14U Red Wins York University Invitational

The Girls 14U Red team managed to make their way through the blizzard-like conditions to get to the York University Invitational tournament that was held January 18th.

Coming off a disappointing performance at the McGregor Cup tournament the prior weekend, the girls seemed determined to really show everyone how well they could play. From the first point of the day, this was a different team than the week before. The girls hustled and there was no ball they weren't willing to dive for - regardless of where they ended up - in the stands among the parents (alright Brianna !) or crashing into ballcarts (yeah Kayla !), they would not be denied.

The team ended round robin play with a 3-1 record, defeating the Toronto West Ravens, DRVC Blue and Scarborough Titans Shock teams, and only losing to the KW Predators Purple by close scores of 22-25 and 23-25. This resulted in the girls finishing first in their pool and meant they would face DRVC in the semi-final. Unfortunately the girls got off to a slow start and lost the first set, but after a discussion between sets, and with the vocal support of the 13U Black team, the girls came out strong and easily won the second set 25-13 and then the tie-breaker set 15-8.

It was then on to the final against the Scarborough Titans. The girls were on a roll and easily won the first set 25-13, however, the Scarborough Titans were not ready to give in and fought back hard in the second set which our girls lost by a close score of 22-25. So the gold medal was going to come down to a tie-break set - and what a tie-break set ! The teams traded points back and forth, neither getting more than a point or two ahead of the other. Finally, it came to match point with our girls ahead 14-13, and with a great play at the net, we had won 15-13 and the girls began to celebrate, as did the parents in the stands ! But wait, we hadn't won yet - the team was called for a net violation. After a timeout to try to re-group and re-focus, the girls went back out on the court determined to not let this get away. Back and forth the teams went, with some of the longest rallies of the match and some incredible digs. With the score 17-16, one of the Scarborough Titans players hit the ball out along the sideline, and the 14U Red team had now officially won the gold medal, by a score of 18-16. The girls were thrilled, as were the parents, some of whom couldn't take any more excitement - we were almost to the point of having to get oxygen for two of the parents - feeling alright now Lisa and Linda ?

The team was full measure for their win; the girls worked together and supported each other throughout the day and everyone shared in, and had a part to play, in the team's success.

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