15U Girls Purple Dominate Trillium Tournament
On January 16th, the 15U Girls Purple team set out to prove that they belonged among the Province's top teams as they dominated play in the Trillium A tournament in Chatham.
"We were not happy that we had to play another Trillium tournament after playing in arguably the toughest Trillium tournament in our last tournament." said Stephen Green, Head Coach. "We knew we had something to prove today to show we were prepared for the next level. Adding to our motivation, is that fact that we have beaten teams at the Championship and Premier level in exhibition play."
The 15U's dominated the tournament with a combined plus/minus of +78 and did not lose a set all day. Unable to jump serve (due to small courts), the team served tough with few serving errors and controlled matches with a quick and aggressive serve receive. These, topped off with a fierce offensive attack, allowed the Preds to run rough-shot over the competition.
The day started with two round-robin matches against Forest City Grey and the West Elgin Warriors. The Preds quickly beat both of these teams by serving hard and controlling the game at the net. From there, and after another extended break, the Preds defeated the Forest City Grey team again in the quarter finals. This set up an inter-club match between the Preds Purple and Black team in the semi finals.
Both teams fought hard in the semis especially with the Preds Black team having improved so much over the past two months. The Preds Purple was able to hold off the fight and prevail two straight. The game was a competitive one and fun to see two teams battle it out!
Going home with a silver was not going to be enough for the Preds. The only way to prove they were a force to be reckoned for next tournament was to complete the sweep and take home a gold; a feat that has escaped them in the past. Winning the closest two sets of the day, the Preds took home the gold winning over the Sarnia Thunder.
The 15U Girls Purple team will next play at Cleveland Ohio for the Ohio Valley Region (OVR) National Challenge Cup on January 30th and 31st as they prepare for their next OVA tournament on February 13th.
Go Preds Go!!!
