Canaries Win Charles County 12’s Invitational on March 21, 2009.
The CVC Canaries finished first in the Charles County 12’s Invitational on March 21, 2009 defeating the MVSA Sonic 14-25, 25-23, 15-11 in the finals.
The Canaries dropped the first game 25-14 and won the second game 25-23 to force an exciting third and final game. The Canaries broke a tie at 9 and took a 13-9 lead behind the serving of Carly Smith. MVSA pulled within 13-11 before the Canaries won the last two points and claimed the tournament title.
The Canaries defeated Metro-Atlantic in their first match of the day 23-25, 25-15, 15-6. The Canaries started slowly in the first set falling behind 19-14 before they rallied behind the serving of Ariona Rodriguez. Rodriguez (4 aces) provided the Canaries with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 22. Metro-Atlantic won 3 of the last 4 points to win the set 25-23. Jahaira Ipanaque (3 aces) broke open a close second set with a 7-0 service run to stake the Canaries to an 18-10 lead. The Canaries received fine defensive play from Smith and strong serving from Gabrela Castro-Rodriguez (2 aces) and their lead was never threatened in the 25-15 win. The Canaries completed the comeback winning the third and deciding set 15-6. Castro-Rodriguez led a 5-0 run to put the Canaries up 9-6. With the Canaries leading 10-6, Smith served out the match with a 5-0 service run.
The victory had the Canaries at 1-0 heading into the second match of the day.
The Canaries ran their match record to 2-0 with a 25-17, 25-13 victory over Charles County. Caroline Tussing (2 aces) broke open a close game with an 8-0 service run to give the Canaries a 16-8 lead. Meagan Hitesman followed with an ace of her own to expand the lead to 19-10. Sara Suhrcke and Meghan Kelley controlled the net in the victory. The second set saw Smith go on another service run to secure the win. She went on a 10-0 run to break open a 14-13 game. During the run she recorded six (6) aces. Casey Stencil and Jennifer Mandl also recorded aces in the 25-13 win.
The Canaries finished pool play with a 3-0 record after their 24-26, 25-15, 15-7 win over Eastern Pan Handle (EPAN). The Canaries rode the serving of Kelley to a 14-9 lead. During the run Kelley and Rodriguez recorded kills. EPAN went on a 7-0 run of their own to take a 24-21 lead. Kelley’s two (2) aces tied the game at 24 before EPAN took the final two points for a 26-24 win. The Canaries started quickly in game two behind Smith’s 5-0 service run for a 10-6 lead. Fine passing by Catie Chervenak (2 assists) supported Castro-Rodriguez 6-0 service run to put the Canaries in control at 18-9. Castro-Rodriguez had two (2) service aces during her run. At 20-15, Chervenak (2 aces) finished the game with a 5-0 run of her own. Stencil added one (1) kill in the 25-15 win. The third and deciding game saw the Canaries get strong setting from Kelly Surkovich. Once again Smith broke open a close game with another service run. She took control of the game at 10-7 and never gave EPAN a chance to respond leading to the 15-7 win. The offense was led by Kelley and Mandl, each recording one (1) kill each.
The Canaries defeated the Kinetic 12 Sparks 25-18 and 25-23 in the semi-final match. The Canaries jumped out to a 10-0 lead behind the serving of Castro-Rodriguez. Kinetic rallied to tie the game at 13 before the Canaries took control of the game with a 4-0 service from Meagan Hitesman. Kills by Kelley and Castro-Rodriguez completed the 25-18 win. The Canaries started quickly in game two with a 6-0 service run from Rodriguez. Once again Kinetic rallied and this time took the lead at 13-12. Kinetic extended their lead to 20-14 before the Canaries began their comeback. Rodriguez served two (2) aces for the 24-23 lead and the Canaries won the match 25-23.
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