Perhaps given how closely matched the teams appear to be, the Northern Chill Blue Ice and Northern Chill White Ice would have been fine sharing the bronze medals that they recently contested, head to head, in Orillia at the 6 v 6 Girls McGregor Cup – Trillium D tournament.

Then again, knowing just how competitive these young girls are, probably not.

Either way, the local club and the sport of volley in Sudbury are the beneficiaries as a pair of northern entries secured third and fourth place at the nine team event.

Competing in Pool B, the Blue Ice split their morning set, toppling the Vision Stars from North Bay (25-7, 25-21) but losing to the Barrie Elites Blackout (16-25, 17-25) and finishing second in the group.

Meanwhile, over in Pool C, the White Ice went 4-0, upending the Orillia Suns Super Nova (25-19, 25-15) and the North Bay Lakers Tsunami (25-13, 25-17). If the Chill teams took different paths to the quarter-finals, they would advance to the Final Four in the same manner, with straight set victories.

The Blue Ice followed the lead of their clubmates, taking down the North Bay Lakers Tsunami 26-24, 25-13 while the White Ice bumped the Georgian Cubs Cubbeez to the consolation bracket with a 25-23, 25-18 triumph.

Unfortunately, both teams were dealt the same fate in the semi-finals as the Blue Ice went three sets with the Caspian Titans from Newmarket, defeated 25-18, 13-25, 12-15 while the Barrie Elites Blackout had the number of both Sudbury entries, overpowering the White Ice crew 25-18, 25-19.

That set the stage for the interclub battle that went right down to the wire as the Blue Ice slipped past the White Ice, 14-25, 25-19, 15-13. The Blue Ice squad includes Kylan Batchelor, Laura McNeil, Khloe Warren, Charlie Bower, Avery MacKenzie, Allison Davies, Gianna Scott, Mylia Rivard, Talia Beaudry, Jaylynn Kring, Aila Lavoie, Dylan McGee and team staff Geneviève Rivard (head coach), Tyler MacKenzie (ass’t coach) and Jennifer Warren (manager).

Meanwhile, the 2023-2024 roster for the Northern Chill White Ice team features Daya Bascom, Laken Lemieux, Cloe St Amant, Isabelle Séguin, Lauren Sten, Alexis Lamontagne, Chloe Cothill, Sophia Salmaso, Miia Tuomi, head coach Sheri Gazzola, assistant coach Lucia Salmaso and team manager Pamela Lamontagne.