Pottstown Rumble Volleyball

A Local girls take top prize in women's division at Rumble

Monday, June 29, 2009

By Rosemarie Ross
rross@pottsmerc.com

POTTSTOWN — It was deja vu as Adam Roberts and Eyal Zimet wrapped up two days of furious volleyball action, capturing the men's pro division and beating AVP pros Dana Camacho and Mike Bruning, 15-7, early Sunday night at the 18th annual Pottstown Rumble at Memorial Park.

Playing went on deep into the night, but this was the big one, the one for the $4,000 prize money. And Roberts and Zimet walked away winners for the second straight year.

They had to play 12 matches to get there, but in the championship match they needed just 32 minutes to nail down the victory.

Roberts and Zimet came a long way across country, but the winners of the women's pro division the night before had to come just a few miles east.

Jocelyn and Kristen Decker are well-known around this area from their high school playing days at Daniel Boone. Now in their early 20s, the Decker sisters, who have been coming to the Rumble since they were tots to help out, collected their first women's pro division $1,000 prize check.

Whether from near or far away, the Pottstown Rumble is the premier grass tournament in the land to win.

Roberts resides in Myrtle Beach, S.C.,

Zimet in Honolulu. Since they mostly play beach volleyball they spend much of their time in Los Angeles.

"This is the most fun tournament in the whole year," Zimet said. "We're playing on the beach all year long, but I have an indoor background, and this is kind of an interesting hybrid between beach volleyball and indoor volleyball. You play on the grass, a bigger court than the beach, it's so much fun. And there's so many players here. It's just a good time the whole weekend. I can't believe they're handling so many players, so many nets, so many divisions. It's amazing."

The prize money isn't bad either, and Zimet, 32, plans to be back next year.

"I hope so," he said. "We'll see how my knees hold up. It's a big adjustment from beach; it helps to have an indoor background. And I got a good partner. He is covering whatever I don't do. This is the only tournament we play together and the chemistry is just amazing."

Roberts, 33, and a seasoned pro, admitted to being "a little sore" after the two days of hard play.

Winning wasn't any easier this year.

"Not at all. This tournament is never easy," Roberts said.

It was his third time here. His first time, in 2005 with a different partner, he

took second place. He was itching to come back for revenge last year and again this year.

"We were lucky that we didn't have a pro tournament this weekend and were able to come," Roberts said. "We come here because we have fun with it. It's a change of pace. The money is nice, the prestige.

"For us, it's winning the biggest grass championship in the United States. And they do a great job here at this tournament. On the pro tour, we're always looking for top 10 finishes. It's tough for us to beat the (Olympic) gold medalists out there," Roberts said.

"But coming here, we know we really should be winning this, but it's tough. The grass is an equalizer. A lot of the guys who play on the beach can jump so much higher on grass. So it really makes it tough for us. No matter what the scores are, winning here is very tough. The long matches, the pounding on your body, it's not easy at all.

"We're lucky that we are professionals and get to train and practice every day. There's a lot of weekend warriors that just come out on the weekends and play. That does give us an advantage. But we'll be sore for five days after this. The rules are quite different from beach volleyball, but as far as the skills go, no. The passing, the setting, those are the fundamentals you have to have."

The Decker girls have grown from little girls into women here. Their father, Don Decker, also their coach at Boone, and mom Marlene played and helped out in the Rumble for years — and always brought along their youngsters.

"Since were were this high," said Kristen, a 2004 Boone graduate, gesturing. Kristen Decker went on to play for West Chester. Jocelyn, three years older, played for Millersville.

"Me and Jocelyn grew up at the Rumble," Kristen Decker said. "A few years ago we started helping, setting up stuff on Thursday and Friday. And we've known all the staff for a long time. We've been in finals one time before but never won it."

"It's a dream come true; it's exciting," Jocelyn said. "We've been talking about winning it since year one, and it's exciting to get it. And the competition keeps getting better every year."

They'll keep up the Decker tradition as long as there is a Rumble. "Play doubles as long as we can," Kristen said.

Once again the entries exceeded last year's, up from 1,600 in 2008 to more than 1,700 this year.

"We succeeded. It was a good year," founder Ken Kaas said. "Hotels were packed; late arrivals couldn't get in. It's just amazing how many players we had.

"Next year we're going to have to start cutting registrations off because we outgrew the park. So we have to go to a satellite place to put overflow. John Reber (Pottstown Parks and Recreation director) mentioned maybe Maple Street Park.

"Nobody, volunteers or players, want to go to another park. I don't know what we're going to do. We'll figure it out next year," he said.

Sundstrom Field, which the Rumble was able to use last year for their overflow, was not available because of makeup Legion baseball games, and it might not be there next year for the same reason.

