The Nansemond Volleyball Club’s team of girls playing at the 16-year-old level lived up to its seeding at the Old Dominion Region regional championships in Hampton last Sunday.

“We were seeded second and finished second, and they lost in three sets in the final,” NVC 16s team coach Robyn Ross said. “They did some really great things over the weekend. We struggled a little bit with serve-receive, which is normally really, really solid for us, and so that made the difference in that last match a little bit.”

The NVC squad went 3-0 in pool play and advanced through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds without dropping a set before falling 26-24, 19-25, 11-15 to MVP 16 Select, a team Ross and her players hope to face again this weekend in Williamsburg.

With a roster of only seven players, none taller than 5 feet 9 inches, the NVC 16s squad has been the little team that could. Going into this weekend’s two-day tournament, The Revolutionary Rumble, the team had a record of 32-3, the best at any age level in the Nansemond Volleyball Club’s five-year history.

Furthermore, up until its match against MVP 16 Select, the NVC 16s team had not dropped a set since January.

“The team they played in the final was probably better than most of the teams that (Nansemond-Suffolk Academy) played varsity-wise,” said Ross, also the coach of the NSA team, which has won state championships the last two seasons.

She said last Sunday was the first time her club team had seen MVP 16 Select.

NVC 16s team captain Logan Harrell said, “They were a lot bigger than us,” and Ross noted, “They had some really, really strong hitters.”

But Harrell said her team used the things it is good at — like defense and passing — to challenge them.

“It was hard work and there was some marathon-long points against this team, so it was a great match,” Ross said.

But she said her girls certainly have a chance against MVP 16 Select, and Harrell noted that during some practices this past week, “We definitely worked on what our weaknesses were during that game.”

“I really hope we get to play them again this weekend,” Ross said.

In two of the NVC 16s team’s pool play matches last Sunday, the girls showcased especially pronounced dominance. They defeated the Peninsula Juniors Volleyball Club 16 Molten team 25-3, 25-8 and topped the South East Region Volleyball 16 Black team 25-6, 25-9.

Evaluating her team’s weekend overall, Harrell said, “I thought that we ran our plays, and we really played together well.”

“Three of our girls made the regional all-tournament team,” Ross said, referring to NSA’s Livi Bono and Harrell and Isle of Wight Academy’s Ashley Petroski.

In six matches, which included 13 sets, Bono had 53 kills, seven aces and 26 points on her serve, Petroski had 34 kills, 10 aces and 31 points on her serve and Harrell had 44 digs, 19 aces and 61 points on her serve.