Rota boys impress during mini VB fest in Aviano

AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy – Most of the coaches of the eight volleyball teams that converged on Aviano over the weekend didn’t have much trouble coming up with facets of the game their teams must improve.

Rota’s Edward DeMeritt had a tougher time.

“We don’t have any glaring weaknesses,” he said Saturday after his team remained perfect on the season by topping Sigonella 25-10, 25-12. “We’ve got seven or eight strong players. We’ve got a lot of firepower on offense and right now we’re playing really good defense.”

It might not be too surprising that the Admirals (6-0) emerged from the event as the only one of the four boys teams and four girls teams participating to have yet to suffer defeat this year.

DeMeritt said the team is the strongest since the one three years ago that featured his son, Tyler – currently playing the sport in college – that ended up losing in the championship match to Black Forest Academy.

Those Falcons, by the way, are also unbeaten.

The volleyball postseason format has not been set, but current expectations are that all the Division II teams in Europe will converge on Vicenza the final week of October.

Last year, the Admirals didn’t make it out of the qualifying tournament even though they had a solid regular-season record. This season, that format has been scrapped.

Rota's Jon Valenzuela jumps up to pound the ball Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, during a match against Sigonella at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Rota's Jake Jennings sets the ball Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, during a match against Sigonella at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Sigonella's Bobby Gibbons gets set to hit a kill from Rota in a match against the Admirals on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Aviano's Micah Guerrero grimaces as his spike bounces off the block of Vicenza's Baedyn Morehouse on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, during a match at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Vicenza senior Ben Morton goes up to serve Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, during a match against Aviano at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Vicenza's Baedyn Morehouse tries to get past the Aviano block of Micah Guerrero, left, and Eli Jackson-Moore on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 during a match at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Vicenza's Raul Carrillo finds himself all alone at the net Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, during a match against Aviano at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Rota wasn’t the only team that felt its season last year ended too early. Vicenza’s girls were also stopped short at the qualifier.

The Cougars dropped a pair of five-set matches with defending champ BFA to open this season but haven’t lost since.

So Vicenza coach John Kohut was upbeat after his team topped Aviano 25-15, 25-10 on Friday. The Cougars then defeated Rota 25-19, 25-7 on Saturday.

“We learned a lot (against BFA),” Kohut said. Still, he said he’d like to see a stronger attack. “We need to put the ball where it needs to go” to set up good scoring opportunities.

The Cougar boys, also eliminated in the qualifier a year ago, split their weekend matches. Vicenza topped Aviano 25-19, 25-13 on Friday, then lost to the Admirals on Saturday, 25-16, 25-19.

All the matches during the weekend event were played best-of-three sets instead of best-of-five to get in more matches.

Cougars’ boys coach Victoria Leon said the team is doing a better job not letting balls drop to the floor untouched.

“Communication was our Achilles’ heel last year,” she said. “I make them run in practice if they’re not talking. Talking to each other is one of the most basic things you need to do in volleyball.”

Vicenza did that well against Aviano on Friday, emerging with a 25-19, 25-13 triumph.

The Saints had a few lapses in communication. But what really hurt them was an inability to serve the ball cleanly over the net.

“We had five serving errors in one set and lost by six points,” coach Gabriella Ball said. “And that’s been one of the things we’ve done well in practice.”

Aviano made only a few such miscues against Sigonella on Saturday and emerged with a 25-23, 25-9 win over Sigonella.

Aviano's Riana Pontemayor tries to get the ball past Vicenza's Natalia Lopez, left, and Alesssandra Macy at the net Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Vicenza's Emily Bell keeps the ball in play Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, during a match against Aviano at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Aviano's Briley Trimble tries to tap the ball over the net Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, during a DODEA-Europe volleyball match against Vicenza on the Saints' home court. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Rota's Taylor Borchanski keeps the ball in play Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, during a match against Sigonella at Aviano Air Base, Italy. Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Sigonella's Quinn Livingston sets up a teammate Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, during a match at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Rota's Sophia Gonzales sets the ball to start the Admirals' offense Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, during a match against Sigonella at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

Sigonella's Claire Disley dives to keep the ball in play Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, during a match at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

The Saints girls, also headed by a new coach, mirrored the boys’ success. Aviano rebounded from Friday’s loss to Vicenza with a 25-17, 25-20 victory Sigonella on Saturday.

Gina Fussinger coached for two years at Kadena – the school with the largest enrollment (836) in DODEA-Pacific – before heading to Aviano in northern Italy only about one-sixth the size (127).

“We’ve got a tight group and I enjoy that,” she said, though she’s done a lot more teaching the game than she’s had to do the last few years. “And that’s OK.”

Sigonella’s teams both went winless on the weekend and haven’t won yet this season.

“It’s definitely a rebuilding year,” boys coach Salvatore Iozzia said.

And what do they need to work on?

“Pretty much everything,” Iozzia said. The Jaguars return only one starter from a year ago.

Longtime girls coach Shawn McCarthy said he saw improvement in his team over the first two weeks.

“We didn’t take a step forward this weekend,” he said. “But we didn’t take a step back either. I guess that’s most important.”

But McCarthy, expressing a sentiment widely shared at the event, said he expects his team to be playing at a different level when the season concludes in five weeks.