The National Capitals 18U Girls travelled to Victoriaville, Quebec on March 5th to compete in the Volleyball Quebec Omnium du Quebec 18U .  The #1 ranked team in Ontario should be expected to compete at the very top in an interprovincial tournament such as this, and our CAPS did not disappoint.

Going into the tournament seeded 14th of 16 teams did not make much sense for a team with this record, and the girls quickly proved the point with a swift dispatch of Celtiques Juvéniles (#6 seed) from Montreal in the first set of pool play, 25-9.  But, as is the case with many early morning matches and the 18U Capitals, their form did not hold in set 2.  However, in spite of a tough set featuring inconsistent play and service errors, the girls prevailed to take the contest by a score of 25-20.

After a 2-match layoff, the girls' second opponent of the day was the well-drilled and very feisty Libellules de Joliette (#3 seed).  Les Libellules (dragonflies) are a team of 15 and 16 year olds that train at an actual volleyball school, combining bookwork with physical and volleyball training, every day of the school year - and it shows.  Like the CAPS, they are not a huge team, but make up for it with determination, lots of jump, and a cool-under-pressure, fearless approach to volleyball.  The first set was a great battle with the team from Joliette making the CAPS work very hard for a 25-20 victory.  The CAPS lost a little of their fire in the second set and it was clear that these Libellules were not about to drop two-in-a-row to the marauding 'Ontariennes'.  Our girls did make their share of mistakes, but the Quebeckers were deserving of their 24-26 defeat of the CAPS.

Match #3 of pool play pitted the girls against their perennial rival from across the river, Les Griffons de l'Outaouais (#11 seed).  This would normally produce volleyball fireworks, but not on this day.  With their main power-hitter now playing on another court for Envolley out of Sherbrooke, Les Griffons were powerless to make a dent in the CAPS sound gameplan and went down in straight sets, 25-13 and 25-11.  The Capitals had taken their pool and would move on to face their next opponent, Diablos de Trois-Rivières (#12 seed), in the quarterfinals.  This was clearly a mismatch from early on.  Diablos seemed much younger and smaller than our girls (as did many of the other teams in this 18U tournament) and, despite their best efforts, had no answer for the Capitals' balanced and seasoned attack.  They went down in two by scores of 25-18 and 25-19.

In the semis, the CAPS would faceoff against the #1 seed, top-ranked team in Quebec, Vipères des Laurentides.  It was clear from the quality of warmup that these two teams would be well matched and that the quality of ball would be ramped up in this playoff round.  Strangely enough however, though the volleyball played was exciting and of a very high calibre, the scores were not indicative of this.  Les Vipères played as well as they knew how, and didn't back down from their power game, but they were at a loss to deal with the CAPS deadly float serves and masterful use of the tip, roll and tool.  Combine that with a myriad of well-paced CAPS kills and acrobatic pickups, and you had a match that ended with curiously one-sided scores of 25-12 and 25-16.  Nonetheless, it was a good show (although it left the team from Quebec walking off the court shaking their heads).

So the final would bring the CAPS together once again with Libellules, who had just defeated Hybride de Sorel-Tracy in the other semi.  No one had any doubt that the little team from Joliette would be up for this showdown, but the CAPS looked a little tired during warmup and it was anybody's guess as to whether or not they would have enough of 'the goods' left at this late stage of the day.  Set 1 was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams using every trick in their books to battle to the front.  But the Quebeckers' balanced and confident hitting game was the difference and they took the set 19-25.  The provincial fan contingents were in close quarters up in the stands, which made for some healthy competition off the court as well.  But the spirit was friendly and a good laugh or two was shared by all, especially at some of the questionable calls made by the refs against both teams.

Set 2 went the CAPS' way, with their maturity really showing through in this do-or-die situation.  They did whatever it took to play from the front and ventured into the third set with a confident 25-17 victory.  Set 3 was just flatout good solid volleyball.  Despite their years, the players on Libellules could really play with calm and poise and, even though the stakes were so high (you won't find many Quebeckers who are at all happy to hand a championship banner over to their English neighbours), the girls from Joliette never lost their cool.  The lead went back and forth all the way to the end when Becky served up one of her dependable kills off an opponent's outstretched hand for the 16-14 third set tournament victory.  The CAPS were ecstatic, and we had the feeling that the other team was not exactly devastated by the loss.  They knew they had played the best team in Ontario to a tight 3-set loss and that they had 'left it all on the floor'.  Congratulations to both teams on a tremendous performance.

Three tournaments remain now for the 18U CAPS and their mix of 18U and 17U players.  Their next date is once again with their provincial neighbours when they play up to the VQ Omnium du Quebec 20U in Longueuil on Good Friday, the 25th of March.  In the meantime, the whole 18U team, coaches and parents wish our own Ashley Matier a speedy recovery, hopefully in time for Provincials in April.  We also thank Alan Matier for 'taking one for the team' by driving a group of the girls to Quebec, despite his daughter's absence.  Thanks Alan and get well soon Ashley!

Final Standings - VQ Omnium du Quebec 18U