Girls 14U Arif Win Silver at Challenge Cup!

It’s always nice to be able to sleep in on the weekend; an 11am first game and a close venue, afforded us the opportunity to do just that before suiting up for the Challenge Cup, in Bowmanville. 

Game 1 saw our Attack team pitted against DRVC.  Always a worthy opponent, the DRVC team did not disappoint. Attack Arif started out strong at the net and showed DRVC they intended to pounce on every mistake, jumping to a quick 5-2 lead.  In the lead, Team Arif starts to become careless, not finishing their attacks, lobbing too many free-balls over to their opponents, and quickly find themselves down 11-17.  Coach Arif calls a much needed T.O. and it works, stalling the DRVC team as Attack jumps on the offensive pounding out more points to take the win, 26-24.  In set 2 Attack opens with some stellar blocking and a monster hit to advance to a 5-0 lead. Playing more exceptional ball, the Durham squad jumps to a quick 11-3 lead, and then begins to consistently lob free balls over to the waiting DRVC team, allowing the opposition some breathing room. The Arif team begins to find their mark with some hard hitting and drive ahead with admirable 3 ball play, ending in pounding hits.  Attack Arif takes the second set 25-17.

In Game 2, Team Arif is pitted against Aurora’s Storm Typhoon.  Attack pounces quickly with dominant play and find their groove, while the Typhoon team struggles to find a solution to Attack’s attack. Team Arif powers ahead with marvellous hitting leading 16-10, before Typhoon calls a T.O. to try and re-group. To no avail, the Durham team’s aggressive serving and blistering hitting earns a solid 25-13 Attack win. The Durham girls continue to dominate the second set with skilful play and ‘never give up’ rallies, and Typhoon withers to less than a summer breeze losing 15-25 to the strong Durham Attack team.

In the crossover, we meet our hosts, the Northhumberland Breakers. Team Arif skyrockets to a quick 9-3 start; great 3 ball ending with blistering spikes leaves the Breakers scrambling to find an answer to Attack’s assault. Down 3-12, the Breakers call a T.O. but Attack’s momentum is unstoppable and they bombard the Breakers with superior hitting and speed and finish with 3 unanswered aces to win game 1, 25-07.  After the first decisive win against the Breakers, Team Arif begins to play messy volleyball allowing the Breakers to keep pace. With superb serving Team Arif begins to take control of the game and forge ahead. Unable to stop the advancing Attack team, the Breakers are themselves broken as Team Arif takes the second set 25-11. 

In the semi-finals, Team Arif faces the Ottawa Mavericks. Having played this team in prior tournaments, the team is well aware the Mavericks are a first-rate team. Attack struggles through a few miscues but manages to propel themselves to a 12-7 lead. Attacking the net, and blocking the Mavericks spikes, Attack advances quickly in the intense game ultimately winning 25-16. Set 2 begins with a searing ace for Team Arif and a back and forth battle ensues. With Team Arif down 15-17, Attack calls a timeout.  Team Arif is not losing to the Mavericks, rather they are losing to themselves; a result of their own costly errors. The timeout enables them to regain focus and the girls rally together to hammer out a 25-19 win, earning them the right to compete in the gold medal round.

The gold medal match is against our old nemesis, Aurora Storm Ice.  Missed opportunities on the court make the first set difficult to watch. Team Arif is playing well but costly errors are giving Ice unearned points. Down 14-17, Durham calls a T.O. and then manages a 4 point rally to bring the game to 18-18.  Down again, 18-21, Coach Arif calls a T.O. to try and settle the team however Ice plucks the first set out of Attack’s hands; Attack taking a 22-25 loss in a nail-biter of a game.  In a fast paced second set, the awakened Attack team quickly jumps to a 13-6 lead.  Pushing onward with on court fireworks, Team Arif is alive and wins in decisive fashion 25-12. On to the tiebreaker! A poor start has the Attack team down quickly, 0-3. Team Arif picks up steam and launches an ace serve to initiate their march forward. Both teams grind point for point, 5-5, 7-7, then 9-8 for Attack with a pinpoint hit and a big Attack block at the net. Still, Ice pulls ahead by one point and Coach Arif calls a timeout with the team down by 1 point, 10-11. The teams battle for every point and with Ice in the lead 11-14, an Attack block unfortunately drifts out of bounds and Ice prevails.  After a very long tournament and a hard fought, closely contested final match, Team Arif  takes home Silver; placing an admirable second at the Challenge Cup. 

Girls 14u Arif Win Silver

Well done girls – congratulations on your Silver medal finish!  Thank you Coaches Arif and Vicki for your undying commitment to helping our girls grow, have fun and become the best they can be; individually and as a team.