Welcome to the Niagara Rapids Volleyball Club!

The Niagara Advantek Rapids 16U girls The Niagara Advantek Rapids 16U girls’ volleyball team closed out their Ontario Volleyball Association season on a high note by capturing the Tier One Provincial Championship silver medal. The Advantek Rapids who were the 14U Tier1 Provincial Champions and the Eastern National Tier1 silver medalists two years ago, were shut out of the medal round in 2007 but set a goal of returning to the finals which they achieved on Sunday afternoon in Burlington. Coming off of one of the most exciting three set semi-finals (lasting over an hour), the Rapids had to take on the well-rested Durham Attack 15U squad after a five minute break. The Rapids began slow in the first set falling behind by a 15 * 7 score, but battled back to take the lead and come with in two points of winning the set but fell short 25-23. The second set saw the Rapids run out of steam and intensity as they were swept by a 25-19 score. The Rapids who were seeded 8th in the 16 team tier1 championship, opened the second day of competition by taking on the 2nd seed Durham Attack 16U team in the quarter finals. After dropping the first set by a 18-25 score, they battled back from a 14-8 deficit to win the second set in a score of 25-22. In the third and deciding set, the Rapids would once again climb out of a hole when they were down by an 8-11 score. They bounced back to take the lead and a 15-13 victory. They carried that momentum into the semi-finals where took on the 5th seed Georgetown Impact in what everyone called the most exciting match of the tournament and what could have easily been the gold medal match of the championship. The first set saw the two teams trade kills, blocks, aces and points before the Rapids came out on top by a 25-23 score. The second set of the match was much of the same with Impact pulling away when the score was tied at 15 as they tied the match at 1 with a 19 * 25 victory. With everyone in attendance watching, the stage was set for the third and deciding set which saw the Georgetown team taking the early 5-8 lead, but the Rapids proved how well they can handle adversity as they bounced back to tie the score at 9. Neither team would take more then a one point lead before the Rapids came out on top with an 18 * 16 victory to advance to the gold medal match. The Niagara club, which fields elite players from around the Niagara Region, began the two day championships with victories over the Durham Rebels Volleyball club in three sets by scores of 25-18, 29-31 and 16-14. In their second match they swept the host Halton Hurricanes in two straight by scores of 25-9 and 25-22. In their third and final match of pool play the Rapids took on the championship number one seed Scarborough Titans and were defeated in two sets by scores of 21-25 and 11-25 to finish in second place in their pool. The first round of the playoffs saw the Rapids taking on the Ottawa Maverick Outlaws (11th seed) and easily won the first set by a 25-12 score. The Outlaws fought back to tie the match at 1 with a 19-25 win but the Rapids regained their offensive power to easily win the third and deciding game by a 15-9 score to close out the first day of competition and advance into the championship quarter finals. The Rapids, who were playing with a short bench all weekend, found ways to win with each player contributing at key times during the championship. Alicia Combe was the most dominant middle of the championships converting 61 sets for kills while adding 10 blocks and 6 aces for 77 points. Power hitter Julia Friesen who was 100% for the first time all year, brought her intensity to the championship along with her power as she scored 40 points of which 37 were kills and 3 aces. Middle Stephanie Vickers also brought her best game of the season as she scored 17 kills, led the team in blocking with 11 stuffs and 4 aces for 32 points. Right side hitter Christine Foest led all Rapids in aces with 11 while also hitting for 13 kills and 1 stuffed block for 25 points. Outside hitters Elisa Moyer and Andjela Mamic contributed 10 and 6 points each while Mamic was also a standout on defence. Setter Ava Sarkis was once again at her best as she set up her hitters for a total of 451 sets while contributing on offence with 5 kills and 4 aces for 9 points. Alyssa Dykstra and Kaya Jasinski also contributed with key plays while Emily Neufeld’s solid back court play was sorely missed due to injury. Defensive specialist Dayna Kozub, who plays the Libero position for the Rapids, was once again invaluable at these championships and was the recipient of the Ontario Volleyball Association Award of Excellence as selected by her teammates for dedication, commitment and proficiency in the sport of volleyball. The girls will now prepare for the Canadian Volleyball Westerrn National 16U Championship which will be held in Calgary on May 17th * 19th.

14U Boys - Congrats on the Silver Medal!

13U Girls Report Niagara Rapids U 13 girls Black team had great success on Saturday December 8th at the OVA McGregor Cup tournament in Cambridge. The team managed to win Bronze which earned them a spot in Tier 1 for the next tournament in January, 2008. This was an impressive start for their 2007- 2008 season. The Rapids Blue team also had a strong finish placing 5th overall. Back Row (left to right): Courtney MacPherson, Coach Nikky Katona Giguere,Madison Taylor,Brooklyn Murdoch,Surtherland Barnatt,Kara Ross Front Row (left to right) Robyn Molnar, Carling Carr,Olivia Wall,Ashley Pereira - missing from pic- Asst Coach Amy Katona

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To contact the Rapids, please e-mail beth@rapidsvolleyball.com, or call 905-937-4275