|
Sarnia, ON -
They had to wait till Monday night, but the St.
Clair Colts defended their junior boys volleyball
championships, with a 3-2 victory over the St.
Christopher's Cyclones.
It's the
tenth time the Colts have won the junior title since
2000, and this years was primarily done with a young
team of grade 9's.
"I am so
excited of my team, my rookie team," said Colts
coach Sue Harrell. "I had one returning grade 10,
all the rest were 9's and two 10's who didn't play
before. The last game and a half we had all new
people who learned so much this year and worked
their butt off."
The young
Colts were put the test, as an earl 13-7 lead in the
third game turned into a 19-19 draw, followed by the
Cyclones taking the lead in the game for the first
time with a 20-19 lead, and increasing it to a four
point lead. St. Clair would close the gap to 24-24,
but Sam Ellanor would come with an ace on serve to
win the third match for the Cyclones.
The
Cyclones also won the second set 25-22, while St.
Clair won the first set 25-23, putting the Cyclones
one game away from capturing the title.
But the
fourth set would again see the Colts jump out to a
lead of the Cyclones, doubling the Cyclones score
for most of the match. Working off kills by Joey
Vanderwal and Travis Moore, St. Clair got to a 16-8
lead. But St. Clair would cut it to five with two
points from Ellanor with a block and a kill, plus
tip over plays from Richard O'Neill.
But
Vanderwal would help finish the set off with two
kills, and Ryan Tanner an ace, as St. Clair forced a
fifth match with a 25-20 victory in match four.
T he
Cyclones rallied to an early 4-2 lead, but St. Clair
would eventually take the lead on kills, as Travis
Moore had a point and Tyler Whitbread had two kills
to put the colts ahead 8-5.
From thee,
Vanderwal would take over the scoring for St. Clair,
scoring three in row with two kills and a tip over,
putting St. Clair just four points away from
victory. After a Cyclones miss hit, and a Jason
Verwegan push for a score for St. Clair, Vanderwal
would finish the match off with two more points, his
fifth of the match, to give the Colts the 15-8 fifth
and deciding set victory and the Championship.
With
a young team, Harrell credits nerves as a reason the
Colts were not able to close out the third match and
fell behind. But the team learned a lot through four
tournaments and a full regular season and dug out a
victory in what Harrell calls one of the best games
in her coaching career.
For the
second year in a row the Cyclones have watched St.
Clair win the finals. And while Cyclones coach Sean
Stroobendt thought his team played great, he felt
the Colts played even better.
"I thought
we played a really good game. Obviously St. Clair is
a great team," he said after the game. "Honestly, we
did a lot better then I anticipated and I'm really
proud of the guys."
About his
team not finishing off the Colts with a 2-1 match
lead, Stroobendt said he was not upset with his team
play and the Colts just elevated their play.
"I don't
think we got out played," Stroobendt said. "I think
we played our best. There best was just a little bit
better that day."
Follow Sarniasports on twitter
@sarniasports.
Get up to the minute news, and live scores
as they happen from local events. |
