Manitoulin Volleyball is alive and well!
Manitoulin teams placed well in their Rainbow District Board Championships once again. As far as the girls’ side, Little Current, C.C. McLean and Central Manitoulin sent teams to the highly competitive event Sudbury squads often have the advantage of intramural and league play to slide right into the championship round. Manitoulin sides, long a power on Manitoulin, have also been showing the top of their game in their game amongst the top B Division teams in the region.
In championship play two weeks ago, in the Thursday tournament, the Manitoulin boys sides from both Mindemoya and Gore Bay actually made it to the semi-finals in their separate semis. The CMPS Eagles—Zack Bond, Zach Cooper, Jack Bridgeman, Aiden Case, Seth Verboom, Rylan Carrick, Liam Larivere and Noah Thorpe—fought late into their match yet succumbed to the Lively Hawks.
Gore Bay’s Colts, on the other side, played Nesbitt in the semi-finals and lost a close game 25-23 after leading for most of the game. Nesbitt went on to beat Lively in the championship so it was a little bittersweet for both Island squads. Congrats to: Hugh McLaughlin, Malachi Joseph, Eli Lock, Jaydan Hayden, Kaleb Austin, Avery Nodecker, Corbin Best, Ryder Lockyer, Cody Campbell, Blaec Quinlan and Coach Dan Smith.
The girls’ tournament had to be postponed to this past Monday due to a board-wide “snow day.” Undeterred, teams from Little Current, Mindemoya and Gore Bay charged into Val Caron to serve notice.The CMPS Eagles were undefeated in round-robin play right through to the finals against McLeod P.S. to finish second in the Board. Hats off to Coach Lisa Pennie and players: Lexi Young, Jordan Graham, Annie Balfe, Ava Assinewai, Naomi Hill, Sadie Bridgeman, Mya Balfe and Abby Heinz.
Little Current, also strong, lost to McLeod in the semi-finals. So LCPS placed 3rd overall. Hats off to Mackenzie Green, Morgan Green, Saraya Eshkawkogan, Zee Toulouse, Kalli Jones, Ella Corbiere and Coach Tim Lockeyer. The CCM Colts girls’ played excellently but were edged 25-23 in their first playoff game (against Princess Anne), again after leading most of the game (*unfortunately no roster was available at press time).
Co-ed volleyball creates a new vibe!
The Four-Directions’ Complex in Aundeck Omni Kaning played host once again to Island-wide volleyball. In this iteration, schools divided up their boys’ and girls’ teams into one or two co-ed squads, in available A and B divisions. It is always an interesting conglomeration of girls who are often (on average) stronger and more mature female players and often less potent, younger male players. Coaches this year needed to dip into Grade 4 hopefuls to even put a team on the hardwood.
On the A court, coach Lisa Pennie and her powerful team were undefeated right through the tournament to win bragging rights for 2019. The team featured powerhouse girls Ava Assinewai, Annie Balfe, Naomi Hill, Sadie Bridgeman and her indispensable boys Liam Larivierre, Aiden Case, Noah Thorpe and Rylan Carrick!
CMPS completed the duo-fecta by also taking the B-side as well.
Unlike their fellow Eagles, A side, the Bs had to struggle in most of their games, especially against the Little Current Coyotes who the Eagles had to crawl from behind in all of their games with very intense action By the meagerest of margins, Mindemoya secured the title, only after a narrow, two games to one, epic battle with rallies descending into tennis matches (a coach’s worst nightmare) but one that saw a desperate win, gladly accepted. Way to go: Jordan Graham, Seth Verboom, Abbie Heins, Aiden Case, Lexi Young, Zack Bond, Mya Balfe and Jack Bridgeman.
Hockey off their Rock
Mindemoya’s Delaney Bridgeman and her Sudbury Lady Wolves Bantam Tier 1 team sailed through Sudbury’s 2019 Snowflake Challenge, finishing the round robin a perfect 4 and 0, outscoring their opposition an aggregate 23-3. The girls faced the Timmins Falcons in the final and came through with a decisive 3-0 win to take the championship. Congratulations Lady Wolves!
Frosty Cup news!
Congratulations to the team Northern Storm who won the Women’s division of Gore Bay’s annual Frosty. The team featured: Ashlyn Hare, Deidre Debassige, Harmony Kaiser-Fox, Jesse Aguonie, Whittier Gauthier, Jolene Debassige, Kasandra Lauzon, Roxxanne Mandamin, Savannah Corbiere and Taz Lewis.
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