May 3, 2006 - With only two
returning players from last year's Provincial Championship team, this
year's edition of the 18U CAPS was made up mostly of players traveling
to their first true National Championship event. Early on the
morning of Thursday, May 4, twelve nervous but excited girls, Coach
Matt Harris and parent chaperones Brigitte McGuinty and Susan
L'Heureux boarded flights for Vancouver, BC and the Volleyball
Canada 18 & Under Canadian Open which was held in Abbottsford,
BC from May 5-7. I say nervous because, before leaving for
Vancouver, the girls had found out that they had been placed in the
"Pool of Death" for preliminary pool play on Day 1. They would
have to play both the defending Champions, Winnipeg Big Sand,
and the host #1 team from BC, the Fraser Valley VC Blitz who
had finished third last year.
Elisa Zéroual, mother of the "Z" sisters, had already gone ahead
to Abbottsford the day before to make sure that the billet
arrangements for the girls with her friends, Danielle and Claude
Fortier and family, were all ready to go. Coach Cathy O'Doherty
and Club President Bob O'Doherty would arrive later that Tuesday night
with Nana Sutton, grandmother to Erin, who had flown down from Prince
George, BC to cheer on the 18U CAPS. Deborah and Albert
Carmanico also flew in at the last minute to support the team and make
use of one of the local "honeymoon suites"- whatever that
meant.
After meeting the Fortier family, having a quick paced practice at the
host venue located at the Tradex facility (18 courts) located adjacent
to the Abbottsford airport, enjoying a great barbeque dinner of
hamburgs, sausages, etc., and getting a good first night's sleep in
their basement slumber room, the girls were ready to go.
Day 1 started off with a bang at 9:00am and
a classic match against the #2 seeded FVVC Blitz- and what a
match it was. Every time it seemed like momentum was shifting to
one team, the other team responded until finally the 18U CAPS seized
the match in the third set to win 22-25, 25-23 and 15-8. The
unexpected victory by the 18U CAPS created an early morning buzz
throughout the competition venue- "Who are these 'CAPS'
anyways?" After a rest of one time slot, the girls returned to
the court to face Regina VC Havoc and came away with a straight
set victory by the scores of 25-21 and 25-13. The final match of
Day 1 pitted the 18U CAPS against the defending Champions from
Winnipeg, Big Sand. With several of their players
graduated from their Championship team, Winnipeg Big Sand had finished
3rd in the 2006 Manitoba Provincials, but would give the 18U CAPS all
they could handle. Big Sand won the first set 25-20, which put
the pressure on the 18U CAPS to respond as the girls needed to win at
least one set to advance to the top half of Division 1. And
respond they did, by winning the second set 25-20. The 18U CAPS
closed out the match by winning the third and deciding set 15-9 and
thus securing a first place finish in their preliminary
pool.
"For the most part we played inspired volleyball on Day 1", stated
Head Coach Matt Harris. "We beat two very good teams in BC #1
and Manitoba #3 which gave us a lot of confidence going into Day 2
power pool play." "We definitely played well when we had
to", added Assistant Coach Cathy O'Doherty, "and fortunately for us,
we were able to pull out the last match against Winnipeg Big Sand to
finish first in our pool."
The end of Day 1 saw the girls, coaches and parents return to the
Fortier family house for some rest and relaxation, another barbeque
dinner and some tense television viewing- that's right, the Ottawa
Senators and Buffalo Sabres were fighting it out in Game 1 of their
NHL playoff series. Unfortunately, for the many Sens fans in the
room, the 7-6 overtime loss to the Sabres was not the result we were
hoping for.
Day 2 and Power Pool play started off with
another 9:00am match for the girls. First up were the
Sherwood Park Griffins from Alberta. Lacking some of the
focus they displayed on Day 1, the 18U CAPS found themselves in a real
battle right from the start. Fortunately, the girls survived
with a thrilling three set victory by the scores of 25-20, 23-25 and
15-13. The second match of the day saw the girls battle Club
West Rage, the #2 team from Manitoba and the eventual silver medal
winners. In a very close and highly competitive match, Club West
Rage prevailed in two straight sets, 25-23 and 25-21. This loss
left the 18U CAPS in a must-win situation in their third match if they
wanted to advance to the Division 1 Tier 1 quarter-finals on Day 3.
