As the second season comes to a close for the Maple Valley-based Synergy volleyball club founder Jeff Potter couldn’t be more pleased with its progress.

There are four teams this year: an under 12, a U13, a U15 and a U17.

Potter said all four teams predominantly have Tahoma School District students on them but Synergy also draws players from Auburn, Covington, Issaquah and Enumclaw.

“The teams are playing in competitive leagues and competitive tournaments,” Potter said. “It’s nice to see the development in all the age groups, especially the 12s. For the 12s, it’s leaps and bounds… with the improvement you see excitement and that gives everyone around them energy.”

Not to say that it isn’t fun to watch the high school age girls play.

“Of course, it’s exciting watching the U17 players when they make a beautiful block or dig,” he said. “With a lot of the girls on the U15 and U17 teams going to Tahoma, I’m excited about next fall. I’m excited about watching volleyball in the local area in the high schools this coming fall, the girls on the (Synergy) teams and girls on other teams that I know.”

Youth volleyball is competitive in the region so starting a program in Maple Valley was quite an undertaking but Potter believed it was important to offer it.

More than a decade ago Potter started a volleyball program for elementary school students in partnership with Tahoma Learning Communities. It’s offered every spring for six weeks.

Synergy Volleyball was started in 2010 to build on the success of that elementary school program and offer local players the opportunity to train as well as play close to home.

Synergy offered an opportunity for coaches and players to enjoy the sport while having the opportunity to play good teams but at the same time make it less expensive than other clubs, Potter said.

“The club was started to make something local available for the girls in a cost-effective manner,” Potter said. “What we do is by using school district facilities and limiting the amount of travel outside the Puget Sound area, and we don’t pay our coaches a whole lot, so our fees are at least half what other clubs charge without offering a whole lot less.”

Fees run between $1,100 and $1,300 for a seven month season.

Parents can break up the cost in monthly payments if they choose.

“We try to keep it as low as reasonable but we also want them to feel like they’re a part of something that’s real, that’s competitive,” Potter said.

Thus far, this season, Synergy volleyball teams have done well, particularly the U12 squad which won the Silver Championship at the President’s Day tournament in February while the U13s are ranked fourth in the region.

“For a small club that’s a big statement because we have some clubs (in the area) that have eight to 30 teams,” Potter said. “To be able to compete with those types of teams says something about the skill level out there.”

Synergy’s teams continued to build on that success at tournaments this month.

At a tournament March 17-18 the U12 and U13 teams entered the Dominos Invitational Volleyball Tournament in Tacoma, one of the largest youth tournaments in the region, Potter wrote in an email.

Synergy U12 Purple won the morning pool and took third place in the Gold Division against a dozen other teams.

The U13 competition included 16 teams from throughout the Puget Sound Region. The Synergy U13 squad also won its morning pool the won the championship match with ease. The 13’s went undefeated all day with a record of 12-0.

“These 12 and 13 year olds used jump serves to gain an advantage in the competition and ran a quicker style of offense using ‘ones’ and ‘shoot’ sets to out play the opposition,” Potter explained in the email.

With that kind of success, no wonder Potter is excited about the remainder of the second season for all four teams.

Potter isn’t sure what is in store for the third season for Synergy. The hope is to find gym space as the teams have practice from Enumclaw to Kent to Auburn to Maple Valley.

The goal for the rest of this year is to continue to encourage the girls to hopefully play well at the regional qualifiers, finish out the season on a high note in May while they develop their skills on the court but also to enjoy the journey.

“That’s a big part of what we do,” Potter said. “As far as growth, we will have to see what unfolds. The vision isn’t to grow, be big. The vision is to provide a quality environment for the girls.”

Synergy is a non-profit and Potter has registered with Washington state as well as with Puget Sound Region-USA Volleyball.

Tryouts, as outlined by the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association, take place after the regular volleyball season ends in November. Synergy’s season runs from November to May.

For more information log onto www.synergyvolleyball.org or send e-mail to mv.volleyball@comcast.net.