NEWS

Surprising Finish for the 16U Girls

By: Lise Grant

Off down the highway we drove to the big town of Etobicoke for the 16U Girls Ontario Championships and the final OVA tournament of the 2006-2007 season. It was a great day to drive, slightly overcast so the sun wasn’t beating down and no rain to speak of. Everyone arriving at different times made for an unusual night of people, eating, shopping and getting settled into the hotel. Speaking of which… boy, did we luck out. What a great hotel !! Queen size beds, swimming pool, hot tub….. cheaper than cheap price. Nice treat for the final tournament.

So onto the tournament itself. This being a 2 day event was going to be a long one with pool rounds on Saturday and playoffs on Sunday. Pool play wasn’t one of the better ones for the team. As a matter of fact, we aren’t even going to discuss Saturday except to say that for some reason the team seemed to have an epiphany after playing a rival Ottawa team and having a good laugh over the 2 “motor-mouths” from both teams. They realized that yes, indeed they were a team and they can play as a team and be there for each other as a team. We parents watching the game are still not quite sure what our own motor-mouth was saying on that court. She could have been talking about pizza for all we know but it sure was fast talk and she’d give any auctioneer a run for his money. Whatever it was, the girls were having a great time and they completely turned their game play around and played awesome. After that game….. well….. let’s just say that things changed the next day.

Sunday…. It was as if we had a whole new team on the court. Holy kamolie !!! They came into the gym in great moods and played like there was nothing going to get in their way.

1st up was the Georgian VC – Collingwood team ranked 3rd in their pool but placed 5th after pool play on Saturday. CHOP!!!! Roos took 2 straight games and down went the Georgian team. WOOHOO!!! One team down.

2nd team was the Chatham Ballhawks. They came into the tournament ranked 2nd and finished 1st on Saturday apparently beating everyone else in their pool play. Well they weren’t a match for our girls. Girls played 2 games and CHOP!!! Down went team #2. Go girls go!!

3rd team up was Interclub. Not quite sure if they knew what to expect but it was written all over their faces that they weren’t expecting to be beaten by the Roos girls. Unfortunately, they had to take Interclub to 3 games but once again, they found it in them and CHOP!!!! Down went team #3. Standing ovation by the parents, ears ringing from the whistling and screaming and off went the Roos to play for Silver or Gold.

Uhoh…. And here was the team we were waiting for……The Caps. What an amazing game. It went to 3 games. Roos took the 1st one, Caps taking the 2nd….. 3rd game was as nail biting as the 1st two with the points inching back and forth through the match. All 3 games were like that. A point here, a point there, up and down for both teams. Alas…. It was not to be. Roos won the SILVER Medal but by only a 2 point margin. Amazing game play to finish of an absolutely awesome day of volleyball.

We parents could not be more proud of the girls. It’s been a tough year but to finish it off by winning a silver medal at the Ontario Championships is super. Rumour has it that the girls are now known as the “BUZZ SAW” team because they chopped down everything that stood in their way of getting a medal. Way to go girls…. You deserve this medal the way you played on Sunday. Off to Nationals we go…..

 

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