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The girls made the
short trip to Brighton to play in their third 15U tournament of the year.
Although these tournaments are more for the experience of playing older and
physically stronger teams, this one had a special meaning. Our very first
match of the day was going to be against our friends from DRVC 14U who just two
weeks earlier beat us in two straight sets.
Many of us have
often wondered what the acronym DRVC actually stands for. Could it simply
be
Down
with
Rob’s
Volleyball
Chairs,
or is there a different meaning? Depending on the match result and the
many hours of practicing, everyone would soon find out. Our first set
started out with us building an early lead only to have it slip away and losing
the first set 22-25. This is how we finished against DRVC in North Bay so
there were many worried parents and discouraged players.
After a quick team meeting it was time to get back to business on the court.
The second set was a different story and this time the lead wasn’t relinquished.
The serving, passing and hitting wasn’t returnable and we came out victorious
with a dominating 25-7 victory. The monkey had left the girls backs,
confidence was everywhere and the tie breaker was a forgone conclusion. It
was over quick and the win was decisive. After only giving up 9 points we
were 1 & 0 on the day. To an outsider you would have thought we just won
the tournament, but we now knew we can beat any team we play as long as we play
our game and not theirs. I'm sure the girls now fully understood what Rob
was talking about and why he ran his now famous chair drill at practice
(although they would never admit it).
After a couple of hour wait our next opponent was Pegasus Fusion. Although
the team may have been stiff after a two hour wait it didn’t show on the court.
Passing was solid, serves were consistent and hits were strategically placed
while being hit hard. This match was over in a hurry as we outscored
Pegasus 50-17 in two short sets.
It was time for another 2 ½ wait before our dreaded crossover game. Our
crossover record hasn’t been great this year but hopefully this was the day it
would all change. The Maverick Colts were a good team but definitely not a
better team. The sets were evenly matched and if not for a few close calls
this could have gone the other way. We fell in the first set in a nail
biter 25-27, while the second set was just as close where we came up short
23-25. This was definitely disappointing, but everyone played well and
that’s the way the ball bounces sometimes.
Our last match of the day didn’t start until 6:00PM and it was against the
Stingrays 94. The first set saw us come out a little flat losing 18-25.
We bounced back in the second set with a convincing 25-12 victory and although
the tie breaker was back and forth for the entire game we came up short losing
12-15.
What seemed like an eternity, a very long day finished with a 7th place finish.
This is one of those tournaments that our placing didn’t indicate our level of
play. We may have finished 7th, but our level of play increased
dramatically. We defeated a team that we have had trouble with for the
last two seasons, we handily beat some 15U teams and our loses were so marginal
we could have easily won them. This bodes well for the team because they
are obviously improving and getting stronger each week. Newmarket is next
and we will be a team to be reckoned with at this tournament.
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