On Saturday March 5th, the 17 Upangas attended their first (and long overdue) OVA Championship tournament of the season.
Entering the day as the #6 seed, the team started the day off with a straight sets victory over the #7 ranked Venom Cobras. For the second match of the day, the Upangas faced the top seed of the tournament and 24th ranked Scorpions Telsons. After splitting the first two sets, the Upangas clicked into high gear and took the third set 15-9 to secure top spot in their pool.
In the quarter finals, the Upangas faced a scrappy and unorthodox Caspian Current team that threw everything at them and pushed the team to its limits. After dropping the first set in an ugly fashion, the Upangas regrouped and took the second set 25-19. In the third and deciding set, the Upangas rediscovered their form and closed out the opponent with a 15-9 win.
The Upangas drew Phoenix Blaze for their semi-final, and once again took a first set loss to kick themselves back into playing form. The team rallied and pulled out a second set victory to land them in their third straight three-set match. However, the Upangas took only a handful of minutes to dismiss the Blaze, taking the deciding set 15-1 after opening the set 13-0 behind the stellar serving of their setter #8 Keira G.
In the Gold Medal match, the Upangas faced the Scorpions Telsons for top honours for the day. The first set was back and forth throughout with both teams picking away at each others’ defence. With the Upangas up 24-21 in the first set, the Scorpions scratched and clawed for every ball and would not let the Upangas close them out, ultimately taking the first set. In the
second set, the Scorpions were took the match into their own hands, played their game and didn’t give the Upangas any room to breathe. A straight sets victory for the opponents handed the Upangas their first loss of the day.
Although the team fizzled towards the end of the day, the Upangas should be very proud of their accomplishment. To come second place in a tournament that they were ranked sixth is a great achievement. The team now awaits a trip to Maumee, OH for a JVA tournament on April 2-3, and eagerly awaits the updated OVA rankings to see where they will rank for the Ontario Championships being held at Paramount Fine Foods Center in Mississauga, Ontario from April 21-23, 2022.
Congrats to the Upangas for yet another top three finish in an OVA event!
