We were very proud to hear the awesome news that our 16 Black setter, Mackenzi Thornburg, who recently had her 14th birthday, was selected to be on the High Performance A2 Training Team.  We said good-bye and good luck to this amazing setter earlier last week.  Mackenzi has agreed to update us and send us pictures of this amazing journey. We will be updating this post as much as she sends us information.

Last Update-

I am finally home! I never thought I would miss my house, bed, or my sister as much as I did. I cannot tell you how nice it is to be able to eat good food and be able to have ac.  The camp was so much fun and I would go back next year no question.  It was so much fun and I got to meet a lot of new people and I m gonna miss them but there truly is no place like home! I won’t be able to see the beautiful mountain views when I wake up in the morning but that is perfectly fine with me.  I get 1 week off then I am right back at practicing.  I can’t wait!!!!

Day 5-

Today we had a team practice and we did really good.  Then we scrimmaged teams tonight and we went 2-1.  we beat the top team bout of course it didn’t count but we play them the first game tomorrow when we start tournament play.  I am so ready to be able to sleep in my own bed and go to the pool.  Now let’s just hope we preform tomorrow like we did tonight! Day 6 is going to be all tournament play.

Day 3 -

We had 3 practices again today and we did mostly playing today.  In the gym there are 4 courts and 2 of them don’t have air conditioning and for the majority of the day I was in the hot gyms… It was so hot I think that is the most I have sweat in a while.

There are some really awesome coaches here.  There is one coach named Matt and he is really energetic and always stays postive so you don’t really ever have to worry if you make one mistake.  Everyone is getting better and better each day and I am learning more names for different tempo sets.  Not it’s time to bring it in day 4! =D

Day 2-

Day 2 was the first full day of training.  There were three sessions including drills, classwork and some playing time but there was down time between sessions so I didn’t get too tired.  We walked from the dorm to the gym in the rain today so I got pretty wet.  I guess I should have brought an umbrella or a rain coat.

All the girls here are amazing volleyball players. We will be split into the upper half and the lower half for tournament play for the last two days of camp.  Not sure where I’ll land but I’m working hard and learning a lot.  There is a coach here from Germany that I really like because gives detailed instructions that are easy to understand.  All the coaches are really nice.  I’m meeting a lot of new people and have both the other girls here from NC now.  Day 2 done so getting ready for Day 3…

Day1-

We just got done training and I have a roommate from Hawaii, California, and Virgina.  I saw my roommate from Virgina in the Charlotte airport with a Mizuno bag on but I didn’t know if she was going to the camp or not so I didn’t speak, but we remembered seeing each other.  I thought that was pretty cool.  We went to class and the Olympian named Ogonna Nnamani (I think she played with USA in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics).  All these players are really good…

Today we just did some rotations with different drills and then just played 4 on 4 for the last 30 minutes.  Today was really fun but you definately have to drink a lot of water. Now on to Day 2!!

NC Elite teams had many successes on the court.  (To see all our tournament placements, please visit our Winner’s Circle.)  We also had many successes in the gym that did not earn medals.  One of those was our partnership with Athletic Lab.

Athletic Lab (AL) is  the premier sport science research and athletic development facility located in North Carolina led by renowned coach and sport scientist Dr. Mike Young.  AL provides sport specific training for athletes as well as CrossFit training for adults desiring to get in the best shape of their life.  Athletic Lab works with athletes from middle school to the elite professional level using science-based, field-proven sport performance training methods.  Their services have been used by the U.S., Chinese and South African Olympic teams as well as professional athletes from the MLS, NFL, MLB and PGA.  For more info please visit their site http://athleticlab.com/

The following are outstanding results that we saw in our National Team athletes after training with Athletic Lab during the club season:

Vertical Jump:

91% of our student athlete’s increased their vertical jump

Highest increases:

• Raven Jordan (18B) – increased 7.5inches
• Gabby Romero (15C) – increased 5.5inches
• Catherine Grifith (17B) – increased 5inches

Half Court, There and Back:

As a club, the average time went from 5.45 seconds and to 4.98 seconds (total time lost .47 seconds)

Fastest times:

• Raven Jordan (18B) – 3.33 seconds
• Sydney Holland (18B) – 3.33 seconds
• Anna Moss (17 B) -4.34 seconds

Over Head Throw:

94% of our Student Athletes saw an increase their Over Head Throw

Top athletes in their over head throw:

• Sydney Holland (18B) – 28.6
• Raven Jordan (18B) - 25.8
• Shelby Raymond (18B) – 23.6

Situps:

As a club we improved from an average of 42 sit-ups in a minute to 50 sit-ups in a minute

Leaders for the most sit-ups:

• Zoe Dinkins (15B) – 68 sit-ups
• Gentry Benda (15B) – 65 sit-ups
• Zoe Hurwitz (15B) - 65 sit-ups
• Margot Ruffieux (17B) – 65 sit-ups

Squats:

As a club we went from an average of 47 squats in one minute to 56 squats in one minute

Top performing athletes in squats were:

• Mackenzie Thornburg (16B) – 74 squats
• Celia Zhou (16C) – 70 squats
• Maddie Comito (18B) – 70 squats

We look forward to continued success in our partnership with Athletic Lab next season.

