The Vision Volleyball Gold 18-year-olds has just defeated Team Z out of Ohio in the quarterfinals of the Junior Olympics in Houston, Texas, and they were going up against Golden West in the semi's—a team they had already beaten earlier in the tournament.

"We were worried about a letdown," said Edwards, Mansfield's assistant coach for the Vision 18 squad.

And the coaches had good reason to be concerned. The Vision girls had just outlasted their bitter rival, Team Z, in a hard-fought match in the quarterfinals. A year earlier, a loss to that same squad knocked Vision out of the tournament a match short of the medal round.

But there was no letdown. Vision came through with a win over Golden West to advance to the Girls 18 Open championship, where the locals dropped a decision to Mizuno Sports Performance 18 Elite.

"We really wanted to be successful this year," said Edwards, who recalls the disappointment of 2003 when the squad tied for fifth place, just short of the medal round.

"That was very disappointing," said Edwards. "Jay and I started talking about [returning to the Junior Olympics] in October, we had tryouts in November and our season began in January."

"Our goal was to make the finals, and beat Team Z," added Edwards.

To reach one goal, Vision had to accomplish the other. And the girls did that with the win in the quarterfinals.

"They played the match of their lives, we played the match of our lives," said Edwards.

Next up was Golden West, a team Vision had beaten earlier in the tournament. That's went Mansfield and Edwards got worried, but their worries proved to be unfounded.

"The girls stayed consistent and did a good job of refocusing," said Edwards.

"This was a great experience," said Edwards of the runner-up finish at the Junior Olympics. "This was a great group of girls who just worked really hard."

The squad—led by returners Jessica Gysin, Caroline Walters, Diane Copenhagen and Kelly Crow—took a 54-1 season record into the Junior Olympics. It was team that looked very much like the all-Central Coast Section girls volleyball team of the fall 2003 season.

Rounding out the squad were Kate Fisher, Brittany Leonard, Lauren Schaefer, Erin Downey, Bryte Nielsen and Alex Fisher.

Gysin and Copenhagen, who are both headed to USC in the fall, were named to the all-tournament team along with Leonard. Fisher plans to attend Georgetown and Crow is head to UC Riverside.

Four of the five juniors on the squad have already committed to universities—Fisher to Stanford, Downey to Loyola Marymount, Schaefer to the University of Colorado and Walters to Santa Clara University.

Nielsen, who also stars for the basketball team at Saratoga High School, remains undecided.