Weekend In Review
14U Girls Black
The 14U Tigers Black improved their game-play this weekend with a Silver Medal finish at the Ontario Challenge Cup played at Brock University in St. Catherines. In the first round of pool play, Tigers were defeated by Forest City Blue 21-25 and 17-25; however, the girls came back strong to defeat Toronto West in straight sets 25-17 and 25-14. Capturing first in their pool, Tigers then defeated the Chatham Ballhawks Blue 22-25; 25-8 and 16-14 in an exciting offensive and defensive match. In the crossover match, Tigers squared up against MAC, playing against them for the first time this year. They handily defeated the team 25-14 and 25-19. This important win ensured the girls a spot in the gold medal game against the Georgetown Impact where they lost 22-25 and 16-25. Congratulations on a well earned Silver Tigers. We look forward to continued success at our next tournament on February 20th.
K. Dozois
17U Boys Red McGregor Cup Championship West January 23rd, 2010
The team was ranked 3rd in Pool A for this tournament.
They came up against the Stratford Cobras first. The team got off to a slow start getting down by as many as 7 points in the first set. Through some strong serving and hitting they mounted a comeback only to fall 22-25. They boys used the momentum from the first set to complete a comeback to take the next two sets 25-22 and 25-20. Now it was time for the #1 ranked Riverside Rage. With no time to rest they once again took some time to get going, but once they did, there was no stopping them. Great blocking, hitting, serving and team play brought them to victory in 3 sets 18-25, 25-18 and 25-19.
This result put them first in pool A.
The boys faced a 4 hour wait for the semis. The opponents were the Niagara Rapids. As always it was a great battle between the two rivals. A very close three set match resulted. Unfortunately the boys came out on the short end losing 26-24, 24-26 and 9-15.
Now for the bronze medal match vs the Element. So many close matches and the long wait time for the playoffs took its toll on the entire team. They fell short of a bronze losing 14-25 and 19-25.
Overall the team had a great tournament and will definitely use their success to push harder the next tournament.
Lori Danecke
17U McGregor Cup Premier
Boys Bring Home The Silver!!!
After a bronze medal showing in the last tournament the boys came out with their eyes on the gold. Seeded 3rd in the province they had a tough pool ahead of them to accomplish this goal. The first match of the day was against the breakers and the early morning wake up call and drive seemed to be still effecting them when the hit the court. They played well but came up short in 2 straight sets 25-27 and 19-25. The day wasn’t going to get any easier with their next opponent being the forest city blue. Much better communication and team play on the court led them to a straight sets win with scores of 25-18 in both sets. To end pool play the tigers had to play the 2nd seeded durham attack. This match went back and forth in each of the three sets and the tigers came up short in the end 22-25, 25-23 and 7-15. The tigers were sitting 3rd after pool play and it was now time to step up their game in the playoffs if they wanted any chance of bring home a medal.
The quarter-final game was to be against the newly created thunderbolts 93 team and the boys knew they had to step it up and that they did, winning in 2 straight sets 25-16 and 25-12. It seemed everything was clicking now and they were guaranteed top 4. They were anxious to get the semi-final underway with the momentum now going their way. It was the breakers they would have to face once again and they were determined to make it to the gold medal match. The boys left everything on the court in the semi-final game. The boys were blocking everthing in sight, hitting down the line and across court at every opportunity. After all was said and done they now found themselves in the gold medal match with a straight set victory with scores of 25-16 and 27-25.
The gold match would see them go up against crush, the #1 ranked team in the province. After playing the semi-final match the boys had little left in the tank but were determined to put forth a great effort in order to win gold. The first set went to crush 25-16 and in the 2nd set the boys found themselves down 24-17 but scratched their way back to tie the match, only to lose 26-24 and capture silver. A well deserved medal for their tremendous play and determination.
CONGRATULATIONS GENTLEMEN!!
R. Wagner
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