April 21-22, 2007 - Ah, what gorgeous weekend weather we had - both inside and outside the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park, home to the OVA 18U Girls Ontario Championships/Tier 1.  An amazing crew of volunteers had worked diligently for two days to lay down the four SportCourts inside the cavernous old Pavilion.  What a perfect venue!  Our girls were initially skeptical but, come game time, they were giddily anxious to play.

 

On Saturday, the sun shone brightly as we entered the facility.  Everything looked welcoming and ready thanks to Bob O'Doherty's impeccable talent for planning an event of this magnitude.  But who could have anticipated the flood on Court 4!?  The riding floor-cleaner lost its reservoir of water and it soaked through the court onto the floor beneath.  A mad group of moppers and towel-off-ers proceeded to dissect the floor and soak up the mess.  Tetris-style, the floor was re-assembled and the first match was delayed only fifteen minutes.  (Thanks for everyone's co-ordinated efforts in cleaning up).

 

The 17U CAPS' first opponent was the Peel Selects '89.  Our girls came out on fire and, behind some splendid defense and potent smacking from everyone on the front line, including a few beauts from Colleen, we drove to a thrilling first-set victory, 25-23.  The second set saw more of the same consistent play and the CAPS ended up with a 25-20 win.

 

Next up, after a short break, were the Aurora Storm 18s.  The Storm rained down a relentless attack and our girls were frequently outplayed in a first-set loss, 14-25.  Game two saw a resilient CAPS team fighting valiantly to the end only to lose a heartbreaker, 24-26.  Bravo girls, for a gutsy turnaround!

 

Our third-round, afternoon foes were the Ottawa Kangaroos.  The CAPS played a strong, determined and confident match against their cross-town friends and came away with a pair of wins, 25-11 and 25-17.  We watched closely to see if we would finish first or second in the Pool.

 

The banquet at the Civic Center that evening was very well-attended.  Were those really our daughters all dressed up and looking so gorgeous?!  Good food, good company and an extremely well-organized affair contributed to a wonderful night for everyone.  Sarah Joy's mother and Olympic medalist Sue Holloway provided an inspiring and entertaining, if somewhat Sarah-mbarassing speech.  Tess Edwards followed with fond reminiscences of her own volleyball career to-date.  Our own Becky Billings was justly voted the OVA Award of Excellence.  Well done, Beck!  Following an uplifting slideshow of the day's action (courtesy of Dan Wolfenden and Susan Wolfenden), the evening wrapped up before ten o'clock and it was with relief that we all headed home to our own beds for a change.

 

As it turned out, we came second in Pool B, which meant an early matchup against the Georgian Bay Vista on Sunday morning.  The winner of this match would decide upper or lower eight, so a victory was heavy on our minds.  Vista was a strong opponent and played excellent defense.  We couldn't take advantage of many missed serves and, though our girls dug and spiked with authority, in the end the older girls managed to beat us 25-17 and 25-22.

 

The CAPS had to play straightaway against the Burlington Blaze.  What a pretty sight to see our girls play so cohesively.  Everything clicked as the 17Us rode a wave of monster middle hits.  Gina loaded the pistol as Gabby, Sarah and Leah took turns firing round after round of killler shots.  The outside hitters were also on fire as they extinguished the Blaze with devastating smashes.  In the end, two straight, with scores of 25-17 and 25-22.

 

Our final match of the tournament (to decide either ninth or eleventh place) saw the London Forest City take the court against a fired-up CAPS squad.  From the opening serve, our girls played with the spirit and determination we'd come to expect.  Coach Matt switched Becky from libero to outside hitter and she rose to the opportunity.  Everything she touched was gold!  The CAPS' overwhelming offense could not be contained and they soared to an impressive two-set victory.

 

With a final record of four victories and only two defeats, our 17Us proved that they can play evenly with the older girls.  Well done, ladies!  We're very proud of you.  Now, let's go kick some butt in Abbotsford at the Western Nationals!

 

Thanks Matt and Jess for your guidance, patience and humour.  We offer our gratitude as always to the parents for providing support, yummy food and the money to buy that Overkill merchandise.  Also, let's not forget all the friends and family who finally got a chance to see our CAPS in action.  Thanks for coming out.

 

And congratulations to our big sisters, the 18U National Capitals, who won bronze!

 

It would be remiss of us not to thank Bob O'Doherty and his amazing crew for organizing such a classy event.  From the fine crew of referees to the legion of superb volunteers to the Pavilion itself, unquestionably Ottawa hosted the finest tournament of the season.  Bravo!