The third match of Day 2 would turn out to be the most exciting match
of the tournament for the girls. Up against Vancouver BCO
Black, the 18U CAPS would lose the first set 25-22, rebound to
soundly win the second set 25-12, and then squeak by in the third set
by the score of 17-15. The relief was felt by everyone and
jubilation ensued when the last ball hit the floor and the girls had
made it into the final eight top teams.
Saturday night was a restful one for the team and provided an
opportunity for some of the players, coaches and parents to visit
Vancouver or family and friends that lived in the Lower Mainland
area. The girls knew that Sunday morning's quarter-final
match-up against the #1 seeded Manitoba Bisons would require
them to play their best to be competitive.
At 10:15am on Day 3, the 18U CAPS stepped on the court to begin their
playoffs and face an experienced and powerful Manitoba Bisons team.
Whether it was nerves or just "one of those days", the girls could
not find their game against the Bisons and went down in two straight
games by the scores of 25-17 and 25-13. The loss would mean that
the 18U CAPS would finish in a tie for 5th place and would have to
wait another year to challenge for a Championship medal.
"Unfortunately we couldn't get going
against the Bisons. However, the girls had a great tournament
overall as our only two losses were to the eventual gold and silver
medal winning teams.", observed Coach Harris. "Manitoba is a
very good team and deserving of the gold medal", commented Coach
O'Doherty, "hopefully next year we will get another shot at them
with a different result."
With the loss to the Manitoba Bisons, the
girls, coaches and players were able to enjoy both the semi-final and
final matches of the 18U girls competition, as well as take in some of
the 17U boys and girls, and 18 boys Day 3 playoff action. At the
end of the competition day, the 18U CAPS then broke into various
groups to finalize plans for the extra day of their stay on the west
coast. On the Monday, one group headed for Vancouver for a day
of sightseeing and shopping, and another group headed up to Whistler
for some spring snowboarding. By all reports, everyone had a
great time no matter what they ended up doing. It was a sleepy
and tired group of players, coaches and parents that boarded the
flights home on Tuesday morning from Vancouver, but it was an
experience that no one will soon forget. For those girls that
will be returning next year with the 18U CAPS, they will be on a
mission to take the next step- to the podium!
To make a trip of this magnitude so
successful, many people have to be thanked for their time and effort.
Many thanks to the 18U team parents, Deborah Carmanico, Susan
L'Heureux and Brigitte McGuinty for their tireless work in organizing
the trip, and to all three for coming out west to chaperone and
support the girls. Many thanks to Elisa Zéroual for making all
the arrangements with the Fortier family for the billeting of the
girls. Thanks to Ross Fetterly for the loan of his wonderful
camera used in the taking of many of these fine images. A
special thanks to Danielle and Claude Fortier and family for opening
up their home and hearts to host the girls. We could not have
asked for more hospitable hosts. Also thanks to the CAPS
supporters who made the trip to Abbottsford to cheer the girls on-
Albert Carmanico, John and Sandra Sutton. And finally, thanks to
the girls and coaches for a wonderful weekend of exciting volleyball
and lasting memories. Let's do it all again next
May!
Results - 18U Girls Canadian
Open:
Gold: Manitoba Bison (Winnipeg, MB)
Silver: Club West Rage (Virden, MB)
Bronze: Fraser Valley VC Blitz (Langley,
BC)
4. Durham Attack Black (Oshawa,
ON)
5. National Capitals (Ottawa,
ON)
5. Peel Selects (Mississauga,
ON)
5. Calgary Dinos (Calgary, AB)
5. Ducks Bryan (Coquitlam, BC)
9. RADZ Gold (Regina, SK)
10. DRVC (Ashburn, ON)
