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“Halfway to first” with the 15U Burgies
(PHOTOS)
By Sue Jones, with photos by Brenna Carrière
November 29, 2008 — The Burgies travelled to Trenton this weekend for their first OVA tournament, the 15U Girls Provincial Cup. The day started early with many athletes on the road at 5am to get to our first match at 9am, with time to spare.
The first match was against Peterborough Thunder. The girls came out strong right away, showing their great improvement. They played well, were talking well on the court, moving, and very chipper – especially for a 4am wake up! They kept this up throughout the entire match and finished with the victory, 25-19 and 25-23.
The girls had a long break and spent some time bonding as a team, taking fun “Gangsta” and animal pictures!!! They had some lunch and got ready for their next match against Port Perry Panthers. The girls were a little more quiet this match, and were having some trouble with their serving, passing and rotation. Their confidence dropped abit and, despite working hard, they fell to the Panthers, 20-25 and 14-25.
The girls’ third match was played right after their loss to the Panthers, against Kingston Pegasus Fusion. Coach Irena gave them a quick pep talk, and they were able to shake off the nerves again and get back to business. Working hard, and concentrating on the little things, all the girls did well. There were a couple of good serving runs, great hitting and passing – even the block was starting to gain us some points! The girls were back to talking more on the court and things seemed to fall into place. Their first set was a winner, 25-16. Second set, the girls had a little trouble with calling the ball and fell to the Fusion 16-25. The third and deciding set was a little easier for the girls, as they pulled out a 15-7 win.
The girls finished second in their pool and were re-pooled with the other two 2nd place finishers! Their first match was against the Ottawa Kangaroos. The girls were a little nervous as they had just watched CAPS Navy narrowly beat them in three sets. I don’t think the girls, coach or parents could have been happier when they won their first set against the Roos, 25-22. It was an exciting game, the girls didn’t have time to worry about their rotation or little mistakes and found themselves on the court where they should be, performing well. The second set was a tough one for the girls, as they were unable to keep up their momentum and fell to the Roos, 13-25. The final and deciding set was a nail biter, the Roos came out with the win (9-15), but the Burgies certainly made them work for it.
The last match of the day was against Kingston Pegasus Rampage. Once again the Burgies came out strong and took the first set 25-16. They kept up their momentum and, even though they were ahead by 6, then 4, then 2, Rampage simply chipped away until they finished on top 21-25, forcing a third and final set. Even though they were tired from their long day, the Burgies dug in and played well. Unfortunately Rampage was able to hold on and take the 14-16 win to finish the match.
The Burgies finished the day with a 6th place finish, out of 12 teams... HALFWAY TO FIRST!! A great day for the girls, great improvements all around. The girls were reminded in their last team/parents meeting that the practices may become repetitive and even sometimes not so exciting, but it eventually pays off. When asked by Coach Irena, if they were able to see their improvements and see where the practice is paying off, the answer was unanimous... YES!!! Great job girls!
“The harder I practice, the luckier I get.” — Gary Player
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