Ramona hosts JV volleyball tourney

Ramona High School hosted a junior varsity boys volleyball tournament April 25, with the Bulldog boys reaching the quarterfinals before a loss to Poway.

A total of 19 teams participated in the tournament, held in Poway at the Epic Volleyball Center.

“It seemed to go pretty well,” said Ramona Varsity Coach Jeff Klauda. “Every year the tournament gets tougher and tougher. It was a lot of great teams, a lot of great competition.”

Ramona’s junior varsity team, which is coached by Brad Carter, defeated Granite Hills in pool play but lost to Westview, giving the Bulldogs second place in the pool behind the Wolverines.

Ramona still earned one of the 12 twelve berths in the championship bracket, and Ramona’s sixth seed in that bracket was the highest among all teams which finished second in pool play.

The Bulldogs opened the championship bracket, which consisted of one-game matches, with a 25-13 win over Escondido. That gave Ramona a quarterfinal match against third-seeded Poway, and the Titans earned a 25-21 victory to advance to the semifinal match.

Poway then took a 25-11 victory over Torrey Pines in one semifinal match while Westview reached the finals with a 25-22 triumph over 2008 tournament champion La Costa Canyon.

Westview earned the 2009 championship with a 25-21 win over Poway in the finals. Westview’s Austin Fox was named the tournament’s most valuable player, and the all-tournament team also included Westview’s Patrick Govea and Tyler Weir, Poway’s David Aguilar and Alex Rowsen, La Costa Canyon’s Jacob Chu, and Torrey Pines’ Willie Scripps.

San Marcos defeated Mira Mesa in a 25-21 game to win the consolation bracket championship.

Ramona’s varsity volleyball team helped with scorekeeping while parents of Ramona High School players staffed the snack bar.

“The snack bar was awesome,” Klauda said. “We were able to do some good fundraising there.”