December 10, 2005 - The 16U
CAPS took their longest trip (so far) to Ingersol on December 10th for
the OVA 17U Girls McGregor Cup - Tier 2. The travelers
managed to avoid the winter weather on the way down. Everybody
arrived relatively early Friday evening, early enough to enjoy some
hanging about and socializing.
The early (9AM) start pitted the CAPS
against their cross-Capital rivals, Maverick Spurs. In
the first set the CAPS went out ahead early and pushed themselves
through to a 25-14 win. The team then faltered to a 1-7 deficit,
as the Mavs came out strong in the second set. However, the
girls took things in hand and roared back on some consistent serves
and confident work at the net to pull themselves even at 7. The
teams traded points up to 19s before the CAPS regained the advantage
and earned themselves a 25-19 win.
Their next match, against Barrie
Elites, followed immediately. The Elites challenged the CAPS
with good digs and returning hits. However, more often than not,
the long rallies didn't go the CAPS' way and they went down to a
20-25 defeat in the first set. In set 2, it looked like Barrie
was going to prevail again, as the CAPS were down at the midway point,
8-14. But our girls showed some of their great potential as they
brought themselves up to a tie at 17 and then continued, with
strength, to a 25-18 win. But a determined Barrie team proved
too much for the CAPS in the third set, as they battled to the front
and held on, handing the CAPS an 11-15 loss.
The final pool game was against the host
Waterloo Warriors, a spirited team with lots of 'voice'.
The CAPS jumped out early, leading 11-3, and continued on to a 25-11
win in set 1. The Warriors were a different team in the second
set and made a match of things. Hidden within the CAPS' 23-25
loss was an impressive come-from-behind effort where the girls, down
17-22, scored 5 in a row to tie things up at 22. In the third
set the CAPS were down 4-8 at the split. However they battled
back through a see-saw battle tied at 13s, 14s and 15s, and prevailed
17-15.
Playoffs began with a matchup against the
third-place team in A Pool, the Waterloo Tigers. The
Capitals came out with possibly their best showing of the season,
adding flawless passing, great sets, killer hits and domination at the
net to their always-steady serving. The Tigers went down to
defeat in straight sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-14.
Semifinals faced the CAPS off against
the always-tough DRVC 16U team, ranked 2nd in the province at
the 16U level. The last time the CAPS had met these girls was in
the quarterfinals of Eastern Nationals in Sherbrooke in May.
Clearly, DRVC saw this as an opportunity for revenge. The CAPS,
of course, had other ideas. Set 1 showed how closely-matched the
two teams were. After falling behind then catching up to tie
DRVC at 9s, 14s then 23s, the CAPS held fast and earned the 2
consecutive points needed to win 25-23. In the second set the
two teams traded points up to 16s, but then the CAPS dominated with 8
straight points. DRVC rallied briefly, but the end result
(25-18) was never really in doubt.
So, after a brief delay, it was onto the
gold medal match against Oakville Thunder who earned their
championship berth by beating Barrie Elites in the other semifinal.
It was quickly clear that the long day, short bench and focused effort
required to dominate DRVC had drained the CAPS, as the girls went down
to defeat in straight sets: 10-25 and 14-25. But this silver
medal performance ensures a progression to 17U Tier 1 and a 7th place
provincial ranking within that division for our 16U
girls.
Guest coach Cathy O'Doherty was pleased with the day's
events. "I thoroughly enjoyed my day with the girls.
They played some very impressive volleyball, including a fine
improvement in free ball passing! Hopefully I'll get a chance
to sit on the bench again in the near future."
Thanks very much to Coach Cathy for giving
of her valuable time to come all the way down to Ingersol to help Matt
out on the bench. Thanks also to the great cheering of Brian
"Mad Scooter" Morphy. May you always be impelled by the bell -
who could know that big G could turn that colour of red? Also,
kudos to the leadership of the Bad-Ass Knitters Club - we can only
imagine the extent of their influence (hex-hex-jinx).
Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to
visit the local sights, but it certainly would have been worth it to
see Ingersol's claim to fame, The Big Cheese - a giant, 3
foot high, 7 foot diameter, 7,300 pound cheese curd made in
1866.
The 16U CAPS' next tournament is the
OVA 17U Girls Bugarski Cup - Tier 1, in Kingston on January 14th
.
Results/OVA 17U Girls McGregor Cup -
Tier 2:
Gold: Oakville Thunder
Silver: National Capitals
16U
Bronze: DRVC 16U (Ashburn)
4. Barrie Elites
5. Waterloo Tigers
5. Ottawa Kangaroos
7. Woodstock Warriors
7. Ottawa Maverick Spurs
