The Sudbury girls’ volleyball contingent will be sending a pair of teams to the all-Ontario high-school championships as both of the city finalists claimed their respective northern banners over the weekend.
The Horizon Aigles doubled up on their SDSSAA triumph, winning nine straight sets in Sturgeon Falls and earning another trip to OFSAA “A” Championships thanks to a 25-19, 25-21, 25-21 victory over the Franco-Cité Patriotes.
Horizon Aigles - senior girls: Manon Charbonneau, Shae St Onge, Selena Sauvé, Hannah Kirwan, Fannie Gauthier, Emily Winsor, Emma Perreault, Brooke Dugas, Jasmine Mills, Camille Barr, Kayley Lemaire, head coach Patrick Gervais and assistant coach Lynn Mageau-Gauthier.
The Confederation Chargers duplicated that feat at the junior level, taking down the Central Algoma Hsukies 25-12, 25-13 in North Bay.
Confederation Chargers - junior girls: Harlym Triff, Ava McLinton, Alexia Savoie, Malin Brunette, Kaylee Baillargeon, Mara Kahl, Aliya Heinrichs, Avery Gauvreau, Lex O'Dell, Elizabeth Lynds, head coach Craig Thompson and assistant coaches Rachel Brown and Sydney Jokinen.
After dropping the city final in straight sets to Horizon, the Champlain Requins ensured that they would also enjoy that chance to face some of the best teams in the province after sweeping aside the St Mary’s Knights 25-15, 26-24, 25-23 in the NOSSA “AA” final in Sault Ste Marie.
A true multi-sport athlete in every sense of the word, graduating senior Kelly Clark suggested that overcoming the disappointment of their last SDSSAA encounter was not necessarily all that difficult for a crew that has really grown together in recent years.
“We really focused on making sure that we stayed positive,” said Clark, who also excels in hockey, cross-country and track – and likely about a half dozen more sports at the Rayside-Balfour school. “We have a really good team and really good coaches.”
While volleyball was definitely not her first sport, Clark and others really came along to help support the experienced club volleyball talent the team could unveil in the form of Olivia Nicholls and Andrea Bernard.
“Passing was one of the things that I struggled with – but that came with practice and lots of help from our coaches,” said Clark. "It's a team sport so it's really important that we all work together."
"We all have to focus on each other to make sure that we all get better in practices."
Champlain Requins - senior girls: Kelly Clark, Anna Houle, Olivia Nicholls, Kahlan Bellaire, Haven Johnston, Kalie Goudreau, Andrea Bernard, Ella Dionne, Emma Mathieu, Charlotte Castonguay, Abby Laurin, Kaylee Seguin and coaches Guy Perreault, Lindsay Digby, Dan Trepanier and Kaylee Trepanier.
The AA junior banner also returned to Sudbury as the St Charles College Cardinals defeated the St Mary’s Knights 25-22, 25-22, 15-10.
The “AAA” tournament at Lo-Ellen was a nice one for the St Joseph Scollard Hall Bears from North Bay, taking both crowns that were on the line.
The junior Bears set the tone with a 25-22, 19-25, 15-9 win over the Horizon Aigles and the senior reps followed suit, downing the Confederation Chargers 25-12, 25-16, 25-17.
Bringing together the smallest of schools, the NOSSA Girls "B" Volleyball Championship in Espanola may have featured the best final of the lot as Notre-Dame du Sault needed the full five sets to dispose of the Sacré-Coeur Griffons, 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 23-25, 15-10.
