April 21st-22nd, 2007 - Friday
evening was perfect for the scenic drive down the 17 to North Bay for
the OVA 14U Girls Ontario Championships/Tier 2. Who knew
how gorgeous a 4 hour drive could be? Barely any trucks, the
opportune passing lanes available every now and then, dinner in
Pembroke and no getting lost ... this was a good start to the
weekend. The hotel was great, situated just down the road from
the school.
Off to the gym. Our first match of
the day was against the 14th seed Niagara Splash. We
jumped out to a 7-1 lead and never looked back, winning the first set,
25-13. The 2nd set had our first pancake of the year, with the
ball rising 8 feet in the air and leading to a perfect set and smash
(nice one Nicole). The CAPS won this set 25-21. Great job
girls!
Our 2nd match was against the 3rd seed
Waterdown Raiders. This team had some of the biggest servers
we've seen this year, causing a few problems on serve-receive.
The CAPS fought their hardest, but to no avail. We lost the
match, 21-25 and 24-26.
Our lunch break was perfect, in the great
outdoors, 20 degrees and sunshine - couldn't have asked for better
weather. Every moment not playing volleyball was spent outside
this weekend. Great weather, great food, great fun Š Mike's
adventure onto the school roof to retrieve a stray volleyball provided
great entertainment as well.
On to our 3rd match of the day, against
the Ottawa Maverick Gold Diggers. The girls came out abit
flat against the much bigger Mavs and lost the first set 14-25.
In the 2nd set, consistency was the name of the game, the girls looked
under control and won by a convincing score of 25-17. On to the
3rd, with Bobbie's consistent serve, we were up 8-0 at the split, then
12-0! Nice serving Bobbie! The game finished 15-4.
Well done girls, this win put us in first place in our pool
play.
The first round of the playoffs meant the
all-important crossover game which would determine if we were in the
Top 8 or Bottom 8 for Sunday play. We came out strong and
consistent against Forest City Green and won the first set 25-20.
The pressure seemed to mount and the unforced errors crept into our
game, causing us to lose the 2nd set 18-25. On to the 3rd set -
this one was a nail-biter, and truly could have gone either way.
Sadly, it was not to go our way today, with the CAPS losing 13-15.
The girls would now have to settle for playing for 9th place on
Sunday.
After another good breakfast of hard-boiled
eggs, English muffins, bagels and orange juice, and with all the Moms
packing some boiled eggs for lunch, we were off to the gym again, this
time against Forest City Blue. This match had the longest
rallies, and was definitely the most entertaining match of the
weekend. It seemed like the ball never hit the floor. Kill
after kill got dug up, tips got dug up, off the block got dug up ...
how do you get a point?! We lost the first set 15-25, though it
felt much closer than that. The girls were pumped for the next
game, and came out quickly to a 10-5 lead. The highlight of this
game (and our year) was our youngest player, Vicky, coming into the
game and hitting her first hit that went to the floor for a point, she
spontaneously burst into tears and so did all the Moms (and Dads, and
coaches?) - what a moment this was! (Coach's note: Barb
understates how big the grins were on everyone's faces!) The
biggest challenge at this time was to focus back on the game - there
were still 4 points to play. We went on to win this set 25-22.
On to the 3rd ... again ... and ... again ... a disappointing loss of
6-15, on our best-played match of the tournament.
Off to the other gym for the OVA Award of Excellence ceremony,
with our deserving recipient being Andrea Carter. Well
done Andrea!
Back to the other gym for our last match of
the year, playing for 13th or 15th place, against the
Northumberland Breakers. The 1st set went back and forth
with the Breakers taking it 20-25. The 2nd set we were very
consistent again, winning 25-18. Oh no ... not another 3rd set
... oh no ... not another loss ... yes, we lost our 3rd, 3-set match
in a row, 13-15, placing us 15th. Good try girls, you had
moments of greatness all weekend long.
In the end, not the spot the girls had
hoped to finish in, but the girls played their best volleyball of the
season, and the tough lessons learned will lead to big victories in
the future!
Thanks to Rebecca, Linden and Mike for all
the work they have done with our girls this season. Thanks to
all the parents - what a terrific group - and thanks to the girls for
bringing us great joy all year long.
