By Pete Borello

Courtesy of Mary Ann Poulos The Vision 15 volleyball team is all smiles after placing third at the South National Qualifier, which put the club in the Junior Olympics. Front row, from left, are Elisabeth Trambley, Candace Silva-Martin, Ashton Senner, Katherine Fischer and McKenna Haniger. Back row, from left, are assistant coach Ashley Bjorklund, Lauren Bajtos, Lindsey Poulos, Molly Bagshaw, Gabrielle Cowden, Allen, Brianna Heinen and head coach Mike Shulko.

Although disappointed by their finish in the Junior Olympics, local members of the Vision 15 Gold club volleyball team found some bright spots along the way.

Los Gatos-based Vision placed 23rd out of 28 teams and won only one match, but it nearly upset eventual champion Kiva 15 Red of Indiana.

“We took them to three games and we were very close to beating them,” said outside hitter Katherine Fischer of Los Altos. “We knew we could beat them because we played them before. They were the best in the nation, and we wanted to show them that we were.”

Like Fischer, middle blocker Lindsey Poulos of Los Altos also considered the match against Kiva the highlight of the eight-day tournament in Atlanta.

“We played as hard as we could, and it felt good to take a game off them,” said Poulos, entering her sophomore year at St. Francis High. “We lost, but we were all happy.”

The 5-foot-10 Poulos, not a regular starter, played a key role in the near-upset of Kiva. She helped Vision win the second game, in which “the rallies went for a long time and we kept going,” said Poulos, who had multiple kills and blocks.

Fischer said her best match came against either Kiva or Elite of Chicago, the team Vision beat on the third day of pool play.

“I was kind of on,” said Fischer, who will be a sophomore at Homestead High. “I was passing well and hitting well.”

Throughout the tournament, Fischer was hampered by a sore knee and wrist, which she described as “overuse injuries.” Competitive volleyball players have little time to rest, as the club season starts just weeks after the high school season ends in November.

The Junior Olympics finished the first week of July, giving Fischer 12 days to recover before heading to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with the A2 National Team for ages 15-16. The 5-foot-9 Fischer will train with the team all next week, then take part in a four-day international tournament.

Fischer started playing volleyball just two years ago, switching from competitive soccer because of injuries. She has known Poulos since kindergarten and the two went to school together through eighth grade at Cupertino Junior High.

Both girls were new to Vision 15 Gold, and coach Mike Shulko was happy to have them on board. Fischer, Poulos and Chelsea Allen, a middle blocker from Mountain View, were the three local players on Vision.

“Lindsey and Chelsea played really well against Kiva - they really stepped up and did a good job,” said Shulko, assisted by Los Altos High graduate Ashley Bjorklund. “Katherine did well, too. She was one of our key players.”

If Fischer and a few other team members had been at full strength, the coach believes Vision could have finished higher at the Junior Olympics.

“We went in with a few injuries and knew we wouldn’t be 100 percent. When you’re not, it’s difficult to compete,” Shulko said. “But we competed, and they played through it.”

Poulos agreed, adding, “It was the end of the season and everybody was tired, but we really wanted to win.”

Fischer had high hopes entering the tournament, as Vision had been ranked fourth in the nation among under-15 teams.

“We were hoping to medal, but it was kind of a big dream, I guess,” she said. “We just didn’t do as well as we planned.”

Still, just getting to the Junior Olympics is no small feat. Shulko estimated that more than 1,000 club teams across the nation tried to qualify. Vision made it by placing third at the Big South National Qualifier in Atlanta two months ago. The team qualified again a few weeks later by finishing fourth at the Southern California Qualifier.

For most of the season, Vision “played up,” Shulko said, and more than held its own against older teams. Vision placed second in an under-18 tournament and lost just one match to a Northern California team over the last two years.

“They’re a very aggressive, successful team,” Shulko said. “We didn’t end up where we wanted, but we had a really good season.”