St. Clair Women’s Volleyball Win OCAA Bronze
The St. Clair women’s volleyball team won the OCAA Bronze on Saturday in North Bay after beating the Durham Lords 3-0 in a match that was much tighter than the score showed. It is the second bronze medal in three years for the Saints.
This East vs West matchup featured some dynamic offensive weapons and some supreme defenders on both sides. The first set was neck-and-neck the entire time with some amazing and timely digs by Durham’s Hannah Amos and reigning player of the game from last night’s match, Julie Ann Milling (Woodstock; Woodstock Collegiate Institute) for the Saints. Neither team would give an inch throughout the set providing some very tense and exciting points for the families and friends that travelled to North Bay to witness the match up and provide a sea of green in the bleachers. Timeouts were called by both teams late and players returned to the court knotted at 23-23. Back-to-back miscues for the Lords gave the Saints the first set 25-23.
Chantal DeVlugt (Wyoming; LCCVI) for the Saints started off the second set with a powerful kill shot down the line! Teammate Kiana Gelissen (LaSalle; Sandwich Secondary) fed from the positive momentum by blasting an ace at the service line giving the Saints an early 5-2 lead. Durham’s Pasha Ormerod responded with a timely block in the middle that had her team energized. Gelissen and Te-Anna Stephenson (Whitby: Sinclair Secondary) for the Saints respond mid-set with some huge offensive points that extended their teams lead late. The Saints rolled to a second set victory 25-19.
Kills from Durham’s Joensen and St. Clair’s DeVulgt got fans from both sides into set three. This one was back and forth from the onset. Down by two, the Lords go on a late set surge to earn themselves in a 2 point lead forcing a St. Clair timeout. Alexa Armstrong for Durham helped maintain the Lords momentum by coming up with a huge block out of the time out. The Saints responded, and tied the set at 22 after being down 22-19. After a fierce and tension-filled final stretch, the Saints came away with the victory in straight sets winning the final set 25-23.
The player of the game for St. Clair was Stephenson who had 12 kills on 26 attacks and 5 digs. DeVlugt had a big game as well with 9 kills, 2 service aces and 6 digs.
Setter Kim Quintanilla (Windsor; St. Joseph’s) was named a Tournament All-Star for her great play in all three matches distributing the ball well in each match.
The Durham Lords finished in 1st place in the OCAA East with a record of 18-0 while the Saints ended the season in 3rd place in the West with a record of 13-5. St. Clair is currently ranked 4th in Ontario while the Lords were ranked 1st in Ontario and 4th in Canada.
Saints head coach Jimmy El-Turk was extremely pleased with his team’s game under tough circumstances. “It was a really fun day to be a coach in one of the hardest games in sports. Our group of amazing young women showed character and decided to seize the opportunity they had to bring home a medal. I am most happy that our graduating athletes were able to win their last game as a Saint.”
Fanshawe, who beat the Saints 3-1 in the semi-final went on to beat Humber 3-1 to win the gold and will represent Ontario at the CCAA Nationals.