Durham Attack | 16U Black Goes Four for Four in 16U Tier 1

Durham Attack went in force this past weekend to the 16U Tier 1 Open in Ottawa. I say 'in force' because we were proud to have three teams there: 15U Black, 16U Red Hawks and our 16U Black. There is a lot of camraderie between our teams as many of the girls have played together in past seasons, so it was a good weekend for the girls to see each other play and to cheer each other on, even when we played each other. When the dust settled, all of our teams fared well and again we will have three Durham Attack teams in the 16U Provincials in Cambridge later this month.

16U Black went to Ottawa with some trepidation. The layoff over March break when schools were closed, and the CUPE school strike immediately thereafter which has cancelled our gyms permits, has hurt us. We knew we would be facing teams that were working hard over that period to beat us. But I think this tournament was a turning point for Black. Despite a stronger assault than ever on our position as the #1 team, 16U Black again proved that they never give up and that they are deserving of the #1 Ontario ranking they have continued to carry all season.

The quality of 16U volleyball in Ontario has risen and this will only be good for all of us. But each time is has risen 16U Black has taken up the challenge.

Pool Play

Unfortunately we opened against our 15U clubmates, who we would rather meet later in the tournament. This is a great team that is deserving of their own #1 Ontario ranking. But thankfully we played a good opening match, with solid play and tough serving, and won in two sets. It was a match marked by some really good rallies, and we look forward to great things from them again this year at Provincials and Nationals.

Our second match was against a National Capitals team that has improved much over the season. They were hitting the ball well, but we were very strong at the net and got a piece of almost every ball, which made it easy for our back row to pass the ball up for a quick transition to offense. I don't have the exact scores, but with liberal substitutions we won this one somewhere around 25-20, 25-20.

With two wins we finished first in pool A.

Play-offs

Our cross-over match was against Waterloo Tigers Black. We had a bit of a break before this one so we were a bit rusty. We started out really slow but won the first set 25-16. We fell behind 10-4 in the second set, before waking up and winning 21 of the next 25 points, to finish the set 25-14.

In the semi-finals we faced another Waterloo team, Waterloo Tigers White. This is perhaps the biggest team in 16U, with some very good hitters. We won the match 25-20, 25-20. In the second set we had a large lead but used the opportunity to make some substitutions. They fought back but we were able to close out the set.

Finals

In the finals we met our traditional opponents - Forest City, and we anticipated a tough match. It was amazing volleyball, with a lot of huge rallies with continual hitting and amazing defensive digs. Forest City has come a long way and played an amazing match. But as Attack Black has demonstrated continually over the past few years, when pushed to the wall, they can always find a bit more. We played poorly in the first set and dropped it 23-25. We came back to win the second 25-18, and won the tie-breaker 15-11.

Ranked #1 Going into Provincials

Despite a continual assault against our position, and a three-week disruption in our schedule, 16U Black has maintained its #1 Ontario ranking for the entire season - winning four Golds in four tournaments. This team has incredible talent and the deepest bench of any team. This is a turning point for the team - who can settle down into a normal practice schedule and prepare for what we hope to be another great year at the Provincial and National Championships.

Go Black! You have the talent - what you achieve again this year is truly up to you.

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