Article written by Michael Gehlken from the San Diego Union-Tribune. Please click here to view original article.

They couldn’t pass. They couldn’t serve. Some couldn’t hit the ball over the net. A year ago, the start of a volleyball season began with a humbling practice inside the concrete warehouse walls of the East County Volleyball Academy, where a focus on fundamentals became an impromptu cardio session, chasing an uncontrolled ball across the Lakeside building’s interior. Middle blocker Rachel Minter, captain of that 15-and-under ECVBA travel team, can only imagine what an observer would’ve thought. “Jeez, they’re a really bad team,” Minter, 15, said. “Have they ever played before? Have they ever seen a volleyball before?” From novices to champions, the group developed to win Flight 2 of the Southern California Volleyball Association Regional Tournament in late May, an improbable run for a fledgling program that has since expanded. Practice opened last week for the second season of the ECVBA, which grew from fielding two travel teams to five. Co-founders Joe Do and Thao Trinh, out to provide a cost-effective alternative to existing clubs without sacrificing quality in player development and experience, envisioned something special in the East County. Looking back at that “Bad News Bears” inaugural season, Do says he could close shop today knowing they have accomplished that goal. “If you asked me in the beginning, honestly, I would have never thought they’d win a regional,” Do said. “Even at regionals, it never dawned on me that they’d win it. It’s just one game at a time, and then it’s like, ‘Wow. They did good.’” The players, since split up between two 16-and-under festival teams and a 15-and-under festival squad, say they remain a family, or as defensive specialist Sabrina Mendoza-Wineteer puts it, “sisters from another mister.” Last season, their bond and volleyball skills strengthened together.

From that shy, lackluster beginning, the teammates supported each other after rocky early losses and pushed another during intense workouts led by assistant coach Jessica Pace.

“We sweat. We bleed. We wall sit,” Minter said.

Players credited Pace for that drill sergeant-style, which she mixed with compliments when deserving. As head coach, Do offered balance as the calm, constructive tactician willing to protest missed calls for them during matches.

In a midseason tournament in Torrance, the players saw their game click.

In the regional, it came to life.

“Girls who wouldn’t dive, dived,” Do said. “Girls who didn’t talk, talked. Girls who didn’t hit, hit. Girls who normally didn’t serve over the net were getting aces. It just all came together. It was a two-day tournament, but everyone played a part. Every game, it was like, ‘Wow. Which team is this?’ It was a good way to end.”

On the main court at Walter Pyramid, the same court volleyball legend Misty May-Treanor played on at Long Beach State and same arena where her jersey is retired, ECVBA won 25-22 in the championship game on a fitting final point.

They struggled to serve when practice began in December 2010, but there setter Lauren West was, lofting a beaut that flipped over the lip of the net and dropped onto the other side for the teardrop, sparking a mass celebration.

One year later, the ECVBA has begun another season.

The passing is crisp.

The serves are sharp.

And a large white championship banner hangs on each side of a concrete warehouse wall.

It is just the start.