For this year, the Rumble volunteers and their committee crammed all the players in at Memorial Park.


	A Local girls take top prize in women's division at Rumble Monday, June 29, 2009 By Rosemarie Ross rross@pottsmerc.com POTTSTOWN — It was deja vu as Adam Roberts and Eyal Zimet wrapped up two days of furious volleyball action, capturing the men's pro division and beating AVP pros Dana Camacho and Mike Bruning, 15-7, early Sunday night at the 18th annual Pottstown Rumble at Memorial Park. Playing went on deep into the night, but this was the big one, the one for the $4,000 prize money. And Roberts and Zimet walked away winners for the second straight year. They had to play 12 matches to get there, but in the championship match they needed just 32 minutes to nail down the victory. Roberts and Zimet came a long way across country, but the winners of the women's pro division the night before had to come just a few miles east. Jocelyn and Kristen Decker are well-known around this area from their high school playing days at Daniel Boone. Now in their early 20s, the Decker sisters, who have been coming to the Rumble since they were tots to help out, collected their first women's pro division $1,000 prize check. Whether from near or far away, the Pottstown Rumble is the premier grass tournament in the land to win. Roberts resides in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Zimet in Honolulu. Since they mostly play beach volleyball they spend much of their time in Los Angeles. "This is the most fun tournament in the whole year," Zimet said. "We're playing on the beach all year long, but I have an indoor background, and this is kind of an interesting hybrid between beach volleyball and indoor volleyball. You play on the grass, a bigger court than the beach, it's so much fun. And there's so many players here. It's just a good time the whole weekend. I can't believe they're handling so many players, so many nets, so many divisions. It's amazing." The prize money isn't bad either, and Zimet, 32, plans to be back next year. "I hope so," he said. "We'll see how my knees hold up. It's a big adjustment from beach; it helps to have an indoor background. And I got a good partner. He is covering whatever I don't do. This is the only tournament we play together and the chemistry is just amazing." Roberts, 33, and a seasoned pro, admitted to being "a little sore" after the two days of hard play. Winning wasn't any easier this year. "Not at all. This tournament is never easy," Roberts said. It was his third time here. His first time, in 2005 with a different partner, he took second place. He was itching to come back for revenge last year and again this year. "We were lucky that we didn't have a pro tournament this weekend and were able to come," Roberts said. "We come here because we have fun with it. It's a change of pace. The money is nice, the prestige. "For us, it's winning the biggest grass championship in the United States. And they do a great job here at this tournament. On the pro tour, we're always looking for top 10 finishes. It's tough for us to beat the (Olympic) gold medalists out there," Roberts said. "But coming here, we know we really should be winning this, but it's tough. The grass is an equalizer. A lot of the guys who play on the beach can jump so much higher on grass. So it really makes it tough for us. No matter what the scores are, winning here is very tough. The long matches, the pounding on your body, it's not easy at all. "We're lucky that we are professionals and get to train and practice every day. There's a lot of weekend warriors that just come out on the weekends and play. That does give us an advantage. But we'll be sore for five days after this. The rules are quite different from beach volleyball, but as far as the skills go, no. The passing, the setting, those are the fundamentals you have to have." The Decker girls have grown from little girls into women here. Their father, Don Decker, also their coach at Boone, and mom Marlene played and helped out in the Rumble for years — and always brought along their youngsters. "Since were were this high," said Kristen, a 2004 Boone graduate, gesturing. Kristen Decker went on to play for West Chester. Jocelyn, three years older, played for Millersville. "Me and Jocelyn grew up at the Rumble," Kristen Decker said. "A few years ago we started helping, setting up stuff on Thursday and Friday. And we've known all the staff for a long time. We've been in finals one time before but never won it." "It's a dream come true; it's exciting," Jocelyn said. "We've been talking about winning it since year one, and it's exciting to get it. And the competition keeps getting better every year." They'll keep up the Decker tradition as long as there is a Rumble. "Play doubles as long as we can," Kristen said. Once again the entries exceeded last year's, up from 1,600 in 2008 to more than 1,700 this year. "We succeeded. It was a good year," founder Ken Kaas said. "Hotels were packed; late arrivals couldn't get in. It's just amazing how many players we had. "Next year we're going to have to start cutting registrations off because we outgrew the park. So we have to go to a satellite place to put overflow. John Reber (Pottstown Parks and Recreation director) mentioned maybe Maple Street Park. "Nobody, volunteers or players, want to go to another park. I don't know what we're going to do. We'll figure it out next year," he said. Sundstrom Field, which the Rumble was able to use last year for their overflow, was not available because of makeup Legion baseball games, and it might not be there next year for the same reason. For this year, the Rumble volunteers and their committee crammed all the players in at Memorial Park.
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