Attack Black 15u's Win 16U Tier 1 Gold

The 15U Black team made some history today, by winning the Tier One 16U Provincial Championships in Burlington. The girls were "on fire" and the only way that they were going to lose was if someone beat them because they definitely were not going to beat themselves, not this day.

Saturday started with Attack facing Defensa, a team we beat in the Gold Medal Match, two weekends ago to win our 15U Provincial Championship. Attack won this match in two straight sets 25-17, 26-24. Next up was the Maverick Outlaws out of Ottawa. This team was very tall, however even with all that height, Attack was able to quickly win this match 25-18, 26-24. The last team we played in pool play was the KW Predators. This match was a tough match for the girls. The girls needed to play flawlessly as KW played nearly perfectly. Unforced errors cost us the match 15-25, 25-22, 8-15 leaving us second place in our pool.

So began the playoff journey. Our crossover match saw us once again facing our cross town rivals the 15U DRVC team. Attack, finding new resolve after having suffered their first loss of the tournament, stepped up their play and beat DRVC 25-16, 25-11 to earn them a spot in the quarter finals.

Sunday was a new day and with that new day came new determination, new hope and focused dreams. The Attack Team had a new motto for the day and that was,

"Today I will give everything I have, what I keep inside I will lose forever!"

and with this the show began.

The quarter-finals had Attack facing the South County Bandits. This important match would decide who made it through to the medal round and whose dreams would come up short. Attack dreamed BIG and played bigger winning this match 25-21, 25-19. Semi Finals, here we come...

The semi's was a repeat of the previous Tier One 16U Tournament whereby Attack was pitted against the number one seed team in the tournament, the Scarborough Titans. "ETTB" (inside joke) was the phrase that kept this talented 15U team pumped during this match. This match would be, what most spectators would have to agree with, was or could have been the GOLD medal match. Attack came out with much enthusiasm and intensity that they got into the heads of the Titans and quickly stole the first set 25-15. Not to be outdone, the Titans fought back hard and won the second set 22-25. The third set went point for point and this is where desire, belief and determination pay off. The Attack team fought hard and won this third set in a nail biter 15-13. They would play for GOLD!

The GOLD medal match was between Attack and Niagara. The 15Us decided to "EMPTY THE TANK" right then and there. This was the loudest match this year for this young team and with great communication comes teamwork and teamwork they had. In two straight sets, 25-23, 25-19 this underage team won gold!

This was by far the most incredible weekend of volleyball that the 15Us have played this year. Every member of the team, Jodie Mitchell, Candice Ottey, Emily Betteridge, Emily Nicholishen, Elise Hazelton, Jazmine White, Ehvan Parrot, Taylor Simons, Jenny Richardson, Alanna Blenkarn and Lilly Macleod contributed to this win and played like true champions and demonstrated time and time again, that volleyball is a team sport and that this is a team to watch.

The girls must be commended for adjusting to some areas of concern on day one and being able to fix them on day two! Overall team defence, blocking and attack coverage were areas that improved dramatically, extended rallies and in turn made us even more difficult to play against. Elite teams must be able to adjust and adapt in a short period of time and this team certainly is elite.

Congratulations to Emily Betteridge who was chosen as the recipient of the OVA Award of Excellence.

Two stairs climbed, two to go.

Kevin, Lisa & Tom

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