'Original Six' are first CAPS to Play Ball! (PHOTOS)
By Paul Edwards

In a highly unorthodox season opener, six members of the new National Capitals 18U team faced off against the opposition in an Ottawa Carleton Volleyball League (OCVL) qualification/seeding tournament this last Saturday, September 11th at Algonquin College on Woodroffe Avenue in Ottawa. This represented such an early beginning to the season that the girls had to inaugurate the med kit to fashion some wonderfully crude numerals to add to their freshly minted 'Year One' tryout jerseys! The Capitals, represented for the first time by Kate Eckhardt, Tess Edwards, Becky Lauks, Ashley Matier, Meghan O'Doherty, Jessica Wolfenden and player/coach Shawna Burton, have been granted a special league exemption in order to allow them to hone their skills every Thursday evening against the best ladies teams in the city.

The day began well with two early morning 25-9 victories. Not bad for a group of kids who had not touched a ball together as a team in over three months. The girls proceeded to make their way through the day with only a single loss, ending up with a 3rd place finish at the tournament. This leaves the CAPS seeded 13th of the 32 teams in the league for the start of the season (the top 10 teams from last season received a bye). The tournament ended abit early when Shawna and the 'Original Six' sped off to to attend the tail-end of tryouts for the 18U girls team at St. Pius X High School.

Special thanks is extended to the 16U's Erin O'Doherty, who graciously subbed in as the extra seventh until Shawna could work her way around some OCVL paperwork and make it onto the roster. Ashley Matier grabs a footnote in CAPS' history as the first National Capital to score a point in competition. She also got points number 2 and 3 as well! Congratulations to all involved and thanks Coach O'Doherty for doing the leg work to get the girls into the league.

The OCVL website can be found at http://www.ocvl.com.