Congrats Axis Elite Boys! A letter from director, Joe Dierickx!

"The Axis boys played in the first SAVL championships on Saturday and for the first time they played in a large convention center format. It was wonderful to see all of the support from the Axis family in attendance and the boys all commented on that throughout the day. Thanks to you all.

After starting the day 7-1 through their first four matches, the boys faced off against Carolina Islanders knowing that they needed at least a split in order to make the championship match. The first game was close for the first half and then too many unforced errors caused the boys to get beat handily. They fought back in game two after coach Jillian told them that they had to play together and not individually. That started the "Together!!" chant out of each huddle from that point on. They took those words to heart and fought through a close second game to come out on top in the end by a score of 26-24 putting them into the championship match against none other than Carolina Islanders.

It was a hard fought battle, but some late unforced errors due to a lack of focus caused them to lose 23-25 in game one. Coach Charles, in his own words, "absolutely lit them up" before the start of game two. The boys reacted with a tremendous performance in game two throttling the Islanders 25-12 setting up the deciding game three where the boys requested of coach, "Please yell at us again!!"

The final game did not start out so well with the boys falling behind 7-1, but they dug deep and fought back after a great timeout by coach Jillian to remind them to play together and focus on their fundamentals. They switched sides only down 6-8, but the Islanders were fighting hard, also. Down 9-13, the coaches called their final timeout just to try to calm the boys down. Three points later they found themselves serving down 11-14 and no chance to make an error. By this time there was a good crowd around the court and every point ended with a huge cheer from the Axis faithful. Islanders called a timeout at 14-14, but our boys didn't let that phase them and they finished by winning the match 16-14 and the first ever SAVL Boys Championship!!! They really finished out the season strong…..…Axis strong!!

It has to be mentioned about the class of the Islanders players and coaches. As our boys were finishing up pictures on the court with their medals, the Islanders boys came under the net one last time and were congratulating our boys with not only high-fives and handshakes, but with hugs and a great deal of respect. That is something that will really stick with the boys and the Axis family. What a great way to end the inaugural season!!!

Congratulations 15 Boys Rox!

Axis Strong!

Axis Proud!"

Joe Dierickx - Director, Axis Elite Volleyball