2019 Adidas Cup Brings Opportunity For Women's Volleyball To Prove Themselves
Oshawa, Ontario has been the sight of some great performances for Women's Volleyball in their tournament history at Durham College's annual Adidas Cup. The Blazers came away as a semi-finalist in 2012, surprising many in the OCAA when a relative unknown moved through the round-robin with only one defeat and placed top-four in the mid-season challenge.
CMU returned to Southern Ontario in 2018 with high expectations, but a rather disappointing result. The Blazers did manage to take one win from their tournament but seventh-place of twelve teams didn't match their ambition.
"We definitely felt that we didn't perform up to our potential last year," said fourth-year captain Jana Klassen, who was one of seven returning players determined to make up for a sub-par performance last January. Klassen leads the MCAC in kills in her first full season as an outside hitter, with 95 scored through eight matches played, helping the Blazers to a 7-1 record. "This year we have so much depth that I know we can be more competitive and I am really looking forward to getting back on the court there to see what we can do this year."
The task will certainly not be an easy one as CMU is grouped with the nationally ranked Fashawe Falcons (#5) who boast a perfect OCAA record of 9-0 through the first half of their conference schedule. The Blazers will meet Fanshawe on Friday at 7:00 EDT but they begin their tournament earlier that day against the Seneca Sting (2-7).
"Playing consistently through the whole tournament would have to be our ultimate goal," said Roy Rodriguez who will be making his first trip to a CCAA competition this weekend as a head coach. "We've done some good things coming into the Christmas break and if we can stay disciplined to keep doing the things that have made us successful, I think we can certainly play with some of the top teams in the CCAA."
The Blazers will have a good chance to face some of those programs this weekend in Oshawa. Besides Fanshawe, the Adidas Cup boasts three other top OCAA programs in the Algonquin Thunder (7-2), Canadore Panthers (7-1) and the host Durham Lords, who lead the East Division with an undefeated record of 9-0.
Victoria MacNeil represents a new face to the CMU Women's Volleyball roster this season but is a veteran of three previous season shared between the US National Junior College Conference and USports and is looking forward to getting her feet wet in her first competition against teams from the OCAA. "I think if we play our game, not worrying about who is on the other side of the court, we are a really good team," said the 6'2 middle who spent 2017-18 with the Lakehead ThunderWolves. "We just need to keep focused on controlling the areas of the game that we are in control of. The performances and results will keep coming for us."
Pool play will wrap up on Friday, with crossover action and Consolation Finals taking up most of the day in Oshawa on Saturday. The Adidas Cup Final is slated for Sunday afternoon at 12:30 EDT.
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