Club Xtreme, a volleyball team composed of Top of Utah girls, have taken their skills to a new level.

The club, in existence for five years and coached by Weber State University volleyball coach Al Givens, qualified three of its teams for the 2009 USA Volleyball Girls' Junior Olympic Championships in Miami, Fla., in July. The club's 18 and under team placed 22 out of 48 teams from across the U.S.

"It was a lot of fun," said Caitlin Penrod, a setter for the team who played volleyball at Bonneville High School. "It was really cool to be able to go there and see all the other teams from all over the nation. It was fun to see how everyone else played and still have a chance to compete against that. We did pretty well, but we had a few rough days."

Penrod said she's proud of how the team improved its seeding by going from 27th to 22nd, with the highlight of its season being qualifying for the Junior Olympics by winning a tournament in Nevada.

To qualify to play in the Junior Olympics American division, each team had to either win their regional tournament or place first in a qualifying tournament. The Xtreme 18 and under team won the Far Western National Qualifier, beating out over 100 other teams to win their bid for a spot in the Junior Olympics.

"I think it was just that everybody on the team, we all wanted it. So we all just kept working and pushing ourselves until we got to where we wanted to be. It was just our attitudes and how bad we wanted to win it," said Penrod, who will be playing for Weber State University starting in the fall.

Shanae Langston, a middle blocker on the team who played at Davis High School, said that beating Club V, another Utah team they had battled with all season, to qualify for the Junior Olympics was the highlight of their season.

"We've been battling them all year and we finally beat them when it really counted. It was awesome," said Langston.

She also said that Junior Olympics was a good learning experience for the team.

"We were good; we were fighters, but we got to Florida and there was a lot of competition. It was a good eye opener to see different teams and how different coaches coach. I think we just learned mostly team work. A couple of days we did well and couple of days we struggled," said Langston who will also continue her volleyball career at Weber State.

Givens said the team would have liked to have finished in the top 16 at the Junior Olympics, but for their first time at the event, they did well.

"I think experience makes a big difference and what kind of draw you get," said Givens. "We had two really good first days and then the third day we got some really good teams, we got Santa Barbara, and they finished second overall. We didn't have a very good third day, but for a lot of those kids it was their first time at one of these events. Next year the kids will sort of know a little bit more about what to expect."

Club Xtreme begins tryouts and practices the Monday after the Utah state tournament in November and practices through July for local and national tournaments.

Linda Swenson, one of the directors of Club Xtreme said the team has done well with their season.

"Every one of our seniors that is graduating received a college commitment -- either a scholarship or an offer. All six of our seniors are going on to play college volleyball," said Swenson.

The seniors include Penrod and Langston as well as Andrea Marshall and Jessica Kirby, former Northridge players, Mikelle Kap, from Morgan High School, and Bethany Wray from Fremont High School. Wray and Kap will join Penrod and Langston at Weber State University while Marshall will be playing at Arizona Western and Kirby will be playing at Western Wyoming. Other members of the Junior Olympic 18 and under Xtreme team include Danielle Downs, who will be a senior at Davis, Mikell Wahlen, a senior at Layton, and soon-to-be juniors Kaisha Wray and Bailey Bateman of Fremont.