FH Muscle 17's stays on task, rolls to three wins Saturday at West Coast Invite

by Marcos Aragon

SALT LAKE CITY — FH Muscle 17 Elite earned their second win of the day after the team defeated Club 801 in straight sets, 25-17, 25-16, during power pool competition Saturday at the Triple Crown West Coast Invitational. 

Precision passing and a handful of aces played a big part of the team’s victory. The offense was in a major groove from the opening serve for FH Muscle, and head coach Brett Braziel credited his team’s devotion to its discipline.

“When we stay disciplined and do our job, we don’t have much to worry about.” said Braziel, who describes the strengths of his team as effort, discipline and great energy. “We’re real dynamic hitting, when we pass well — we’re hard to beat.”

FH Muscle (based out of the northwest Metroplex suburb of Justin, Texas) felt confident after their first win of the day against Forza 1 North 18 UA, but Jentry Lamirand describes the nature of their confidence stemming from their simple focus of just playing as a team.

“We’re preparing for nationals, so we’ve been working on some small details just to get better as a team.” Lamirand said.

Halle Sherlock agreed with Braziel that the team’s passing was huge for them Saturday, as was their serving.

“We have really aggressive and strong serves.” Sherlock said. “Serving is definitely one of our biggest strengths.”

Between matches, Sherlock says that her coach’s message was to remain disciplined, and Lamirand explains that the team also went over their adjustments as needed.

“We focused on what their defense was doing and we were able to find the spots on the court that were open,” she said. “We kind of analyzed that in the first set and really capitalized on that in the second.”

Despite the clear tactical strength of the team and its commitment to discipline, Lamirand pointed out that their chemistry will always remain its most vital aspect.

“We’re good teammates,” she added. “We all love each other, we’re all like sisters and best friends, and I think that’s our main strength.”

Looking ahead to their next match, Braziel says that he’s excited about the level of competition that his team is ready to face.

“Us playing to our level and being disciplined,” he said. “And getting a W.”
FH Muscle ended up topping NPJ 18 Forefront (25-22, 25-20) in its final match of the day to go 3-0 overall Saturday.