Durham Attack | 15U Red Hawks Win Bronze in 16U MacGregor Cup

In their first 16U tournament of the season our 15U Red Hawks brought home a Bronze medal from Ottawa. It was a long, tense, tough and fun day of volleyball for our girls. After a slow start in their 15U season opener in Madoc the Hawks have worked hard and it showed this weekend. The Hawks rarely lost a game by more than a handful of points all day, and it was a great tournament for developing the team.

Pool play proved to be a lot of work, as all four teams that made the semi-finals were in our pool. But it was well worth it for the Hawks. They came out flying in the first sets of the first two games, and had the teams beaten but let them slip away, with the assistance of some controversial calls, then succumbed in the tie-breakers by a few points each time. All the hard work began to pay off and in the third game of pool play they beat the gold medal winning team, the Ottawa Kangaroos, in three hard fought sets, and finished pool play on a much needed rush from victory.

They met Pegasus Flames in the first round of playoffs, handily winning in two sets with scores of 25 - 20 and 25 - 13. The next match was with the Kingston Pegasus Black, whom they had taken to three games in pool play and against whom they struggled somewhat with rotation and a few bad breaks. Unfortunately the Hawks came out on the wrong end of two closely fought sets, 22 - 25 & 23 - 25.

This brought the girls to the bronze medal match meeting the Cobourg Northumberland Breakers. Battling fatigue and hunger, our girls dug deep and stepped it up after a shaky start, taking yet another game of three sets (21 - 25, 25 - 22 & 15 - 4). They played the Attack way and came out hitting hard in the tie-breaker, putting almost every ball away, and at one point were up 13-2. They finished the tie-breaker 15-4 and proved to themselves that they can do it.

The Hawks brought home the Bronze medal against solid 16U teams, giving us and them an example of the heights they can soar to when they play their game. With all games lost being within a handful of points, the Hawks were clearly the equal of any team at the tournament. It was a memorable ride and the future bodes well for the Hawks!