December 10, 2005 - Some
battled snow and jackknifed tractor trailers and huge shopping malls;
others battled directions to get the 14U CAPS to the OVA 14U Girls
McGregor Cup - Tier 1 in Milton. On a quaint street in
Burlington, it seemed like everyone had just hunkered down for a long
winter's nap - with Newton in his night cap - when all of a sudden
there arose such a clatter, "Wake up! Get up!" With no
coffee brewing we were all stewing, "Tim Horton's where art
thou?"
The girls' first opponents at Bishop
Secondary School in Milton were Titans Ice from Scarborough.
The CAPS lost that set 25-9. Perhaps the girls were using it as
a warmup and to psyche the Titans out, because in game 2 the CAPS
quickly took the lead and maintained it for most of the set. The
last four points brought it closer, but in the end it was the CAPS who
prevailed: 25-23. The tie breaker was a nail biter, with each
team edging up one point at a time, but the CAPS squeaked out the
win, 18-16, to take the match in 3.
Now the girls were awake and truly ready to
wolf down some delicious homemade muffins and juicy
oranges.
In match #2 the CAPS met the
Black Rapids team from Georgetown. The Black Rapids took the
lead in set 1 and went on to win 25-16. Set 2 saw them pull away
to a 4-0 lead until Kristen got the CAPS on the scoreboard.
Point by point, the game stayed close until the Rapids pulled away to
take the match 25-18.
Yum! Yum - lunch break! There's
nothing like great pasta salad, bagels and cream cheese, and wonderful
lean turkey on fresh bagels to fuel the girls up for their next
match.
The CAPS weren't letting Teal
Bandits from Windsor steal anything as we maintained the lead to
win the first set: 25-23. In game 2 the Bandits were first to
make it to the scoreboard and stayed only a point ahead of us.
The CAPS fought hard but couldn't budge their side of the score past
22 points and lost set #2. In the tie breaker the Bandits robbed
the CAPS with a brisk 15-7 win.
With no time to regroup, the girls
immediately started play against Barrie Elite Blues.
After both teams reached 14, Barrie stretched their legs and ran
off to a 25-21 win. During game 2 the girls struggled with their
serves - too strong/not strong enough - and the girls ended a tough
day with a tough 25-18 loss.
This Tier 1 tournament provided an immense
learning experience for the girls and some good stiff competition.
Coach Newton commented, "The girls played extremely well at times;
at other times they didn't play as well as I know they can.
But they worked hard and they've come away from this tournament with
a great learning experience, having played against the top teams in
Ontario. The CAPS are very capable of playing with these teams -
now they know what they have to do to get back to Tier
1."
Many thanks to Barb and Sarah Taylor and
Mr. Taylor, for your hospitality and for allowing the team to billet
at your home. The girls jump right back into action this
Saturday at the OVA 15U Girls Challenge Cup - Zone C in
Trenton.
Results/OVA 14U Girls McGregor Cup -
Tier 1:
Gold: Durham Attack (Oshawa)
Silver: South County Bandits
(Essex)
Bronze: Stratford Stingers
4. Niagara Rapids (St. Catharines)
5. Georgetown Impact
5. Cambridge Hawks
7. Forest City (London)
7. Barrie Elites
9. Milton Storm
9. Scarborough Titans ICE
9. National Capitals
(Ottawa)
9. Toronto West
