December 14, 2019 – Barrie, ON: On this rainy December Saturday, the Crusaders began their day on court two ready to play. Our first opponents were the West Nipissing Wild team. Right on time with a 9am start with Sarah serving two aces to kick things off. Two hits from Wild tied up the game at 2-2. A quick hit by Bronwynn and a hit by Kelsi brought our lead to 4-2.  Great digs from Bella and a kill from Sam increased our lead to 10-07. Taya served a few zingers and our lead increased again to a score of 12-09. With Sydney’s consistent serves and great defence, the Crusaders took a 18-11 lead. Good plays saw us with the win of 25-15.

A change of sides saw a great dig by Jamie and a kill by Kelsi to claim the first point. Tied up at 7-7 with a solid swing by Sierra. A good dig by Jennisse and a solid hit by Sydney renewed the team’s focus. Several net violations however saw us trailing at 09-12.  Deb called a time out to regroup the girls. Some hits were going out of bounds and after some substitutions the Rebels tied up the score at 13.  Strong serving from Sydney saw us take the lead at 17-14. Strong defence coupled with great offence brought us to a 22-15 lead. Sierra served one that dropped just over the net and got us the final point with a win of 25-17.

With snow now falling the girls had a quick break and then were back on the court to face the Venom Vipers. The teams were trading point for point with an early score of 4-4. Playing a little inconsistently we were down early at 06-08. Deb called the first time out at 06-10. A solid block for the first point back on the court however, was followed with some out of bound hits. The girls bounced back and with consistent serving and solids blocks the girls took the lead at 14-13.  Venom now took a time out with DRVC up 18-14. Venom was challenging the Crusaders and Deb called second time out while we were up 20-19. After a few strong serves the Venom coach called their second time out with Crusaders leading 23-20. Sweet kill by Taya to end the game with a 25-21 win.

The second set started with some missed serves and balls hit out and coach Deb called time out at 04-09. This seemed to re-energize the team resulting in awesome cross court hits and solid defence tied the score at 10. Trading points back and forth the score was now tied at 15. Good plays made for a tight game with Crusaders down 18-20.  Keeping focussed the girls tied the game at 21 and Venom called a time out with our lead now at 23-21. Strong serves to end the game with a 25-21 win!!!  Undefeated in pool play!!!!

After a long break (lunch/by) we were facing the Georgian Cubs. It was a strong start with excellent serves and kills resulting in a 15-07 lead. Using the entire court and quicks to take a lead of 22-09. Squeaker serve just rolling over the net finishes the game with a win at 25-10.

Submitted by Deb Routledge
Rebels Crusaders