January 12, 2008 - Following a
great break for the holidays, the 16U CAPS traveled to Whitby this
weekend for the OVA 16U Girls Challenge Cup - Tier 1.
The team entered the tournament in 6th place and in a very tough "C"
pool with the Scarborough Titans Synergy and the Kitchener-Waterloo
Predators.
The CAPS' first match of the day saw them
up against the K-W Predators. The girls knew that the
Predators 11th place ranking wouldn't accurately reflect the quality
of their play since the Predators team represented the nucleus of the
Provincial Champion Waterloo Tigers 15U team from the 2006-07 season.
As such, the Predators came out strong, defeating the CAPS in straight
sets: 25-10, 25-21.
Next up was the 3rd-ranked Scarborough
Titans. The first set was point-for-point, with the Titans
coming out on top 26-24. The second set was just like the first
but this time the CAPS triumphed, defeating the Titans 27-25.
This set up a very important third set since the winning team would
end pool play in second spot and have a better draw in the first round
of the playoffs. The CAPS took an early lead which they held
throughout the set to defeat the Titans 15-9.
The tournament organizers were determined
to keep things running on schedule, so right after the match with the
Titans, the CAPS hit the court against the 8th-ranked Aurora Storm
Vortex. With a quarter-final berth on the line, Vortex
proved to be no match for the determined CAPS who won in straight
sets: 25-14, 25-21.
After three back-to-back matches, the girls enjoyed a short rest
before meeting the Niagara Rapids in the quarter-finals.
The Rapids took the first set 25-20 but the CAPS rallied in the
second, winning 25-17. And so - on to a third set! This
one proved to be a nail-biter and resulted in another CAP victory:
16-14.
In the semi-final, the CAPS faced the 2nd
seed Georgetown Impact team which was coming off a
quarter-final win against the 1st seed Durham Attack. It was
close, but Impact proved too much for the CAPS and took the match in
straight sets: 25-23, 25-20.
So at 8:00 pm, the CAPS hit the floor for
their final match of the day for the bronze medal against their first
opponent of the day, the K-W Predators. The Predators won
the first set 25-19 but the CAPS rallied to take the second set
25-21. And although the Predators saw a 9 point lead slip away
from them in their semi-final match to the South County Bandits (the
Predators led in the third set 14-5 and were defeated 14-16) that was
not to be the case a second time, as the Predators defeated the CAPS
15-8.
It was a great day in Whitby for the 16U
National Capitals - the girls and their cheering squad headed home
in great spirits with an improved 4th place position in Tier 1 play.
Congratulations CAPS!!!
