May 4-6, 2007 - - one of the
players screamed into the phone to her dad, to the amused glances of
the passersby. That was almost the end of the story, as the
National Capitals 17U Girls had a short breather before their final
match of the Volleyball Canada17U Girls Canadian Open in
Abbotsford, British Columbia.
A group of eager players and parents
gathered at the Ottawa airport to start their long journey (some via
Calgary, some via Vancouver) to the hotel in Surrey, B.C. that would
become our home for the next 6 nights. Late-night arrival meant
a lazy morning getting used to the time change and some gentle warming
up before heading off to the Tradex, the facility that housed
18 SportCourts in a converted airplane hangar.
Friday the 4th
Being in the afternoon pool of Preliminary
play meant a slow start to the day. Finally, at 3:15 pm, things
began in earnest as the girls faced their first competition, the
Alberta Breeze (Stony Plain). The first set went to the
CAPS, as strong play at the net coupled with consistent passing kept
the Ottawa girls ahead all the way to a 25-14 victory. When a
lineup change for the Alberta team gave them an initial upper hand in
the second set, our girls made the necessary adjustments and the
Breeze was "blown away", 25-17.
Our second match was against some very tall
young women, with very l-o-n-g arms, Manitoba's Selkirk
Royals. Our girls seemed energized and fabulous rallies
ensued (thank goodness for high ceilings). It was point-for-point
until 15-all, when the opposition managed to find a few vulnerable
spots, and pulled ahead to end the set 17-25. The score in the
second set didn't reflect the intensity of the play, as the CAPS
fought bravely to the end, but had to "bow to the Royals",
11-25.
An 8:00 pm match against Outer
Limits (Martinsville SK) was definitely past everyone's bedtime
(11:00 pm Ottawa time) and Leah was out with a knee injury. Play
was not as vigorous as in the previous match, but the CAPS managed to
win by a wide margin, defeating the Saskatchewan team, 25-13.
Jet-lag was starting to set in at the start of the second set, but
things picked up about half-way through and, with some powerful hits
and digs, the CAPS finished the night off with a 25-16 victory as the
other team was "pushed to the outer limits". The first night
ended with second place in our pool - a great place to
be!
Saturday the 5th
Saturday began with a change of venue, to
the Mennonite Educational Institute, where there was only one
court in each gym at this school - kind of a shock from the day
before. An even later start to this day, as the first match was
not scheduled until 4:30 pm.
First up was another team from Saskatchewan, RADZ of the Cougar
Volleyball Club (first in their pool on Friday). Our
girls looked their equals on the court, but seemed to lose focus after
about 10 points. With some great digs, they managed to claw
their way back, but couldn't quite make it, and were defeated in the
first set 18-25. The 17U CAPS took a strong lead in the second
set, with some great hits and awesome back row digs, which they
carried to a 25-19 victory. The tie-breaking set revolved around
great blocks, amazing pancakes and super step-arounds to soundly
"maul the cougars" 15-8. What a way to start the
day!
The next match against Whiskey Jacks
from Dryden, Ontario (playing in the Manitoba league), was a vigorous,
point-for-point battle in the beginning. Great left-side smashes
and powerful quicks, combined with effective blocking, had the CAPS
pulling ahead to stay, resulting in a 25-17 victory. Nice
ups, players tackling the bench, super serves and beauty blocks all
combined for a great second set ending 25-15, as the Whiskey Jacks got
"dried out".
After waiting 2.5 hours for the final match
of the day, fatigue was starting to take its toll on the girls, as
they lost the first set 10-25 to Ducks Ryan from Coquitlam,
B.C. By the second set, they were back to form with more
accurate serves and good blocks, and managed to defeat the other team,
25-21. Good strategy, strong defence and great quicks had the
CAPS leading the tie-breaker 8-5 at the half. Despite a valiant
effort, the Ducks couldn't "swim back" and victory was once more
ours, as the set ended 15-10.
By the end of Day 2 we had three victories
and first place in the Power Pools. Time for a swim, some food
and sleep, as the next day would be the toughest of all.
Sunday the 6th
The day started off with a quarter-final match against the
Green Pandas of the Northern Alberta Volleyball Club. Strong
offence was the key as the 17U CAPS fought to stay with their
opponents but, in spite of some great digs and determined cheering
from the spectators, the set finished 21-25. The second set
began with some vulnerable "holes", but the girls made a valiant
comeback from 5-11, with the bench on their feet cheering their
teammates on to a well-earned 25-23 victory. The Edmonton girls
were finding it hard to build a lead in the third set as the CAPS
continued to make great saves and dominate at the net. The moms
were all crying with joy as "the Pandas became extinct" with a
CAPS 15-7 win.
Now to meet the Selkirk Royals (MB)
again in the semis! A very energized Ottawa team battled all the
way, but were defeated 21-25 in the first set and fought determinedly
in the second, making the Manitoba girls work furiously to win 26-28.
What a game! Five blocks on the tallest of the middles!
If we couldn't play for gold, we could
still play for bronze - a very enviable place to be - and a chance to
"strike at the Cobras" from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Lacking a little of the intensity of the previous match, the girls had
some difficulty anticipating balls from the opposition and lost the
set 17-25. Stepping up with more consistent play and great heart
in the second, the CAPS girls managed to gain the victory, 25-21.
A very intense tie-breaker followed, with emotions running high
amongst the players and the fans. Super slams at the net and
great digs took the team within reach of winning the game but the
Cobras prevailed 13-15.
Everyone was very disappointed and
momentarily sad, but, upon reflection, the girls realized what a great
weekend they had experienced. Only two teams had defeated them,
a total of only three matches lost, and a slim two points short of
that third place medal. So 4th in Canada was where they would
stay. Pretty darn good!
Now all that was left was to spend a day in
tourist mode in Vancouver. We visited the Aquarium, took a
ferry ride, went shopping and finally got to eat all the bad foods
that had been banned while in training. The following morning
saw the reluctant players saying goodbye to the 2006-2007 indoor
volleyball season and heading back to the reality of school and work.
Here's looking forward to repeating the process next
May.
Some "Thank You"s are in
order:
- To Donna, Lise and Ulrike who had the task
of organizing most of the travel and
accommodation
- To the intrepid drivers - Carrol, Chris, Lise and Tony - who put
in many miles ferrying us back and forth to the various venues and
social
Activities
- To the grocery shoppers/kitchen crew - Carrol, Diane, Jocelyne,
Lise and Ulrike - who kept the girls fed and
watered
- To Jocelyne and Tony, who agreed to line the tough
matches -
- To those already mentioned as well as Claude, Farfar, Tina and
other assorted friends and relatives for being dedicated fans
- To Matt and Jess for taking the girls to such lofty heights,
and
- To each and every one of the players (Annie, Becky, Colleen,
Emily, Gabby, Gina, Haley, Jenna, Karin, Leah, Leighann and Sarah) for
making it a thrilling, pride-filled weekend, and season.
Final Standings/VC 17U Girls Canadian
Open:
Gold: Royals (Selkirk, MB)
Silver: Ducks Ryan (Coquitlam,
BC)
Bronze: Cobras (Winnipeg, MB)
4. National Capitals (Ottawa,
ON)
5. Astros (Bay Roberts, NF)
5. Focus Lasers (Surrey, BC)
5. Canuck Crew (Calgary, AB)
5. NAVC Green Pandas (Edmonton,
AB)
