Things looked a little bleak for the Northern Chill 16U Norsemen following four straight setbacks in morning pool play at the Bugarski Cup – Select B tournament in Pembroke last month – and not a whole lot better following a three set pre quarter-final match.

Thankfully, the local team salvaged some very positive takeaways later in the day, rallying to claim their final two encounters and vaulting their way right back to the middle of the pack by the time the final volley was struck.

The 16U Chill played the Venom Mayhem (Richmond Hill) super tough in their early morning affair, beaten 24-26, 23-25 but struggled to stay close to a Venom Mambas side that eventually earned silver, the Chill losing 10-25, 21-25.

Facing the third place team in Pool B in a cross-over game, the Sudbury lads worked overtime opposite Unity Nova from Woodbridge, dropping to 0-3 with the scoresheet reading 27-25, 28-30, 12-15.

Tired of being saddled with the “L”, the locals bested the Leaside Panthers in three sets (25-19, 23-25, 15-10) to advance to one final battle on the consolation side of the draw, closing out the tournament with perhaps their best performance of the day, a two-game sweep of the Maverick Bulls from Ottawa, 25-22, 25-22.

The Northern Chill U15 Norsemen 2025-2026 edition combines the collective talents of Budhik Sharma, Ben Humeniuk, Miguel Gauthier, Carson Gatien, Brendan Deacon, Anthony Paravano, Travis Dickie, Duncan Mullin Santone, Xavier Aubertin, Joshua Wadrobert, Kale St-Onge, head coach Mikaio Walia, assistant coach Davis Mackinnon and team manager Sean Dickie.