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N.L.V.A. Midget Elite Volleyball

Last week the NLVA sent four Provincial Midget Elite volleyball teams to Sherbrooke, Quebec to compete in the Quebec Espoir Tournament. The three-day tournament, which ran from July 21 to July 23, saw action in both boys and girls divisions with teams participating from Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

Team one in the boys group had a tough draw in round robin play winning three of their eight games, finishing fourth in the division. Team one posted the following scores: vs Quebec (15-25, 20-25), vs Appalaches (25-26, 13-25), vs Saq-Lac (25-22, 25-14), vs Sud-Ouest (19-25, 16-25). Team two faired slightly better winning half of their games in the round robin, finishing with a 4-4 record and third in their division. They posted the following scores: vs Est du Quebec (25-22, 22-25), vs Outaouais (21-25, 13-25), vs Centre du Quebec (13-25, 25-17), vs New Brunswick (25-19, 25-16).

Team one went into the playoff round and unfortunately lost both of their matches, against Outaouais and against Launaudiere. Team one posted the following scores: vs Outaouais (13-25, 18-25, 12-25) and vs Launaudiere (17-25, 25-16, 11-15). Team two managed to come away on a brighter note winning against Sud-Ouest but unfortunately losing theirother playoff match against Rive-Sud. Team two posted the following scores: vs Sud-Ouest (25-14, 17-25, 15-13) and vs Rive-Sud (14-25, 13-25, 17-19).

On the girls side, Team one ran into some tough competition winning only one of their eight round robin games, finishing fifth in the division. They posted the following scores: vs Lanaudiere (14-25, 20-25), vs Rive-Sud 2 (20-25, 12-25), vs Sag-Lac 1 (25-22, 20-25), vs Abitibi-Temis (17-25, 15-25). Team two also had a difficult time, winning only three of their 10 round robin games, finishing sixth in their division. Their scores were: vs Laurentides (6-25, 19-25), vs Rive-Sud 1 (10-25, 25-21), vs Sag-Lac 2 (20-25, 11-25), vs Mauricie (25-21, 22-25), and vs New Brunswick (12-25, 25-19).

After round robin play both teams moved into the playoffs where they each dropped three matches. Team one posted the following scores: vs Laurentides (17-25, 10-25), vs Est du Quebec (20-25, 19-25), vs Outaouais (13-25, 19-25). Team two posted the following scores: vs Abitibi-Temis (14-25, 20-25), vs Ch. Appalaches (9-25, 16-25), vs Sud-Ouest (15-25), 14(25).

From Sherbrooke, all teams travelled to Sydney, Nova Scotia to compete in the Midget Eastern Elite Championships, which ran from July 28 to July 29. In general, the teams faired much better at this tournament, which featured teams from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

On the boys side, NF White had a good round robin finishing with a record of 3-1, good enough for second in the division. They posted the following scores: vs NB Green (25-13, 25-22), vs NS (23-25, 25-22, 15-10), vs NF Red (18-25, 25-21, 4-15) and vs NB Burgundy (25-15, 25-19). NF Red had a great round robin going undefeated, with a record of 4-0 and finishing first in the division. They posted the following scores: vs NB Green (25-22, 15-25, 15-5), vs NF White (25-18, 21-25, 15-4), vs NS (25-16, 19-25, 15-12) and vs NB Burgundy (25-20, 25-4).

Following round robin play, both Newfoundland teams qualified for the semi-finals. NF White had to play against NS but unfortunately dropped the match (25-20, 25-21) placing them in the bronze medal match (results for the bronze medal match were unavailable at the time of publication). NF Red, on the other hand, beat NB Burgundy to earn a spot in the finals (25-17, 25-20). NF Red captured the gold by defeating the host team in straight games (25-12, 27-25). Daniel Norman of Port Rexton and Shane Byrne of Goose Bay were named to the tournament�s all star team. Adam Gilbert of Cupids was named the tournament MVP. Congratulations guys!

On the girls side, NF Red had a decent round robin finishing with a record of 3-3, good for fifth in the seven team division. They posted the following scores: vs NB Green (18-25, 12-25), vs NS Grey (25-16, 25-17), vs NS Blue (25-14, 25-23), vs NB Burgundy (17-25, 27-29), vs NF White (25-19, 25-14) and vs NS White (21-25, 19-25). NF White faired a little better than NF Red winning the same number of matches, with a record of 3-3, but winning two more games in the process. Thus NF White ended up third in the division. They posted the following scores: vs NB Green (25-18, 15-25, 12-15), vs NS Grey (25-20, 25-14), vs NF Red (19-25, 14-25), vs NS Blue (25-19, 18-25, 14-16), vs NB Burgundy (25-23, 25-20), and vs NS White (25-15, 25-18).

Following round robin play NF Red failed to make the semi-final round and had to play placement matches (scores for these matches were unavailable at time of publication). NF White, on the other hand, had qualified for the semi-final round where they faced NS White. NF White fought hard but dropped a close one to the host (28-30, 25-27) putting them in the bronze medal match against NB Burgundy. Again NF White put out a good effort but lost the match (25-15, 25-23). Cecile Fagan of Kelligrews and Shalanda Phillips of Manuels were named to the tournament�s all star team. Congratulations girls!

2000 08 04                                          3:00 p.m.