15U Black Girls and Nationals East Silver Lining

The 15U Girls took Moncton by storm and played what was probably the most exciting match of the tournament at the Canadian East Open this weekend.

The first two days went as everyone hoped with strong wins in the preliminary and power pools. The highlight of the early matches was the win over Libellules (25-16 & 25-7). Winning over the 2008 National champs on day one was a great motivator and it set the tone for rest of the weekend. By the end of play on Saturday, our girls had taken all 6 matches in two games and were ready for Sunday.

Our first place pool play standing going into playoffs on Sunday resulted in a favorable draw with three games to the medal match. The first game saw a Durham Attack /Libellules rematch which ended with scores of 25-18 & 25-16 for Attack. Then it was on to another Quebec team, the Aigles. Once again Attack took the match in two games (25-23 & 25-18).

The gold medal match was next and who should it be against but the Ontario Provincial champions – the Maverick Ambush! The bleachers were full and our girls were pumped. Attack took the lead early in the first game and held it until the 22 point mark. Then Ambush came from a 19 point position to win with a score of 26-24. Game two got off to a shaky start for Attack but our girls recovered to take game two 26-24. By this time the crowd was going wild! Attack came out strong in game three and led by 5 points mid game. Ambush wasn’t going down and fought back to tie at the 10 point mark. Both teams went point by point to 15 then Ambush pulled ahead to take the tie breaker 17-15. Anyone who was fortunate enough to be there saw volleyball at its best. Our girls played their hearts out and couldn’t have come any closer to gold – we are so proud of them! Thanks to Kevin, Lisa & John for their wonderful support and to all the Attack players, parents and friends who came to cheer. A special mention goes to Ian for his much appreciated team scouting during the weekend! We hope everyone will follow along this coming weekend as the team goes to Calgary.

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