Tournament Cancelled

The 2003 Junior Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia marked some major firsts for TVC. For the first time in the clubs' 11-year history, we qualified two teams in the Open division. Our 17-Lewis team finished third at the MEQ to garner a spot in the Open field. The 15-1 team received an at-large bid by virtue of its fourth-place finish at the Tampa Bay qualifier.

It was an exciting trip to Atlanta for 5 TVC teams. In addition to 17-L and 15-1 who played in the Open division, 17-C, 16-1 and 14-1 qualified in the Club division. 17-L finished 14th out of 28 teams-losing a three way tie to advance to the gold challenge matches. 15-1 finished 19th out of 28 teams-a very commendable finish for their first trip to the Open Division.

14-1 and 16-1 both discovered that your finish on the first day of pool play often determines your fate for the entire tournament. Both teams went 1-2 on Day 1 and only lost one other match the entire week to finish the tournament 8-3. Both teams won Flight 3. The level of play at Nationals this year was outstanding, as both teams had incredibly exciting matches on Day 4 to come away with a victory in Flight 3.

The highlight of the trip to Nationals for TVC was the incredibly wonderful play and finish by the 17-C team. This team, without a player over 5'11" (with their shoes on), played with unimaginable heart, determination, and intensity. 17-C finished as runner-ups in the 17 Club division. This was the highest finish for a TVC team at Nationals as well as the highest finish for any team in Northwest Ohio. They accomplished this feat by winning their first 8 matches without dropping a game. Their first match of the tournament was against Fusion, the #2 seed of the tournament and picked the week before by prepvolleyball.com as the predicted winner. Seeded 34th in the tournament, TVC 17-C beat Fusion in two games, 27-25 and 25-23. They proceeded to win their pools on Days 1 and 2 and were undefeated until their final match of the day on Day 3. They dropped a 3-game thriller to Golden Bear, but had already insured their spot in the gold tournament bracket.

Facing their season-long rival, Dayton Juniors 17-Beam, 17-C came out on fire and beat DJ easily in the first game. DJ came back and won the second. Down 11-13 in Game 3, TVC poured it on and won the game and the match with a 16-14 victory. Next on the agenda was the semi-final match against Delta Valley Pink. The girls had a little history with this team, having lost to them in 3 at the NEQ in Baltimore. They lost the first game and were down 5-0 in the second game, and it appeared that the Cinderella run at Nationals was just about over. Well the team that adopted the motto "Too Good To Be Two" stepped it up and won a 3- game thriller.

The week ended as it began, with TVC 17-C facing Fusion. This time it wasn't pool play, it was for the National Championship. Both teams came out a bit tight and TVC saw an early lead evaporate. They lost the first game 25-18. Regrouping, they came back and won the second 25-16. It was all down to one game to 15. After jumping out to an early lead at the switchover 8-4, the girls traded points with Fusion. They were up 14-11 with the serve and saw the match slowly slip away. Tough serving, timely blocks, and a few key kills by Fusion ended the match at 16-14. It was a great run for the girls and Coach Cromer.

It should be noted that at one time or another every play on TVC 17-C played like they belonged on the All-Tournament Team! Special congratulations to Ashley Barr, Ceara Barr and Nikki Pierzchala who were selected to represent TVC on the All-Tournament Team.

Congratulations to all of the TVC players and coaches for a great season and for representing the OVR so well in Atlanta.

Nick Nystrom (nystrom@ovr.org; posted 2003-08-05 16:59:20)