Day 1 Pool Play

Day 2 and 3, Close to the Prize

Close To The Prize...

The U14 Girls Green team traveled to Rim Park in Kitchener-Waterloo to compete in the U14 Provincials over three days. It was a busy and exciting tournament, with over 100 teams participating in both boys and girls U14 and U18 divisions.

Our goal over the first two days of competition was to finish in the top 2 of the pool, in order to continue being able to fight for the Tier 1 medals on day 3. The girls performed excellently over the preliminary pool-play matches to finish in first place overall, with a perfect 6-0 record, without losing a set! This set us up well to contend for a medal, as we received a bye to the quarter-finals. Unfortunately, by a twist of fate and seeding, we ended up meeting last year's champion, and this year's silver medallists, Aurora Storm. Given their sterling performance up to this match, the girls were cautiously confident about their chances for success.

We started out strong in the first set of the quarter-final match, with tough serving, strong passing, and smart net play. But nerves started to take over, and our very strong opposition took advantage of some miscues and timidity on our side to slowly chip away at our lead. The game remained close, but we eventually lost 26-24. In the second set, Aurora controlled the game from the start, beating us with strong offense from the middle, while keeping our own strong spikes in play on their side. We didn't give up, and fought to the very end, but it was not to be our day, and we lost 25-22 to a deserving Aurora Storm team.

Congratulations to our own FCVC U13 girls team, who capped off their magnificent season with a bronze medal at this event. We look forward to many battles with them in the future!

All the players should be very pleased with their excellent play this weekend. Who would have imagined at the beginning of the season that we would be so close to the prize at the end? Everyone learned through the season about the amount of hard work it takes to become good athletes and volleyball players. The future looks bright for this group of players, who will work hard in the off-season to improve on this finish next season.

On behalf of all the players, I want to congratulate Meghan Lawson on her outstanding job as Assistant Coach and den mother. You have done more to instill discipline, good habits, strong work ethic, and a sense of FUN in our team that I could have dreamed possible. Congratulations on your acceptance to law school in the fall, but we are saddened as you leave behind an enormous vacancy in the team, which will be difficult to fill. Batman!!

Finally, Meghan and I would both like to congratulate all the players: Kelsey Dynes, Sara Fischer, Olivia Gadd, Laura Gaskin, Michelle Hayman, Sarah Hurgett, Erica Irving, Emily Lebrun-Zandri, Corinne Mazurkiewicz, and Katie Parry. We had a lot of fun with you all season, and we marvelled at how much you improved. Continue to believe that you can compete (and win) against any team in the province. We believe in you!!

1st Place Finish

We entered a charity tournament to support the cause of breast cancer research and traveled to Burlington to play against several other U14 teams, in preparation for our Provincial Championships. It was a beautiful day in Burlington and we enjoyed both some sunny weather and some excellent play our team.

In the round-robin we didn't lose a set, winning each match by fairly comfortable margins. The Durham Red U14 team pushed us in the second set, but we held on to win 25-23 in the second set, to preserve our perfect record. We were fortunate in this pool-play setup to play two of the three other teams in our opening pool at the Provincials - Oakville Thunder U14 and Burlington Blaze U14, and we defeated both of them fairly easily.

In the quarter-final we came up against a young MAC team who could not match our strength, size, speed, and serves. Although the first set was closer, we blew them off the court 25-4 in the second set, giving us a lot of confidence going into the final.

The final saw a repeat of the first matchup of the day against Peel U14. We had lost to this team in a finals in November, but we had beaten them easily in the morning, so we felt confident we had a chance to win our first tournament of the year. The first set was controlled by us and we won 25-19, meaning we had one more set to finish an undefeated and gold-medal winning day. Peel, however, had other ideas and came out strong and fighting in the second set. We made several unforced errors, and handed them the victory in the second set 25-15. So, it would come down to a third and final set. Our goal during the final two tournaments before Provincials was to finish strong at the end of the tournament, as we have had trouble winning the final match of any event. This last set was to prove exciting and eventful, as we played catch-up throughout the set. Peel was within inches of victory as we let them get up 13-9. But we steadied our nerves and with tough, smart, serving and tenacious defense we fought back to 13-13 and then put the game away 15-13. Way to go girls!! It was an exciting end to a fun day, made more exciting by the fact that we won money! After giving back almost half of our prize money to the charity, we had enough left over to enjoy a team lunch at Swiss Chalet.

Good luck going into the Provincials girls!! Work hard, be relaxed, and have fun. If we play our best we will have good results. Remember to play for each other - team first, team last, team only!!

Undefeated in Pool Play

This tournament was a good warmup for our own U14 Provincials, later in April. Going in seeded 4th, we survived a topsy-turvey round robin event which saw the other 3 top-seeded teams finish last in their pools. The highlight of the pool-play round was the third set against a strong South County Bandits Black U15 team, which was a back and forth game, finally clinched by FCVC 21-19. Our previous match against this team was in November and was a similarly evenly matched competition, which we won 15-13 in the third set.

We looked strong in the pre-quarters, dispatching with the U15 Hurricanes team without much difficulty, and felt pretty confident going into our quarter-finals on the Sunday morning. We had a good warmup and expected to give the Maverick Colts U15 team a good match, but our opposition came out with energy and fight and passion, and frankly out-worked us for the win.

