|
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.
|