Tess Edwards plays for Ontario at NTCCs
By Paul Edwards

This past weekend, August 6th to 8th, Volleyball Canada held its annual NTCC tournament in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, featuring teams from the 10 provinces squaring off over 3 days of competition for the National Training Centre Cup. The Capitals' own Tess Edwards represented Ottawa at the event, along with former Ottawa Kangaroo Sarah Watters.

Ontario started off the tournament with a straight set victory over PEI (all matches were best of 5). Later that day Ontario met Quebec in what would prove to be a pivotal match. Ontario dominated the first 2 sets but the opposite transpired in sets 3 and 4, sending the match to a fifth and decisive set, which Ontario won 15-13. This uneven performance would come back to haunt our Ontario girls.

The morning of Day 2 saw Ontario defeat New Brunswick in 3 sets. Their biggest match of the tournament came later that evening when Ontario met BC for what would amount to 'all the marbles' in Pool 2. Quebec was 3 and 1. Ontario was 3 and 0. BC was 2 and 1. If BC beat Ontario the decision on who would advance to the final four would be left up the the number crunchers. As fate would have it, the match was close and hard-fought, with BC ultimately going on to victory by scores of 22-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23 and 19-17 in an intense and injury-filled battle. As previously mentioned, the Ontario girls would go on to regret their uninspired performance against Quebec the day before, as Quebec and BC would advance on points ratios, relegating Ontario to a fight for 5th with last year's champs, Alberta.

The girls' final match on Sunday saw the big Albertans taking an up-and-down affair in 4 sets. Team Ontario now looks to regroup in preparation for Canada Games in 2005, when the team will likely regain some of its members who were busy representing Canada at NORCECA in Winnipeg this same weekend.

Final results for the 2004 NTCC tournament were as follows:

Women
1. Manitoba
2. Quebec
3. British Columbia
4. Saskatchewan
5. Alberta
6. Ontario
7. New Brunswick
8. Newfoundland
9. Prince Edward Ilsand
10. Nova Scotia

Men
1. Saskatchewan
2. Manitoba
3. Quebec
4. Alberta
5. British Columbia
6. Ontario
7. Nova Scotia
8. New Brunswick
9. Newfoundland