The CAPS 18U Girls team dug, volleyed, passed and hit their way deep into the ASICS 2005 East Coast Volleyball Earlybird Extravaganza, held this past President's Day weekend in Columbus, Ohio, USA.  But considering how tight a grip they had on a berth in the final four, the final result proved a tough pill to swallow for this determined group of seasoned competitors.

After weeks of planning by the O'Dohertys, the girls finally got on the road early Friday morning for what would prove to be a 10 hour drive to Columbus.  But this trip would not begin as planned.  Dan Planetta had a medical emergency so he and Ann had to cancel out.  Dan Wolfenden came down with a nasty flu so we lost yet another driver.  Luc and Imants had already been forced to pass on the event so a last minute minivan rental was in order.  Foul weather and the accompanying traffic snarls set our departure back almost an hour an a half, but finally we hit the road in some slippery Canadian weather for the long journey south.

After successfully navigating the duty-free, customs, thruways, tollbooths and interstates, the kids settled in for a good night's sleep before an early 8AM start on Saturday morning and Day One of competition.  The 18Us had competed in some relatively large tournaments in the past 5 or 6 years, but nothing could even come close to matching the scale of this event at the mammoth 24 Sport Court Greater Columbus Convention Center facility.  Some 170 teams had registered in 5 age divisions (14, 15, 16, 17 and 18U) to play for bragging rights in the US Northeast.  University coaches from as far away as North Carolina and Illinois were in attendance to scout the talent that was gathered in this huge facility for this weekend of high-calibre volleyball action.

First up for the Capitals was a match against VolleyFX Illusion 18-2 from Rochester, NY.  Unfortunately, the girls got off to their customary slow start by failing to close out the first set after going up 24-21, but rallied to a 3-set victory by scores of 25-27, 25-16 and 15-8.  After a little between-match down-reffing, scorekeeping, chart flipping and lineskeeping, the CAPS warmed up for the next match against Crossroads 18-1 out of Effingham, Illinois (yes, that is actually a place).  This time around, the girls encountered little difficulty and moved swiftly to a 2-set victory, 25-21 and 25-12.  After a long two match break, the CAPS resumed play after lunch against Cleveland VC 18 BLUE (who were curiously wearing pink) from Ohio.  This match did not prove to be too much more difficult for the Capitals.  Their blocking and passing were coming to form (after an adjustment to those soft Mizuno balls) and their confident front and back row attack was proving too much for the American opposition.  The CAPS took the match in two by tallies of 25-21 and 25-18.  By virtue of their 3-0 record from Round 1 play on Saturday, the 18U CAPS had finished first in their pool and qualified as one of the 24 teams for Division 1 play in Round 2 on Sunday.

The girls were given the option that afternoon to 'shop or drop'.  Ten of the twelve took the shopping option while Tess and Megs recharged their batteries in slumberland.  It was a day chock full of NCAA basketball action on the tube with a trip to Nationwide Arena and arena football action (for Matt, Bob and Norm) thrown in for good measure.  Add a little Papa John's pizza to the mix and you had the beginning of the end of Day One for the National Capitals 18U Girls team in Columbus.

Their pool victory from the previous day's play afforded the girls a later start on Day Two of competition.  At about 9AM the girls teed off against Highlands 18s, but the team from Somerset, PA had no answer for the CAPS high-powered, creative attack and went swiftly down to defeat by scores of 25-18 and 25-14.  The CAPS were playing well and you could sense that their level of focus was ramping up as the tournament progressed.  Their next challenger was the home town Columbus United Blue.  The girls struggled a bit with their consistency during this match but eventually prevailed in straight sets 25-23, 25-17 .

The match of the day and perhaps the tournament was the CAPS' tilt against Kaepa Lions Pride 18B  from outside State College, PA, a team affiliated with the Penn State Nittany Lions.  From the first few points of the match it was clear to all in attendance that this was going to be a hum-dinger of a set-to featuring two teams that were not afraid to 'bring the heat' from anywhere, at anytime.  KLP was a physically bigger team, featuring three or four 6-footers, but you could see from early in the match that they had not often seen a team that played with the intensity, resolve and confidence of these seasoned Canadians.  Set 1 saw the CAPS get very seriously 'in the face' of the Pennsylvanians with a relentless display of block after block after block and pin-point attacking from the front row.  The girls used every weapon in their arsenal, from tooling to tipping to roll shots to setter dumps to a constant barrage from the back-row to take the bite out of Lions Pride, and rolled to an intimidating first set victory, 25-18.  Set Two was more of the same high-energy, almost university-level volleyball action, except this time the Pride were ready and played with even more desperation in order to stay with the very spirited, feisty and determined National Capitals.  The lead danced back and forth, but by the end of this rock-em sock-em affair, Lions Pride had evened the match at a set apiece with a well-earned 23-25 victory.  It was clear however to the few CAPS fans in attendance that this would not be a day when the girls would get rattled by the prospect of an intense 3rd set.  Many times we have seen this group of girls in this very special 'high gear' and we knew that no one would be able to stop them on this day.  The opposition did their best and, to their credit, did not back down and freeze up under the strain.  They kept the pressure on the CAPS and forced them to keep blocking, passing, diving and hammering away for the final set victory, 15-10.  It was a stirring performance - perhaps the best ever for this group of veterans and close friends - and it helped to build in them a feeling that perhaps the giants lurking on the adjacent courts were 'killable' after all.  The girls had once again finished first in their pool with a 3-0 record and qualified as one of the top 12 teams for Monday's Playoff Round in the Gold Bracket.

