World Volleyball Expo IV-Darmen(RP/Rosters/Results)

[Darmen]

RP cutoff! Who will advance, and who will go home?

[Darmen]

Round of 16 Results

@National Arena
Carasatoga              25  21  28  15  15
Cirona                  17  25  26  25  8

Altimarus               25  25  25
Retired Space Marines   20  16  11

@Scott City University Arena
Bernovinaia              23  20  25  25  15
Gandham Islands          25  25  20  23  12

95X                   17  25  25  20  15
Patricant             25  15  19  24  4

@Brady City Sports Center
Cassadaigua           25  26  25  25
Thatius               13  28  17  17

Civil Citizenry              26  25  20  25
Soviet Canuckistan           24  17  25  16

@Tim City Sports Arena
Darmen            15  25  23  25  15
Cakistan          25  22  25  19  12

Delaclava           21  25  25  25
Malta and Gozo      25  21  14  22

Quarterfinals Schedule

@National Arena, Darmen City
Carasatoga vs. Altimarus

@Scott City University Arena, Scott City
Begnovinaia vs. 95X

@Brady City Sports Center, Brady City
Cassadaigua vs. Civil Citizenry

@Tim City Sports Arena, Tim City
Darmen vs. Delaclava

[95X]

From the Pacific City Courier:
95X Survives 5-Game Match; Advances
SCOTT CITY, DARMEN—95X defeated Patricant in the Round of 16 at the Fourth Volleyball World Expo, in a match characterized with inconsistencies overcome by the deep 95X bench.

Libby Woodvillage led the charge in game 3 where 95X came from behind in a 18-15 deficit to eventually win the game. There was concern on the bench that a Patricant game point, which would have put Patricant ahead 2-1, would cause a further deterioration of confidence.

“We didn't want to go home,” Woodvillage briefly commented after the match, also inserted into the regular lineup for unclear reasons by Coach Shannon Nott for Samantha/Ashley Boise.

Game four did result in a Patricant win, despite several blocks by Woodvillage and Katie Twotwentyfour. The 2-2 tie led to a game five dominated by 95X after an off-character intergame speech by Jennifer Riverdell.

The 17,000 on hand at the Scott City University Arena caused most of the discussion to be missed by Courier sideline reporters, and the 95X Coaching Staff declined to comment on the content.

95X returned to the court and opened with a 8-0 run. After two Patricant points, 95X scored four more to lead 12-2. Patricant received possession and a point after a 95X service error and a point on a successful kill. With the score at 12-4, Nott sensed a drop in energy of her team's lineup and substituted Melissa Foureightythird for Riverdell, a move jeered by the 95X fans in attendance. After words were exchanged between Nott and Riverdell at the bench, Riverdell was directed to the locker room. Woodvillage, Foureightythird, and Twotwentyfour scored the next three points to seal the most-contested 95X win in the competition.

Surprisingly, Nott and even Assistant Coach Michael Hogan did not answer anything except generic questions about the team after the match. Riverdell was “unavailable” for comment according to other 95X team officials at the arena.

This leaves 95X in uncertainty leading into their next match against a familiar opponent—third-ranked Bergnovinaia. Bergnovinaia finished 5-1 in group play, and defeated Gandham Islands in five games. 95X (ranked #4 going into this event) holds a 2-1 all-time advantage.

[Darmen]

RP cutoff! Who will make it to the Final Four? Find out soon!

[Darmen]

Quarterfinal Results

@National Arena
Carasatoga        25  20  25  22  15
Altimarus         21  25  17  25  12

@Scott City University Arena
Bernovinaia       15  26  23  25  10
95X               25  24  25  14  15

@Brady City Sports Center
Cassadaigua       25  25  24  25
Civil Citizenry   22  21  26  21

@Tim City Sports Arena
Darmen            18  25  25  24  14
Delaclava         25  13  19  26  16

Semifinals Schedule
@Brady City Sports Center
Carasatoga vs. 95X

@Tim City Sports Arena
Cassadaigua vs. Delaclava

[95X]

From the Pacific City Courier:
95X Wins; Faces Carasatoga in Volleyball Semifinals
SCOTT CITY, DARMEN—We've seen two different winning 95X teams in this fourth installment of the Volleyball World Expo. One's a youthful, athletic, graceful team that opponents have a tough time keeping up with. The other is a scrappy team that wins by simply being marginally better than their opponent.

It was the earlier that took to the court against Bergnovinaia, and it didn't hurt that the Jennifer Riverdell of old appeared to truly lead 95X in five games, including five points—including match point—in game five.

95X won game one on a four-point rally led by Shelley Oneseventeen. Bergnovinaia captured game two in one extra point as a return hit the backcourt just inside the left corner. 95X responded by taking a closely-contested game three on a Riverdell point to put 95X ahead 24-23, and match point off an April Hillon kill. Bergnovinaia came back in game four with a 10 point surge to send the match to game five.

“We're both world-class teams,” as Coach Shannon Nott spoke from her playing experience in previous 95X appearances. “We knew Bergnovinaia would put together an X-class* effort, they did play an excellent match, and we brought our best effort as well.”

95X's opponent in the Semifinals doesn't get any more familiar than Carasatoga, whom 95X defeated to win the Second Volleyball World Expo, and is now considered the top team in the world. It's an opponent 95X was “preparing on facing from the beginning,” according to Nott.

“All of us who've been to Carasatoga have talked with the younger players,” Katie Twotwentyfour commented, “this is going to be the biggest game they've ever played. (Cyanna Kanan) played in the NVL finals, this easily tops that.”

Twotwentyfour was then asked about what they'd tell the national team newcomers about playing in the VWE Final.

“We take it one at a time. Nobody's guaranteed to play in the final, we have to win this one first.”

Should 95X win, it would be their third finals appearance in as many appearances. Unlike previous VWEs, 95X is internationally a very high-ranked underdog.

“We're taking every preparation precaution we can think of,” Nott said.

---

(*OOC: Yes people in 95X speak English, but the alphabet begins “XYZABC...,” ending with “W.”)

[Darmen]

I guess it's time for an RP cutoff. Who will go into the Finals, and who will sadly go on to the Third Place match?

[Darmen]

Semifinal Results

@Brady City Sports Center
Carasatoga       29  25  20  24  7
95X              27  17  25  26  15

@Tim City Sports Arena
Cassadaigua      25  22  25  25
Delaclava        21  25  15  21

Congragulations to 95X and Cassadaigua on making it to the finals. Therefore, the schedule for the Final Day is:

FINALS
@National Arena
95X vs. Cassadaigua

Third Place Playoff
@Scott City University Arena
Carasatoga vs. Delaclava

Scorination should happen sometime on Monday.

[95X]

Excerpt from the Pacific City Courier:
A New Star Is Born; 95X Plays For Championship
BRADY CITY, DARMEN—As 95X defeated Carasatoga 3-2 in front of 13,000 at the Brady City Sports Center, and moving within one match of an unprecedented third Volleyball World Expo title, Cyanna Kanan was likely the only one who knew she had it in her.

Five games, 26 points, 15 digs, 10 kills, and two game points later, the only ones who don't know now are those who tried to adjust their video picture color when she appeared on-screen.

“Coach (Shannon Nott) said we'd need to shake things up a bit if we wanted to advance,” Kanan said while understandably moping her face with a towel after her match point in game five.

Teammate Jennifer Riverdell added it was teamwork as well as Kanan's performance that put 95X on top after facing a 2-0 game deficit.

“Cyanna's focus was right on. She wasn't selfish, either. After a while, opponents start to adjust as well and that's when you're feeding your teammates.”

Riverdell finished with 15 points.

As 95X fans in attendance and at home were biting their nails during game four when Carasatoga tied the game at 24 after an 8-2 run, Katie Twotwentyfour hit a key return that hit the floor to put 95X up 25-24. Shelley Oneseventeen followed, recording a game point by smacking the volleyball to an unpopulated part of Carasatoga's side of the floor.

“Truly a team effort,” Coach Nott raved.

With knocking off top-ranked Carasatoga now on the 95X belt, the team plays Cassadaigua in the Fourth Volleyball World Expo Final Match at Darmen City's National Arena.

[Cassadaigua]

Jillian’s Space

Well, look at us now! When we entered the World Volleyball Expo for just the second time, we were hoping to just make a name for ourselves and to show that Cassadagan volleyball can be just as good as our other sporting programs. As we have now reached the championship game against 95X, by virtue of having defeated Delaclava in four sets, I think we have accomplished that. While we all wanted to win the championship when we landed in Darmen, and still when we had to be relocated from one city to another before the competition began, that seemed a little out of reach. Unless of course, we really came together. We did. After that first game loss to Sportgirls, where were a team of national all-stars not completely used to one another and communication was lacking; a team of accomplished players, but not with great chemistry with one another (which is just as important in volleyball as it is in any sport), we found ourselves struggling as a team. When that happens, you’re not going to get results. The argument that Courtney Buchanan and Amanda Girvin had on the court in that game was a blessing in disguise. It may have been just because we had something we could talk about, as a team. When Courtney and Amanda privately discussed their differences in the locker room, they began to realize not that they were different people from different backgrounds, but the same person (figuratively speaking) with the same goal in this tournament. Then we all began to realize that. Now we weren’t just a group of the best players in Cassadaigua that were assembled for the sake of having a team, but we were now all, “Team Cassadaigua”.

The wins began to happen, and it didn’t take long before realized that as one team, instead of 12 people that theoretically made a team, that we could achieve great things. We still have not lost a game since that opening day loss to Sportgirls, and now get set to play 95X for the championship. Most people in Cassadaigua are not very familiar with 95X, and even though it might look like something you would call an alternative or hard rock radio station instead, it is actually a nation from Atlantia Oceania, and you’re all familiar with them! 95X has been one of the most successful nations in the WVE thus far, and they have a hard working group of players, led by Katie Twotwentyfour and Samantha/Ashley Boise, the latter of which I assure you looks nothing like this. It should be a great game and I really would love to bring a home a championship back to Cassadaigua. It would be the perfect ending to what has been a great time in Darmen, especially when you consider how it all started!

