A group of young volleyball players represented the area against teams from across the state as an under-13 team from St. Johns Volleyball Club won its division at the 52nd Annual AAU Girls Junior National Volleyball Championships in Orlando on June 13-16.
The team experienced adversity early on the first day of the event but bounced back in a big way and put the challenging start behind them to win all nine of their games over the final three days.
Held annually at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, AAU Nationals is recognized as the world’s largest volleyball tournament, drawing more than 6,800 teams and 70,000 youth athletes from across the United States and abroad.
For many clubs, including St. Johns Volleyball Club, it serves as the culminating event of the season.
What makes the team’s performance particularly noteworthy is that many of the players on the team only began playing volleyball within the past year and often compete against teams whose players have been training for two years or longer.
According to club owner and head coach Andor Gyulai, their rapid development reflects the club’s unique coaching model and training environment.
“Our system is designed to accelerate player growth,” Gyulai said. “With our grass court training model, we can set up more courts and create more repetitions and game-like touches for each player. Combined with our best-in-class Superior Coaching Systems, this leads to faster skill development and better long-term results.”
Founded in 2022, St. Johns Volleyball Club continues its rapid growth serving 4th through 8th grades in the Nocatee area and St. Johns County.
Earlier this year, the club expanded into high school beach volleyball with newly opened beach courts in Nocatee, and it also recently broke ground on a state-of-the-art indoor volleyball facility for both middle and high school players, scheduled to open in May 2026.
Tryouts for the 2025-2026 indoor club season will be held in July. More information about the club, programs, and tryout registration can be found at www.SJVClub.com.