It had been a vigorous day of competition, so the girls were not up for much other than showers and a snooze before dinner.  A few of the adults chose to head off on a tour of the Ohio State campus and its impressive sports facilities while at least one other dozed in and out of consciousness watching the Daytona 500.  The flu was moving quickly through the ranks so energy levels would need to be preserved.  TGIFriday's was the chosen destination for dinner on Sunday and a good time was had by all (even if little Holly wouldn't eat her chicken fingers).

So it was all down to a few matches on Day Three to determine whether or not these worthy Capitals would place any hardware around their necks at this prestigious event.  Opponent #1 would be Renaissance National Red 18 out of Pittsburgh, PA.  The Renaissance Volleyball Club is one of the oldest, largest and most prestigious volleyball clubs in the Northeastern USA.  Their National Black team was the #1 seeded team in the tournament, however, the 18U CAPS would first have to beat National Red to have any hopes of playing their big A-team later on in the tournament.  The 18U CAPS are not known as a team which is great out-of-the-gate in the early morning, but on this day the girls would be able to muster up just enough volleyball expertise to down National Red in straight sets, 25-23 and 25-21.  Unbeknownst to those on the bench, Tess' mum Eva had encountered a somewhat alarming medical stir during the first set and was forced to lay prone for 15 minutes to calm her pounding heart.  A couple of strategically positioned chairs and overcoats prevented any distraction though and Eva successfully 'took one for the team'.  Just a little more proof of how exciting this weekend of volleyball was turning out to be!

The quarter finals would match the CAPS up against a surprisingly small adversary for such a deep point in the tournament.  Valley Forge 18 Red looked relatively skilled but were completely dominated in Set One of this matchup by a CAPS team which was just getting rolling after its come-from-behind victory over Renaissance.  The Philadelphians went down to defeat 25-14 in the first, but that was to be the last moment of domination by our girls in Columbus.  Perhaps the CAPS were tiring slightly from 4 sets in a row and 'The Forge' were just waking up - one way or the other it was becoming clear that the CAPS were not going to roll over the opposition in Game Two.  Valley Forge's left side attack came alive while their sound defense and quality passing, combined with an uncharacteristic spate of CAPS errors, pushed them to victory in the second by a score of 23-25.  So it would all come down to a game that never really should have taken place.  The girls had donated Game Two, lost their advantage and just that little bit of energy that can push a team to victory in tough times.  The CAPS drifted into catch-up mode in the third set and were behind by 3 at the split.  Despite a gallant and exciting effort to claw their way back at the very end of the set, the girls hopes for a chance to battle in the final four were dashed with a third set loss, 12-15.  It would be a somewhat longer ride home for our frustrated CAPS than they had expected.

Nonetheless, the 18U CAPS had finished with a tournament record of 7 wins and 1 loss, which was good enough to end up in a tie for 5th place out of the 44 top-flyte teams that were entered in the 18U section of the competition.  Our 18U Girls had proven that they could play with the best club teams in the Northeastern USA.  It was a great experience for the players, coaches and parents that were able to travel with the team.

This is the last time this amazing group of girls will head off to battle together south of the border.  Due to the efforts of many over the past couple of years, they have made a real impact on all the American fans who have been fortunate enough to see them play.  Although they have not been able to bring home any hardware from their US journeys, they should all be incredibly proud of how they have represented their club(s), their city and their country on their travels.  Our CAPS 18U Girls are a class act and have helped to put Canadian volleyball on the North American map in their own small way.  Congratulations and thanks go out to Cathy, Matt and Newton for a great job of coaching in Columbus.  This team's poise and confident demeanor is a great testament to your patience and timely words of volleyball wisdom.  It should be noted as well that great results cannot be achieved without the sacrifices of others.  Thanks so much to the girls who spent so much time on the bench cheerfully rooting on their teammates to such an impressive level of play.  Columbus is a beautiful city, the huge Greater Columbus Convention Centre tournament setup was a unique experience, and hopefully our 18Us have paved the way for more teams from the NCVC to participate in this tournament in the years to come.

The 18U CAPS will return to action on Saturday, March 5th when they compete in the Volleyball Quebec 18U Girls Omnium tournament which will be held in Victoriaville, Quebec.

Final 8 Results - ASICS 2005 East Coast Volleyball Earlybird Extravaganza: