The Northern Chill Volleyball Club U16 girls’ teams have clearly set the tone for the slew of provincial playdowns this month as both the Blue Vortex and the Black Vortex medalled on opening weekend.

Slotted into Division 3 Pool B to kick-off the event, the Blue Vortex swept past three different opponents on day one, topping the Norfolk Chaos Rush from Norfolk County (25-23, 25-20), the Rose City United from Windsor (25-22, 25-23) and the EVP Eagles from Oakville (25-19, 25-19).

Day 2 featured more of the same as the Blue Vortex again showed the way in their power pool bracket, knocking off the Markham Revolution Fury (25-16, 20-25, 15-5), FCVC (Forest City Volleyball Club) from London (25-19, 25-18) and the Niagara Rapids Elite from St Catharines (25-20, 24-26, 15-11).

Earning the second seed in the Division 3 Tier 1 elimination bracket, the Sudbury squad powered past the London Sharks Great Whites (20-25, 25-23, 15-6) in the round of 16 and the Kingston Rock Purple (25-11, 22-25, 17-15) to advance to the final four.

With a medal now in sight, the northern girls assured themselves no worse than silver, stopping EVC for a second time (25-23, 15-25, 15-12) in the semis. In this particular division, the top two teams made their way to the final, unscathed as the #1 ranked Thundercats Nexus from Vaughan outlasted the second seeded Chill, 25-23, 25-23.

The 2023-2024 edition of the Northern Chill 16U Blue Vortex Girls team features Danika Bouffard, Avery Egers, Avery Gauvreau, Maya Herst, Salma Ibrahim, Mara Kahl, Jayda McKee, Rylee Patreau, Andi Sokoloski, Jade Toner, Madisyn Vendetti, head coach Joanna Castonguay, assistant coach Claudette Loranger and team manager Tammy Egers.