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Volleyball: Mad Frog program wins national title
Kevin Hageland, Staff Writer
While not always mentioned with the likes of Texas Advantage Volleyball and Skyline Juniors, the upstart Mad Frog program showed that its club is chock full of talent too as the Plano-based club brought home a national championship last week in the 13-year-old division.
The national title was a first in any division for the 5-year-old club.
After wracking up plenty of tournament victories and a No. 1 national ranking during the club season, Mad Frog National Blue Poison Dart headed to Miami for a chance to validate their standing at the 30th Annual USA Junior Olympic Girls Volleyball Championships.
The squad intent on getting that done featured plenty of local talent as the club includes: Rebecca Talley from Renner Middle School, Aubrey Davis and Lindsey Etter from Schimelpfenig Middle School, Courtney Novak from Prestonwood Christian Academy, Paige Tuer from Ereckson Middle School in Allen, Payton Auchenbach from Fowler Middle School in Frisco and Brianna Hoelting from Prince of Peace Christian School in Carrollton.
Mad Frog rolled through its first pool as the team won all five matches in two sets. Mad Frog defeated Frisco Bay All-Stars, Club West 13 Elite, WC Select 131, Xtreme 13 Black and Coastal VA 13N. Of the 10 sets Mad Frog played in the opening pool, no opponent scored more than 16 points against them and opponents were held to 10 or less point six times in the race to 25.
“The way this team moves together and works together is different than a lot of other teams,” Rotunno-Samuels said. “That’s why you see some scores like that; the girls always take care of the ball and they play volleyball the way it is supposed to be played.”
Things were significantly more difficult in the next pool, but Mad Frog remained undefeated by knocking off KC Power 13-1 and A5 131 Suzanne. Power won a set from Mad Frog, which was notable as the Plano-based club lost just two games during its 11-0 run at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
As play moved into Days 3 and 4, Mad Frog continued to win as they pushed into the final with victories against Ultimate G13 Gold, MAVA 13-Elite (in three sets) and STL CYC 13 Green. The MAVA victory was especially notable as Mad Frog had lost to that squad in Atlanta.
“We really came out ready to play in that match and I think that was one of the defining moments of the tournament for us,” Rotunno-Samuels said. “Our girls are so composed; whenever they make a mistake, they don’t let it faze them and just keep working.”
With 46 other teams out of the way, the 13 National Division came down to Mad Frog and Asics MAVS 13-1, the defending Junior Olympic champions. The latter stayed close in both games, but it was the former that came out on top as Mad Frog took the match, and title, 26-24, 25-22.
“We knew the MAVS were good,” Rotunno-Samuels said. “But we came out strong at the beginning of the match and I think that threw them off a little.”
Capturing a national title in just its fifth year of existence gave Mad Frog plenty to celebrate, but Rotunno-Samuels knows this is just the beginning.
“We are going to have to carry ourselves differently now,” she said. “A lot of new responsibility comes with this win.”
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