NC Elite closed its 2013-14 season with our first annual sand tournament.  We had three divisions: 12′s, 14/15′s, and 16′s/17′s.  Winners and Runners Up are:

12′s

1st – Madison & Regan | Runner’s up – Emma G & Riley

14/15′s

1st – Taylor H & Taylor T | Runner’s up – Tessa & Aryn

16/17′s

1st – Genna & Margot | Runner’s up – Adria & Erin

Everyone had a blast and we look forward to continuing this tradition for years to come!

At the end of the year party we recognized special student athletes with the Coach’s Award.  While the Coach’s award can mean many things, the most important is that all these athletes were selected by their coaches for representing what it mean’s to be “Elite” on and off the court.  Coach’s Award athletes are as follows:

AAU Teams:

• 12′s – Mary Stanco
• 13′s – Olivia Watson
• 14′s – Mai Le
• 16′s – Taylor Warnock

Satellite Teams:

• 13Rox – Gracie Ellington
• 14Rox – Eliza Fochler
• 12Joco – Emma Gonzales
• 13Joco – Kolby Koonce
• 14Joco – Caitlyn Earp
• 15Joco – Auburn Morgan

Club Teams:

• 13 Black – Megan Boutwell
• 13 Cardinal – Sydney Hannigan
• 14 Black – Taylor Thomas
• 14 Cardinal – Lauren Bukowski
• 14 White – Caroline Vincent
• 14 Silver – Lauren Tomasulo
• 15 Black – Zoe Hurwitz
• 15 Cardinal – Ashley Owen
• 15 White – Allie Belicic
• 15 Silver – Amy Grace Williams
• 16 Black – Ellie Lupton
• 16 Cardinal – Annie Preddy
• 16 White – Anna Claire Riggins
• 16 Silver – Jenna lyon
• 17 Black – Carmon Sigmon
• 18 Black – Sydney Holland
• 18 Cardinal – Natalie Sinicki

NC Elite sent 14 teams to AAU National Championships in Orlando, FL.

Many of our teams finished in the top half of their respective divisions at this highly competitive national tournament.  Click here for results.

You may find general information about the tournament at the AAU website. Click www.aauvolleyball.org

Congratulations on a job well done to our three teams that participated in the Maroon & Orange AAU Super Regional at Virginia Tech over the holiday weekend.

15 Cardinal - 2nd place & All Tournament Selections, Charlotte Van Houtven (MVP) & Emily Moser

18 Cardinal - 3rd place & All Tournament Selection, Saraya Klink

16 Cardinal – 1st in silver bracket

Congratulations to 16 Black’s, Mackenzi Thornburg who has been selected to train in Colorado Springs this summer with the High Performance National A2 Invitational Team Program designed for the country’s top athletes.

Visit our training tab and click our camps and clinics button to see our summer offerings for beginner and advanced level student athletes.  Registration is open.  Please login to your user account or follow instructions on the camps & clinic page to setup an account and to sign up.  We look forward to working with your student athlete.

17 Black Takes Championship, 16 Black Finishes Second

The Atlantic Coast Power League Championships were held in Virginia Beach and Norfolk May 3-4.  The Championship Tournament is the culmination of five months of league play featuring teams from Delaware to North Carolina.  In this first season in the ACPL, NC Elite 13-18 Black Teams faced strong competition and gained valuable court time and experience.

In the 17′s bracket, 17 Black came from down 0-6 in the 3rd set to defeat NVVA for the gold championship!  16 Black finished second after a tough 3-set loss to Coastal 16 Blue.  13 Black, 15 Black and 18 Black finished third in their playoffs, and 14 Black finished 6th.

NC Elite placed a number of student athletes on the ACPL All-Tournament Team:

13′s – Jenna Myer
15′s – Gentry Benda
16′s – Mackenzi Thornburg & Maredith Devlin
17′s – Mackenzie Reaves, Anna Moss & Carmen Sigmon
18′s – Rachel Kinsey

Congrats to all ACPL teams on a great season!

Congratulations to the following student athletes on their collegiate commitments.  We are proud you are ELITE! 

Congratulations!

East Region Championships:

- 17 Coastal Black East Region Champions but are unable to compete in finals. 

- 12 JoCo ties third to advance to the East/West final on April 12th

- 13 ROX finished second and will advance to the East/West Finals on April 12th

- 1st in their respective divisions:  15 Cardinal, 15 Silver & 14 JoCo

- 2nd in their respective divisions:  14 ROX & 13 JoCo

Congratulations to 16 Black on their Atlantic Coast Power League CHAMPIONSHIP and to 17 Black for placing 2nd!  Both 13 Black & 18 Black took 3rd.