January 10th, 2007 - Despite the
forecast, the weather was perfect for the drive to the wonderful
facility at St. Jean de Brebeuf High School in Woodbridge - right
handy to our faithful billets, Leah's grandparents and Karin's Aunt.
(We'll thank them again right now).
Our first match of the OVA 18U Girls
Bugarski Cup/Tier 1 got off to a good start against the 4th
seeded DRVC team, but the fire seemed to be lacking in our
NATIONAL CAPITALS 17U girls and they just couldn't keep up the
momentum. Difficulty in passing the ball had the score climbing
in favour of DRVC 13-22, but some good serves, tips and blocks helped
to keep the play from totally getting away from us, and the set ended
at 18-25. The points were going back and forth in the second
set, with some excellent net play, but a strong move by DRVC at the
end saw them pull ahead to a 25-17 victory.
The other team in our pool was the 5th
seeded Waterloo Tigers. Good hustle on the part of
the opposition, and an ability to cover the entire court meant that,
in spite of valiant efforts on the part of the 17U CAPS, the set
finished 18-25. In the second, our girls had the early lead but
a loss of focus resulted in some shaky play, turning the score in
favour of Waterloo 8-10. Luckily the girls were able to pull
themselves together and close the score a little, but ended up losing
the set by yet another 18-25 tally.
A break for food - the usual huge selection of delicious dishes - and
some craft time (Donna's bright idea) kept the girls engaged and
relaxed without the doziness that has been a problem at some other
tournaments.
The first round of playoffs pitted us
against the 9th seeded Georgian Bay Vista, (2nd in pool A).
Although the CAPS played well enough, they couldn't consistently
handle the driving hits from the other side. Spectators were in
danger as well - and our girls lost 14-25. There was some great
blocking and hitting in the second set, but it wasn't sufficient, as
the score again favoured the opposition, 15-25. In spite of this
loss, the girls played a better game and were still smiling and having
fun right up until the end.
Semi-final play was against the 8th
seeded Oakville Thunder (3rd in pool A). The CAPS seemed
to come in to the match with renewed spirits - picking balls out of
the net and recovering from blocks. It was also nice to hear
cheering from the players on the bench who had, until then, been
fairly quiet. The score went back and forth until the first win
of the day was achieved, 25-23. In the second set, our girls
seemed to gather energy, while the other team started to tire.
More consistent play than in the earlier matches meant that choruses
of "Well done, the CAPS" could be heard again. A gorgeous
kill finished the set 26-24 and ensured a stay in 18U Tier
1.
Now the competition was for 9th and 10th
place against the Scarborough Vipers. Some lucky breaks early
on put us ahead for a while, but subsequent play was pretty
evenly-matched, at last culminating in a 26-24 victory. Nice
work girls! The second set didn't have such a great start, but
the situation improved as the girls responded to the encouragement of
the CAPS supporters. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep up the
pressure and the score ended up in favour of the Vipers, 18-25.
Excellent play at the net and superior digs put us in the lead for a
while, but, in spite of great effort, the 17U CAPS were just outplayed
in their final set of the day and lost 8-15.
In the end, it was a pretty satisfying day, moving up to 10th place in
18U Tier 1.
As always, many thanks to our amazing parental crew, our billeting
families and to the awesome coaching tandem of Matt 'n
Jess.