In the 5th-place semi final match we came up against another U14 team - the Titans Nemesis, who are currently seeded 4th in the province in U14. We felt confident however, taking the court against them, and came out very strong in the first set, dispatching them with conviction. The second set was a closer, see-saw game, which saw the lead change several times. In the end, the Nemesis squeaked out a 25-23 victory to send the match into a third set. Volleyball is a crazy game sometimes, with big momentum swings. FCVC started the third set looking scared and unsure, and quickly dropped to 0-8 at the changeover. We called a time out and reassured ourselves that teams come back from big deficits all the time, and we could easily take the momentum back from the Nemesis. Slowly but surely, we chipped away at their lead, and our opposition began playing scared that they would blow such a big early lead. Our steady play and belief in our ability came through and we clinched the match with an exciting finish 15-13 in the third set. What a game, girls - you played great and should be very proud that you never gave up and kept fighting.

In the match for 5th place we came up against the U15 Predators team who were bigger and stronger, and worked hard to defeat us 25-23 in the first set. This loss sealed the coffin for us in the tournament as we had no more comebacks to pull out, and we finished with a lackluster effort in the final set of the day.

A Strong Showing with a Fourth Place Finish In Quebec

Over the Easter weekend, the U14 Girls Green team took off on the eastbound 401 to compete in the prestigious Festival Inter-Provincial in Joliette, Quebec.

We entertained ourselves during the long trip to Quebec with movies, conversation, and French Bingo (merci Monsieur Dynes!). Many hours later we arrived at our temporary home at the Delta Montreal, and replenished our energy with mile-high smoked meat sandwiches at the famous Rueben's Deli.

"Friday Round 1"

The competition started bright and early Friday morning at the Polyvalente Therese-Martin in Joliette, Quebec, where we saw an early morning crew clearing several metres of snow off the roof!

FCVC defeated their first opponents, Impact de Durocher, in two close games, 25-20, 25-23. Corinne Mazurkiewicz and Kelsey Dynes set the pace with three service aces apiece, while Emily Lebrun-Zandri contributed a strong effort in serve receive.

In the second match, we went up against the loud and colourful Envolley de Sherbrooke team. They served tough against us, getting us back on our heels, but we hung tough and pulled out another victory, 26-24, 25-17. Katie Parry was strong from the service line with four aces, and Michelle Hayman contributed offensively with three kills.

Our third pool-play match provided a bit of a break, as we met the relatively weak Dragons College St. Anne team. The girls secured an easy victory, 25-13, 25-14. Sarah Hurgett unleashed her wicked serve to score six aces, and Sara Fischer contributed two kills.

In the final pool-play match, FCVC went up against the second-ranked team in our pool, Cyclone Blanc Lachenie. Our opponents were also undefeated in pool play, and are currently ranked amongst the top 5 teams in Quebec. In the first set, we came out extremely flat, falling behind 9-17.

After several substitutions and a couple of time-outs, a better effort emerged and we clawed our way back to make it close. In the end, the gap proved to be too big, and we lost our first set of the weekend, 23-25.

So, the winner of this battle for first place in the pool (and a coveted late-morning playoff start) would be determined by the second set. FCVC came out of the gate with fire in their bellies and took an early commanding lead.

Despite a spirited rally by the opposition, hung on to win the set by a convincing score of 25-14. Erica Irving set the pace with six aces, and Olivia Gadd had a strong passing performance.

After a day of play in snowy Joliette, FCVC emerged with first place in our pool and a bye into the quarter-finals. Not bad pour les anglaises!!

That evening, the team relaxed with pizza and hotel hide-and-seek, while the parents debated who would win in a fantasy Maple Leafs / Canadiens Stanley Cup final (which would truly be a fantasy - sorry Phil, Bryan, Rick, and Nancy!!!).

"Saturday Round 2"

The quarter-finals pitted us against the Lynx de la Rive Sud, and the atmosphere in the playoff gym was getting raucus.

The first set was back and forth as both teams demonstrated a strong offense from the middle and tenacious defense. FCVC emerged victorious, 25-23, and took the momentum into the second set.

Strong serving by Kelsey Dynes and Corinne Mazurkiewicz as well as an athletic and confident setting performance by Laura Gaskin, led the team to a 25-16 victory and a berth in the semi-finals.

Both tournament semi-finals were exciting matchups. The number 1 and number 3 Quebec-ranked teams in one game, and the number 2 Quebec-ranked, home-town, Lebellules de Joliette against the upstart kids from Ontario in the other.

Unfortunately, nerves and the overwhelming noise and energy of the Quebec teams and their supporters got the better of some of our players, and we were shell-shocked in the first set, 9-25.

FCVC didn't quit, however, and we played much better in the second set, putting a scare into the Joliette girls through to the middle of the set. We didn't come out with the victory, but we did hold our own, losing 18-25 to the eventual tournament champions.

Our final match in Quebec was against Aigles College Jean Eude, for the bronze medal. Although the two teams were evenly matched, we struggled with some confusion on our side of the court and too many unforced errors. The match quickly fell out of our grasp and we were defeated two sets straight, finishing the tournament a very respectable 4th out of 26 teams.

With the volleyball over, the team could spend a bit of time enjoying the sights and sounds of la Belle Province. We took a bus ride to the top of Mount Royal, had dinner at the local St. Hubert

On Sunday morning before our time in Montreal came to an end the team had an Easter Egg hunt and an "Amazing Race" scavenger hunt around the hotel. The team then took a Metro ride to Old Montreal where we walked around the cobblestone streets and peeked into the Easter Mass at the Notre Dame Basilica.

Thanks to all the parents who made the arrangements for our trip, and who helped to make it a fun and rewarding experience for the players. Thanks also to our bus driver Roy, who came to the gym to cheer on our team, and even did runs to Tim Hortons in the big bus, for the parents.

Congratulations to all the players for behaving well as guests in the province, and for representing the club so well. Felicitations!!!

Strong second match defeating South County to garner 2nd place in pool

Victory against Durham Attack U14 “B” (ranked 7th in Ontario)

A Seventh Place Finish

A Silver Medal Finish

A Silver Medal Finish

A Fifth Place Finish