18U Girls crack Top 20 in Canada after Day 1 action at Canadian Open in Ottawa(PHOTOS) By Paul Edwards, with photos by Eva Edwards
May 1, 2009 — The CAPS 18U Girls began their last dance together in fine fashion at the Volleyball Canada 18U Girls Canadian Open, at Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa.
Day 1 action began with a matchup against Saskatchewan’s Weyburn Eagles. Doing their best to play after the disorienting experience of actually having slept in their own beds (for a change), the girls managed to best the Eagles in 3.
After a match off, the girls next faced off against Cobras from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Set 1 was one of those affairs that we parents will never forget. Cobras is obviously one of the better prepared teams in the tournament and the girls stepped up to their challenge, offering rebuke after rebuke when the set was on the line, and repeatedly forcing Cobras to do the same. With the hits coming from front row and back and bodies flying to wherever the ball demanded – the girls gave their all but went down to a 30-32 loss. What a game! Perhaps that burst the girls’ bubble, as the next set lacked the same intensity, with the CAPS suffering a much more swift defeat.
Match 3 moved the girls to the Ice House at Carleton University to battle Lynx Rouge from Quebec. And a battle it was – for the girls to find their game! But they did after all, coming back to ice the Lynx in comeback style in the second, then moving briskly back into game form to take the match in 3.
The girls face Storms from both Ontario (7:30 am) and Manitoba (9:45 am) on Day 2 action at Aberdeen, followed by a face-off against Quebec’s Voyageurs back at Alumni Hall at Carleton at 12:25...
