The 16U
Black team travelled to Kitchener this past weekend to play in the 16U Challenge
Cup Premiere Division.
Pool play was uneventful with Attack victorious
over the Predators 25-15, 25-15 and Scarborough Titans 25-17, 25-15.
Earning a bye in the first cross over match Attack would wait to see who they
would play in the quarter-finals. The quarters saw Attack take on a much smaller
but very scrappy and determined Stinger's team out of Stratford. Attack
won the first set quickly and decisively 25-13. The second set started the same
with Attack out to an early lead of 10-4 but then "IT" happened and the girls,
through numerous unforced errors, lost the second set 23-25. The third set
had Attack taking the floor and the set 15-6.
Off to the semi-finals against a talented up and coming team out of London, the
16U Forest City team that gave Attack a pretty decent challenge the last time we
met. Attack won the first set 25-17 and then "IT" happened again and they
lost the second set 24-26 ……… déjà Vu. Third set Attack was back and won
15-8.
There seemed to be a pattern developing as the girls moved on to play Defensa in
the Gold Medal Match. The first game was back and forth with Defensa
coming out on top 21-25. Not to be out done Attack took the second set
25-21. I know all the girls like the movie "Twilight" but it felt like we
were stuck in the "twilight zone" with all these third sets. The third set
caught Attack flat-footed on more than one occasion and they were down at the
switch 8-5. Unfortunately they were unable to regroup enough to come back
and lost this set to the Defensa team 15-10.
To give credit where credit is due the Defensa team were on fire during this
Gold Medal match. They played a very quick game at the net, they had a
huge block, their serving was more or less error free and defensively they had
obviously studied game tapes of previous matches - lessons learned …………………….
ETTB needs to be every point, every set, and every match until the final whistle
is blown.
This season is indeed shaping up to be a very competitive one.
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