Spokane Red Lion Hotels were packed with parents and players.

“We’ve been busy with it pretty much nonstop throughout the week,” said Michael Hare, a manager at Red Lion Hotel at the Park.

Jenny Vogt, a Puget Sound volleyball commissioner, said 50 to 60 of the teams came from her region, which has experienced a 20 percent increase in players after the U.S. women’s team won its first gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Because the tournament is smaller than other pre-qualifiers – which pack in two or three times as many teams – it attracts players from distant states who prefer the odds to tournaments that are closer to home.

Iowa Power Volleyball Alliance was on a winning roll until Saturday morning.

“We were doing great until today. We’re missing a few players and we just aren’t motivated,” said Jamie Hagerman, 16.

Teammate Sara Debuhr, 17, has played volleyball since second grade and believes it’s the up-and-coming women’s sport.

“It used to be that girls basketball was mainly the sport and now I’d say that it’s volleyball,” Debuhr said.

Local teams stepped up to the tournament net, as well.

VIP Juniors 171, a team with young women from the Valley’s four high schools, won a few and lost a few, but they nonetheless enjoyed competing.

“You get a lot of playing time,” said Melody Dossey, 17, of West Valley High School.

Kayla Reilly, 16, of Central Valley High School, said they faced tough competition from Washington teams.

“Seattle is always good. Spokane is also really good,” Reilly said.