November 19, 2005 - The 16U CAPS
took to the courts this weekend in Vaudreuil, at the Volleyball
Québec Omnium 16U, hosted by the Mistral Volleyball Club.
The tournament was somewhat different than the standard OVA event and
with 31 teams of boys and girls from both 15U and 16U, it lived up to
the "omnium" (open) designation. Our CAPS were one of 17
teams in the 16U girls section. It wasn't planned, but this time
around it was the Dads that came out in force - there was nary a Mom
to be seen until later in the day. Except for the snow that made
the roads messy, the 10AM start and the relatively short trip from
Ottawa made the morning an easy one.
Play began with sets against Les
Aigles, the first ended quickly with a 25-12 win and the second
took only abit longer at 25-23. Following these wins, there was
a long 2 hour break that gave the coaches time to talk to some of the
players one-on-one, to provide individual instruction and goal
setting. The second game was against the eventual winners of the
pool, Les Élites de Beauce. This team was deceptively
strong, particularly in serving, and the CAPS had a very tough time
adjusting. It took until too late in the second set, as the
girls went down to frustrating 10-25 and 17-25 losses. In the
third and final game of pool play the CAPS showed some of their form
and organization, taking Les Volitives in the first set 25-14,
and following up with a come-from-behind 26-24 win.
In the playoffs, the CAPS were playing
against 2nd place finishers from other pools for 5th to 8th
placement. The game against Diablos was for 5th or 7th
place. As previously, the girls took the first set with a
commanding 25-12 score. Diablos came back in the second
set and led the game to 20 but, in the end, great serving in the final
minutes did the trick and the CAPS won 25-22.
Coaches Harris and Miner had this to say
about the day: "The team played well again today and are continuing
to improve. They should be extremely proud of the fact that
they're very close to a 75% W/L ratio for matches. Over the last
week, we've had a chance to review videotapes of previous tournament
play and have started to focus on what each of the girls needs to work
on individually. This is a very important part of the
development of the team - we're glad to see that the athletes are
taking this seriously by trying to make adjustments, extending
themselves, and by working to improve."
Hats off to the Dads, who hung in through
the 4 long, 2-hour break periods between each match. The 16U
CAPS travel to Whitby on December 3rd for their next competition,
the OVA 16U McGregor Cup - Tier
2.
Results/Volleyball Québec Omnium
16U:
Gold: Élites de Beauce
Silver: Phénix de
Prescott-Russell
Bronze: Drakkar
4th: L'Impact
5th: National Capitals