[Darmen]

Final RP Cutoff, scores up soon!

[Darmen]

Final Results

FINALS
@National Arena
95X               25  17  25  21  15 
Cassadaigua       15  25  23  25  9

Third Place Playoff
@Scott City University Arena
Carasatoga        25  25  25
Delaclava         10  23  12

Congragulations to 95X on winning another championship. Thank you to all who RP'd, you helped make this a very fun competition to run.

[95X]

From the front page of the Pacific City Courier:
Meet the New Champs: Same as the Old Champs
DARMEN CITY—For the third time in as many appearances, 95X was crowned the volleyball champion of the world, defeating Cassadaigua 3-2 in the Fourth Volleyball World Expo. 95X was the previous champion in the first and second editions of the competition.

No, that's not a typo: 95X was forced to sit out the third competition when the crippling domestic recession at the same time dried up funding for international sports team travel.

31-year old Jennifer Riverdell was once again named 95X Team MVP for her overall performance in the tournament; her performance in the Final Match led to 30 of 95X's 103 points, including 13 kills.

“We couldn't have done it without our teammates,” Riverdell spoke after the conclusion of the match. “Cassadaigua played a great game, we really had to work for it.”

She flat-out refused to answer any questions about her possible retirement, despite a Bettors' Illustrated article appearing mid-tournament claiming she would announce retiring from both the NVL and the national team upon the conclusion of the VWE.

“Those claims are false,” she told the Courier's post-game interviewer. “(The magazine) never contacted me or my agent before they published the article.”

Cyanna Kanan, who hit game point in game one for 95X, and 16 total, noted: “we knew we had to be on it walking into the arena. None of us were overconfident or expecting an second-rate game. Cassadaigua could easily be where we are now, and in the near future, no doubt they'll get even stronger.”

95X and Cassadaigua exchanged game points in games one through four. Despite the 25-23 margin in game three, 95X led the entire way. Cassadaigua started game 5 on a 4-0 rally which was snapped by on a Riverdell kill. 95X went on to score the next five points to lead 5-4, until a Samantha/Ashley Boise service error sent possession back to Cassadaigua. The opponents, led by Jillian DeMarco virtually the entire way, notched another three points to lead 7-5. 95X turned things around with points from Shelley Oneseventeen and Katie Twotwentyfour, leading to an eventual 10-7 95X lead. After Cassadaigua registered one more point, 95X responded with one more. Another quick Cassadaiguan point made the score 11-9, then it was all 95X to match point, and the championship.

“We were impressed with Cassadaigua's style and gameplay even more as direct opponents versus watching their tapes,” 95X Head Coach Shannon Nott said when asked about her team's performance. Nott, who played for 95X in VWE's 1 and 2 would not comment on specific aspects of her team's championship-winning performance but made a generic statement about even the best teams making improvements.

“We will go over some things before we officially recess the national team, but I want to talk to my players first.”

Nott coldly refused to answer questions pertaining to Riverdell's future with either the national team or the NVL.

“That's her decision,” Nott snapped at the question on live national television, and added some choice words before walking away from the camera: “I can't believe you would ask me that now. And if those are the only questions remaining, this post-match interview is over.”

The championship team picture was taken shortly thereafter.

Of the three newcomers to the 95X National Team, Kanan maintained composure throughout post-championship festivities.

“It's like we just won two NVL championships at the same time,” Kanan commented.

Elizabeth and Melissa Foureightythird, the mute reserve twins who also made their first international appearance, struggled to write a joint statement which read: “We're as happy as we've ever been, hello to friends and family in Gilcrest!”

“It's especially special for the three of them,” Coach Nott concluded. “There's never anything like your first international championship.”

Poll:
The Courier ran an online (unscientific) poll on their website with this article regarding Riverdell: should she continue playing, or retire? These were the results:

• Retire, it's time to give another deserving player a chance to represent 95X: 9%
• Retire, it's best to end a playing career on a high note: 29%
• Continue playing, but as a reserve/mentor to younger players: 34%
• Continue playing, she's never been better: 28%

Epilogue:
Shortly after the VWE, Jennifer Riverdell signed a three-year NVL players' contract, which includes the right to retire after any of those three seasons. She remains eligible to represent 95X on the national volleyball team and will be 34 when the contract expires. Cyanna Kanan returned to her NVL club a stronger player than ever and is becoming the next league superstar. Katie Twotwentyfour was not punished further by the NVL for her comments early in the tournament. April Hillon, the bipod player, missed the following NVL season having her first child, never returning to playing form.

(OOC: Thank you Darmen for hosting, thank you Carasatoga for organizing the first VWE, and thank you to all the other participants for your efforts—it's been fun as always!)

[Cassadaigua]

Short Parting Conversation between Jillian DeMarco and Courtney Buchanan:

Courtney: "Have you got the message out?"

Jillian: "Yeah, but I made a mistake, I told my friends list just to vote "retire" in the poll. So they are probably split between the two retirement options."

Courtney: "Well it's still pretty close, and hopefully she'll choose to retire anyway. Going out on a high note has to be cool and all."