We had a lucky draw on our first tournament of the new year.  In Kingston, a first game start at 10 o’clock was the perfect beginning. Our first pool match was against the Toronto Diamonds. After a rusty start we quickly pulled ahead and kept our lead in both sets winning by 25:12 and 25:16. Our next opponent, the Toronto Aces proved to be tougher than the last team. We were coming from behind but good serving and better blocking finally paid off and we beat the Aces 25:21. In the second game we could not recover from a few bad opening points and dropped the set 19:25. In the third, the momentum flipped upside down and we were unstoppable, taking it (15:7).

We finished first in our pool and had to wait three hours until our next match. Several parents went shopping downtown, while the girls remained cooped up in the cafeteria.  They quickly turned the boring hours into a massive dance party. From laughing and silliness to serious game mode, the girls were finally ready for play offs.

In the quarter-final match, we faced the 17U Durham Attack team. After a sleepy start, we showed that we can serve, hit, block and dump, as needed, and won by 25:15. In the second game, a few mistakes allowed Attack to edge closer, but in the end we pulled off the win, 25:23.

In the semi-finals, we played one of the home teams, Pegasus Venom. A strong start and good hitting guaranteed our win (25:19). In the second, we quickly lost our momentum and as our serve receive diminished, so did our big lead - losing the set 22:25. But we weren't finished yet. We shook off the bad play and confidently won the third game (15:8). Winning that game guaranteed our move up into the Championship Division and our place in the finals. But we wanted it all.

After a short break we were ready for the gold medal match against the 17U Toronto Aces. We played hard and it resulted in a 25: 20 victory in the first. The beginning of the second game was a tight battle for each point but we found the fire and pulled ahead. We didn’t rest till the whistle blew and until the score was 25:13. This was a well deserved golden victory after accurate serving, solid defense and impressive attacks.

Congratulations ladies!