April 12-13, 2008 - The 16U CAPS
traveled to Burlington over the weekend to compete in the OVA 16U
Girls Ontario Championships-Tier 1.
The girls entered the tournament as the 7th
seed and started Saturday morning against the 10th seed, Forest
City Green. The teams met twice this season, splitting the
matches. Forest City was aggressive from the first ball and took
the match in two sets (25-19, 25-18).
Following the Opening Ceremonies, the CAPS
met the 15th seed, Chatham Ballhawks. The CAPS came out
strong, taking early leads in both sets and earning a straight sets
win (25-16, 25-15). The final match of pool play saw the CAPS
facing the 2nd seed, Durham Attack Black. The girls entered
this match knowing that there was still a chance at earning second
position in the pool since Attack had defeated Forest City in earlier
play. And, with that in mind, the CAPS came out swinging hard -
earning another straight sets victory (25-20, 25-21). The result
of this match meant a three way tie for the number one spot and, after
the calculations were done, the CAPS found themselves second in the B
Pool.
The second place finish placed the CAPS up
against the 13th seed, MAC, in the crossover match. The
winning ways continued with the girls winning bpth sets (25-13,
25-20). Following a successful day on the court, the team and
cheering squad returned to Mississauga for a great team dinner at Jack
Astor's.
Prior to commencing play on Sunday morning,
the OVA Awards of Excellence were presented.
Congratulations to Gillian Henderson, the 16U CAPS award winner.
Following the award presentations, the CAPS
took to the floor for the quarter-final match against the #1 seed,
Titans Synergy. The Titans demonstrated early how they had
earned the top spot, easily defeating the CAPS in the first set
(25-15). But in the second set, it was Titans who would be
surprised, as the CAPS dominated the game from the first ball, taking
the set 25-13. And so, for the first time in the tournament, the
girls found themselves in an all-important third set to determine
whether or not they had a shot at a medal. It was close, with
points traded back and forth for the majority of the game but, in the
end, the Titans would take the set, 15-11.
The final match of the day pitted the CAPS
against South County Bandits. For a second time, the
match went to three sets - first to the CAPS (25-17), next to the
Bandits (27-25) and the third and final set to the Bandits (15-12),
leaving the CAPS in 7th position.
According to Coach Leung, "It was a great team effort these
last two weekends. Our play continues to improve... keep working
hard in the gym girls! Our final two national championship
tournaments should be very exciting."
Thanks as always to coaches Linden and
Bruno and the great CAPS fans. The girls look forward to an even
bigger cheering squad at the beginning of May when they compete in
the Volleyball Canada 17U/18U Canadian Open in
Ottawa.
