Finishing one slot higher than their pre-tournament seeding likely did little to appease the competitive juices of the Northern Chill 16U Icebergs girls team following McGregor Cup – Trillium White H tournament action recently in Pembroke.

Battling their way into the final four in the morning and early afternoon, the Sudbury squad came up a little short in their final two outings, just barely missing out on returning north with some hardware.

Ranked fifth entering the event, the 16U Icebergs split their Pool B games against a pair of opponents from the nation’s capital, outlasting Ottawa Fusion – White 26-28, 25-19, 15-11 but giving way to Ottawa Fusion – Red, 21-25, 14-25.

The northern girls cruised through their quarter-final matchup, sweeping aside Lanark United Velocity, 25-12, 25-13 and ensuring themselves of a shot at a medal later in the day.

Unfortunately, a three-setter against the eventual tournament champion REACH Excel from Toronto would not go their way, beaten 23-25, 25-21, 7-15 and seemingly taking a great deal of the wind from their sails. A rematch in the bronze medal affair saw Lanark United upend the Northern Chill, 25-19, 25-10 to claim third place.

The 2025-2026 edition of the Northern Chill 16U Icebergs features Willow Baillargeon, Olivia Cormier, Jillian Fitzgerald, Mariama Jalloh, Rowyn Kasunich, Ella Kolari, Ariel Roy, Jillian Martin, Lauren McLeod, Mya Switzer, Macy Velcich and Hailey Villeneuve.

Leading the coaching staff this year are Tammie McLoughlin (head coach), Jill Schweyer (assistant coach) and Cindy Switzer (manager).