May 2-4 2008 - Thursday was
the day before Nationals and everyone was excited to get going.
We had scrimmaged against the Winnipeg Blazers the night before
at St. Paul's, so we'd already had a taste of what awaited us at
the Volleyball Canada 17U/18U Canadian Open in our home town.
We had a solid hour-long practice in the Carleton Ice House and a good
look at the competition as we walked about the facility. Matt
had arranged a dinner with an 18U boys team, the RVC Stubble
Jumpers from Regina, Saskatchewan, so right after practice we met
at East Side Mario's to chow down. It was pretty good
conversation and, by the end of the meal, one of the guys on the team
decided to whistle a little tune for us, and it was pretty
sweet.
Friday, May 2, 2008 - A crazy
hard, make-or-break pool
We were fortunate enough to get to play in
the afternoon wave at Aberdeen Pavilion, which ended up allowing some
of the team to have a nice sleep in, and others to go to school.
We had a really tough pool, facing one of Alberta's best teams,
the Calgary Dinos in the first match. Unfortunately, the
Dinos took us in two by scores of 25-20 and 25-23.
We got one game off, when we were able to
make a trip to either Booster Juice or Kettlemans Bagels. Second
game of the day was against a team from BC, the Victoria
Chargers. The CAPS came out strong, winning 25-15 and 25-21
in straight sets.
Coming into the last game of the day
winning one and losing one, we really wanted to go home 2-1.
Playing Manitoba's Provincial Champs, Winnipeg's WinMan
Warren, we knew we were going to have to fight to win.
Playing our hearts out in the first match, we come out with the win,
ending at 25-20. In the second set, WinMan came out wanting the
win just as much as us. A 20 minute timeout was kind of nice,
thanks to a certain someone who accidentally turned out the lights in
Aberdeen (whose name will remain anonymous, but we all really know who
did it-). When we got back into the game, we got a few points
but then lost 21-25. Unfortunately we lost in the third, 13-15.
But it was a great game played by all and everyone was excited
throughout the match. So at the end of the day we ended with a
3rd place rank in our pool, pushing us to the bottom 16 of 32 Division
1 teams.
Saturday, May 3, 2008 - Time to get back on
track
We had another late afternoon start again
at Aberdeen, with our first game starting at 3:00pm. We knew
that since we were now in tier 2, we wanted to play as hard as we
could, to finish as high as we could. Our power pools were set
up, and our first game of the day was against Edmonton's NAVC
Green Pandas. We played hard and came out winning in two,
25-20, 25-20.
We had a one game break to enjoy some more
Booster Juice, or Kettlemen's Bagels. Back to the gym for our
next game against a North Vancouver team, The Blues.
Coming out a little slow in the first game, we went down 22-25. We
really wanted that win so, with a couple of lineup changes of the for
the second set (some things we had never seen before) we came out with
a big 25-12 win. We knew then we could beat this team in the
thirds set, so we went out hard and won 15-7. One more game off
and then we were back on the court for the last game of the
day.
We wanted to go with a full day of wins so,
in our last game against Canuck Cash of Calgary, we went out
with desire and got it in two: 25-17, 25-23. Ending on a high
note with a 3-0 day, we were really happy and couldn't wait to get
home to sleep. With a late 12:15 start we knew that once again
we could sleep in a little.
Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 9 tough sets
between us and gold
Sunday of Nationals is do-or-die day -
you lose and you're out. We wanted to play as long as we
could, so we worked hard. Saturday's end was a good one,
giving us the opportunity to battle for gold in Division 1/Tier 3.
Our Sunday started at 11:15 at CÉGEP de l'Outaouais, to warm up for
our 12:15 game. First match of the day was against South
County Bandits, the first Ontario team we had met this weekend.
We knew about their fast offence and stopped it successfully in the
first game, winning 25-23. We knew that they wanted this bad
too, so they were going to come out fighting in the second set.
They did, and we just weren't ready for it, so we lost the second
23-25. We were angry now- we knew we could beat this team, we
just needed to show it. It was a hard fight in the last set but,
in the end, we came out winning, 15-12. One team down, a couple
more to go!
We were supposed to play immediately after,
but the other teams had not yet finished their games, so we got a
short break to get some food and rehydrate. Seaside from
Surrey, BC was our next competitor, and we were ready. After
just finishing their game, they were thrown right into another but it
didn't slow them down. They came out hard in the first set to
win 25-19. We went into the next set thinking- this could
be our last game of the season- but instead we went out pushing,
and won 25-19. Now we were on a roll. Going into the third
set, it was our turn to be hyped up, and so we continued our winning,
coming out on top, 15-10.
Now we were off to Carleton for our final
game, against Vancouver's Action Impact. We got there
in enough time to watch our rivals/friends Durham Attack win their
semi-final game, and continue into the finals. Now it was
all on us- our last game of the season was right now.
Everything we learned and trained for this year was all for this
moment. We came out slow in the first set, and they wanted it
more, so we went down, losing 18-25. But we didn't want it to
end like this- we wanted one more win. We pushed hard in the
second set, went out to a huge lead, wasted it, but ended up pulling
out a close 26-24 victory. Going into the third set we had
the upper hand, using momentum from having won the second.
Impact pulled ahead right at the start, but near the cross we had
caught up. The rest of the game was close, until we finished the
set with an 18-16 win! We had finished it off, winning Division
1,Tier 3 gold, and a Paul Edwards medal!
According to Coach
Matt:
"Going 7-2 in a tournament is
never a bad weekend, especially when you win your last 6 straight
matches (with 4 of the 6 going to three sets). We proved that we
could play with the best this season, having beaten the Open's 4th
place Aurora Storm, 5th place Forest City, 6th place Winnipeg Blazers,
and the 16th place Kitchener Waterloo Predators. I think this
gives validly to us claiming to be a top program in Canada."
He added, "I am very proud of the way the girls fought through
adversity, showing the ability to refocus and to finish the season off
right with a Tier 3 gold medal."
Closing remarks
Nationals are supposed to be the best
tournament of the year- and it was, especially having it in our home
town, Ottawa! Starting off a little slow Friday night, we
managed to pull through during the rest of the tournament, finishing
off the weekend with a 7-2 record, which is great! We pushed
through when it mattered, and a lot of that had to do with the parents
and fans who came out to support us. So, huge thanks, hugs and
smooches go out to all of the parents who have put all their hard work
into our season, not only at Nationals but throughout the year: Ohio,
Holland and all the other tournaments we attended. It's been
one of the best years yet and it's all thanks to our #1 fans and
supporters, our parents.
Thank you to all the organizers, managers,
and Club Directors who have helped us throughout our year(s) as
members of the NCVC family. Thanks as well to Paul for all your
designs (that are absolutely ballin', I must say) and all the time
that you put into the club and the website.
And thanks of course to our coaches, who
have been our best of support of all: Matt, Jess and Chris.
Matt, you made our 17U year so memorable, and a whole lot of fun...
putting up with us through all our practices, our goofing off, setting
us straight, laying down the law and giving so much of your time to
make us better players. Thanks Coach Matt. Jess, you were
a quiet source of strength for us all season - we appreciate all the
hard work and big smiles you brought to practices and games all year
long. Chris, the trip to Holland was the best trip most of us
have been on, and its one that no one will ever forget. Thank
you so much for all your time and effort towards making that trip a
success because it really paid off in the end, and thanks for all the
time you spent with us in the gym. Thanks as well to
Trainer Mike who put us through our paces during the first part of the
season and kept us smiling before and during practices and
matches.
See you all at the banquet, and again in September for our last
season together!
- Jorie #12 & Steph #16
