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16U Black finished a perfect Ontario 16U season over the weekend by winning the
Ontario 16U Tier 1 Championship for the third straight year. This comes on
the heels of winning all four Ontario 16U Tier 1 tournaments this season, along
with the 16U Ohio Valley Region National Challenge in Cleveland. |
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Its getting harder to win these tournaments - facing a continual onslaught of
team after team wanting to be the team to finally beat Attack Black.
Everybody gets pumped up and plays against us with a lot of adrenaline,
and there was a strong challenge in virtually every match.
The final
was a much anticipated rematch with a strong, motivated Forest City
team, a team that has filmed our games, scouted our games and
practiced nearly every day in the two weeks leading to the match-up.
And again they played really, really well. But when the pressure
is on our girls have this uncanny ability to dig even deeper than
before and lift their game up to yet a new level. And they did
it yet again, winning the final in two solid games.
Although they played extremely well on the weekend, I don't think
we've quite yet seen how well Attack Black can play. They've climbed
the first of the final three rungs on their ladder for this season and
to climb the final two they will need to elevate their play yet again. |
Pool Play
vs. Milton Storm 25-17
25-12
vs, Attack 15U Black 25-15, 25-20
vs. Peel Selects 25-19, 25-21
We started our day a bit slowly as our tradition has it, easing into
the first match. Played solid in the second. Fell behind
19-13 to a big, talented Peel team at one point in the third match
before picking up the intensity to close out the second set 25-21.
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Crossover
vs. Tigers Black 25-23,
25-16
Tigers
had 'one of those days' in their pool, finishing fourth, and decided
to take it out on us. They're another team that is bigger than
us; they're a really strong team who deserved to be in the top handful
of teams. So they were on fire and played with huge energy.
And our girls were also battling a group
of Tigers parents who weren't representing their team very well.
We were behind the entire first
game and were down 23-18 near the end. But we showed incredible
character and strength to take control to win the first set and match.
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Quarters
vs. National
Capitals 25-20, 25-14
We drew
the Caps for the quarters on Sunday morning. Caps played the
best we have seen all season, and were hitting and blocking really
well. Again we were playing a team strongly motivated to beat
us, who played with more intensity. We were behind again near
the end of the first set and again lifted it up a notch with great
blocking and hitting to close out the set and win the match.
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Semis
vs. Vista 25-20,
25-13
Vista is a
small team that started in the zones and has enjoyed a meteoric rise
into Tier 1 and the final four this year. Everything came
together for them on the weekend, and they played very well against
us, giving us a good challenge in the first set, digging nearly
everything. We just kept hitting and wore them down. Look
for great things from this team next year, if they can add some size.
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Finals
vs. Forest
City 25-23, 25-20 |
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Forest City was
really pumped for this one, it has been their goal the entire year to beat us
and they worked tirelessly in the last few months to prepare. Great
warm-ups with a lot of energy, and for this one we stepped it up a level.
It was a great match with some long rallies and really good hitting. We
came out strong and led both sets the entire way. Just when it seemed we
would open up a bigger lead, Forest City dug deep and closed the gap.
Everyone expected three sets but on this particular day we were strong enough to
close it out in two. |
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They are a fantastic team and we wish them luck at Nationals West,
where we will be cheering on our teammates from Ontario. |
All Stars - Rebecca Glancy, Jordyn Moloney, and Ali Goc
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On a team of this
calibre it is very difficult to pick all stars so the judges had their work cut
out. But they did a great job in picking three players who have been
stellar the entire season, playing very strong both offensively and defensively.
Each is a leader of our team in their own way. |
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Rebecca with her great hitting, dominating net play and strong
serving. She has captained our team to the Provincial Championship in
her quiet way. Always strong offensively, her strong defensive
skills helped us win the final. Thanks Becky for your leadership
this year!
Ali with
her absolutely huge hitting, stellar passing and killer serving, and
defensive digs. Your constant support on the court for your
teammates does not go unnoticed. And everyone forgets that she
is playing up an age group!!!
And
Jordyn for quarterbacking the team and refusing to bend when under
pressure. When our hitters are crushing the ball with
spectacular hits, or the opposing defense 'parts the Red Sea' as Chris
likes to say, because of a perfectly executed Step X or Tandem, its
easy to forget that all of this happens when Jordyn reads the defense,
chases down a pass and places the ball exactly where the hitter wants
it to be. And very strong defensively; no-one is tougher
one-on-one at the net.
We are
really proud to be your teammates and thrilled with what you have
accomplished. And we look forward to accomplishing even more
with you. |
On to 16U Nationals
A few more
days to prep for Nationals East and Nationals West where Attack Black
will defend the two National Titles it won last year. We're
ready and looking forward to some great volleyball.
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