13U Vipers win Provincial Bronze!

Congratulations to our 13U team for bringing home a BRONZE medal at the OVA Championships yesterday! The girls played some tough teams throughout the tournament but they held their own and kept fighting, being rewarded with a third place finish in Division 2 Tier 2 out of 3 Divisions! The Vipers were ranked 13th in the division entering the tournament and beat 19th ranked DRVC in two straight sets on Sunday with scores of 25-20, 27-25! The girls continued on their high into the next game against number 1 seeded Forest City Blue but unfortunately fell short in a close third set 12-15. On Monday the girls had more close sets against tough teams, some with scores of 25-23 and also falling to the Stratford team that ended up taking gold in their tier.

The girls were fighting hard against tough teams in every set! It's amazing to see such young players spiking hard and so many of them overhand serving consistently! These skills all came together on Tuesday in their first match, that they had to win to continue their journey! Putting their nerves aside they defeated the Venom team, ranked just behind them at 15th, in three sets with scores of 25-19, 18-25, and 15-9! Winning this first game of playoffs is always the hardest game of the tournament so we are so proud of the girls for this accomplishment! 

In the semi-finals the 13Us were matched up against the DRVC team we met on Sunday and unfortunately fell short this time in a very close third set, 13-15. However, that didn't stop the Vipers! In the Bronze medal match we had to play 11th ranked West Nipissing Wild, and it was the most nerve racking game of the tournament! The final scores were 19-25, 25-12, and despite falling behind in the third set, having to come back from 11-13, the Vipers came out on top winning 16-14!

This team has always been so special. Not only are they the clubs youngest team, but we knew they were going to do well right from the first tryout when we had the highest tryout attendance the club has seen to date! In addition, we had 4 parent coaches volunteer to help train these girls and teach them the skills needed to succeed! This team has finished in the top 5 in all of their tournaments, earning silver and bronze at two of the 4, and now a provincial medal to top it off! Congratulations to the players, parents and coaches on an amazing season! We can't wait for next year!