Durham Attack | 16U Black Finishes 5th in Ontario 17U

Moving Up The Ladder Every Year
by Don Moloney

Congratulations to the girls for accomplishing our best Provincials finish ever at the age group "up".

Thinking back to when they were thirteen, DA Silver finished 11th at Tier 2 14U. The next year our DA 14U Black got knocked into the bottom eight by the Stratford Stingers, but won all three games on Sunday to finish ninth in 15U Tier 1. Last year, we lost our final game to National Capitals 16U to finish 6th in 16U Tier 1. And of course, this year, after pool play we beat South County 17U, National Capitals 17U and Aurora Storm 17U to finish 5th in 17U Tier 1.

Putting it all in perspective, that's still our best finish to-date at the age group higher. We accomplished two Silver Medal tournament finishes and beat three of the top four finishers, DRVC, Scarborough Vipers and Waterloo Tigers in individual tournaments. During regular season 17U we finished no lower than 4th in Tier 1.

The Forest City 16U coach sitting beside us said our team is emblematic of the Durham "Attack" name in that we never give up.

Congratulations again on a great effort!

A Weekend of Ups and Downs
by Larry Skelly

It was a weekend of ups and downs in Barrie, but we ended the tournament on a positive note, with two very solid wins over tough 17U teams to earn a 5th place finish. We know that we could have done better as throughout the season we have beaten each the teams that finished higher (except our 17UB&W whom we have never played). But as Don says you should be very proud of this accomplishment - moving a few more rungs up the ladder every year playing one year up. In the four 17U Tier 1 tournaments you played this year, your average finish is 3rd!!! And the one 17U tournament you skipped was a huge win in Ohio. Now that is amazing.

Attack vs. Stingrays 25-17, 25-17
We started out slow again this tournament but mid-set started to put it together and cruised to a win.

Attack vs. DRVC 17-25, 13-25
We came out completely flat for this one against the eventual Gold medal winners. They're a great team but they didn't seen to be playing fantastic either, they stuck to basics. We simply made too many unforced errors, couldn't pass the ball, and didn't control the ball. It was a very disappointing match for us against a team that we have beaten in the past.

Attack vs. Stingers 21-25, 18-25
The parents on one side of the court were upset about this one! The parents on the team side seemed to be 'better informed'. This loss luckily put us where we wanted to be in the pool standings, in 3rd place, so we could avoid playing our sister team in the quarter-finals.

Crossover - Attack vs. South County Bandits 20-25, 25-21, 15-8
This is a very scrappy team and it was a tough match. We had a lot of trouble with service receive in set one and served a lot of our own balls long. Played better in set two and took command of the tie breaker, never looking back. Lots of hard hitting from all positions. It was a solid, satisfying win against a tough team and nice to end the day on.

Quarter-Finals - Attack vs. Scarborough Vipers 11-25, 20-25
First game on Sunday morning against the top seed - a big Vipers team. We had a huge amount of energy in the warm-up, but we couldn't harness it in the first set, I hear everyone was too tense. Again it was unforced errors, and a bit of bad luck, that put this game out of reach. We played better in the second set but could not close the gap. Again, a very disappointing loss to a team that we have beaten this season.

5th/7th Place Game - Attack vs. National Capitals 20-25, 25-20, 15-10
Disappointed with our poor play against the Vipers, we had a quick lunch (thanks Sandy!) and set forth for the other gym to face the National Capitals 17U. With a number of players sitting out due to injuries, we had a completely different line-up for these last two matches so it was a very satisfying win, coming from behind to beat a big, hard-hitting Caps team. They are a tough opponent and this was a very big win for the girls.

5th/6th Place Game -Attack vs. Aurora Storm 25-13, 25-16
Back to the main gym for our 5th/6th place game against Aurora Storm. This is also a very tough team and they nearly knocked out Waterloo in the quarters, losing a very close tie-breaker. We completely dominated this match from start to finish. Everyone was hitting and in these last two matches we played our best defense of the tournament. Solid effort all around.

On to 16U Provincials

Its a few days off for injuries to mend, then back at it to tune-up for 16U Provincials in two weeks, where we will defend our Provincial title. Go Attack!

All photos...