March 4, 2006 - The 15U CAPS
participated in the OVA 16U Girls Bugarski Cup/ Tier 2, held on
Saturday in Newmarket. Pulling into the parking lot, the girls
were reminded of their last visit to this site - the 2005 14U Tier 1
Provincials, when the girls stumbled and watched their medal hopes
vanish over two days of championship play. This time, these
girls were determined that the outcome would be different, as they set
out to prove to themselves that they could compete at the top tier of
16U OVA play.
With only 3 teams in their pool, the CAPS
would play 3 sets against each of their other two Pool A opponents.
Having their latest start ever in tournament play, the team waited
until after the lunch break to take to the court in their first match
against Burlington Blaze. After a slow start due to
service reception difficulties that gave the Blaze a 0-5 lead, the
girls settled down, but once again let themselves fall behind 17-21.
Two "never-say-die" digs lit a fire and the girls kept the flame
burning to take the set 25-21. After the score was tied at 18-18
in the second set, passing again became a problem and the set ended at
19-25 in favour of Blaze. Not to be thwarted in their goal
to play to the absolute best of their abilities, the girls once again
took to the court with confidence in the third set, jumping out to a
7-0 lead of their own. The team never looked back as they took
the third set, and the match, 25-10.
Heading immediately into their second match
against the top seed, ACTS Elites (Orangeville), the CAPS once
again gave their opponents a 0-6 lead, before tying the set at 6-6 and
pulling ahead with strong serving, to finish the set with a
comfortable 25-17 win. The second set saw the CAPS jump out to
an 8-4 lead as, once again, their strong serving kept ACTS from really
getting their offense going in the early stage of the set.
Backed by monster hits in the middle and from the outside, the CAPS'
offense challenged the opposition to step up if they wanted to take
the set. ACTS responded as expected, taking the lead with hard
serves that forced CAPS errors. Suddenly, the girls were down
20-24 and looking at 4 set points! With a poise that was
exciting to witness, the girls dug in and calmly won one point after
another, inspired by Kaleigh Potts, who seemed oblivious to the
pressure from the service line. Two blocks in the middle, a
monster down-the-line kill, and suddenly ... the set was ended with
another big block in the middle and the CAPS took the win 26-24.
The third set was, again, very exciting volleyball to watch. Now
that they had captured first place in their pool, the CAPS played more
relaxed ball, but ACTS came into this set with something to prove.
They were not about to give points away to anybody. With the
score close at 6-7, the spectators were treated to superb hitting on
both sides of the court, but the CAPS slipped further behind to
12-18. Showing the grace under pressure that every coach looks
for, the CAPS once again chipped away at the lead, tying the game at
21, before once again falling behind 22-24. Unwilling to concede
defeat, the girls focussed on the task at hand and tied the game,
before pulling out a gutsy win: 26-24.
The quarter final match saw the CAPS face
the tournament's no. 3 seed: Georgian Bay Vista Sunset
(Midland). The winner of this match would be guaranteed a spot
at 16U Tier 1 Provincials. Playing inspired volleyball, the CAPS
on-court communication revved up, as they controlled the match and won
in two convincing sets: 25-15, 25-11.
Semi-final play saw the Maverick Black
Jacks (Ottawa) challenge the CAPS, as both teams battled hard for
the win. Inspired by a pancake "up" to save a point at
15-15, the girls worked hard but to no avail, as the first set went to
the Mavericks, 22-25. The first point of set 2 gave the CAPS a
lift off another great pancake defensive gem. Clearly, the CAPS
were out to "bring it" in every set, as they battled hard for
every ball. With the score 16-20 in favour of the Mavs, strong
CAPS hitting and blocking brought the score back to 19-20, before a
strategic tip turned the momentum again in the Mavs' favour.
The end result was a win for the Mavericks, 19-25, which sent the CAPS
to the bronze medal match.
In the final battle of the day, the CAPS
faced Niagara Rapids. The team once again served, hit and
blocked as best they could, keeping the scores close against a more
experienced and larger team, but just not close enough to earn any
hardware. The final result was Rapids in two: 23-25,
16-25.
According to Coach Cathy, "All aspects of
the girls' game were really alive today. They hit, blocked,
passed and defended much better than they had in London, but the main
difference seemed to be that they worked so well as a team out
there. Their communication was much better and I think that was
key to their calm, self-confident play as the day went on."
She added, "No matter how they do in Cambridge in April, our
15U Girls should be very proud of ending the season as one of the top
16U division teams in the province."
With such a successful tournament behind
them, the girls will now work hard towards another strong performance
at the OVA 15U Girls Bugarski Cup/Tier 2 in Etobicoke on March
24th.
Results/OVA 16U Girls Bugarski Cup/Tier
2:
Gold: Toronto Titans
Silver: Ottawa Mavericks
Bronze: Niagara Rapids
4. National Capitals
15U
5. Waterloo Tigers Black
5. Stingrays (York Region)
7. Georgian Bay Vista Sunset (Midland)
7. ACTS Elites (Orangeville)
9. Phenix (Prescott-Russell)
10. Ottawa Kangaroos
11. Burlington Blaze
