Bears win Big in Ottawa

This past weekend the St. Joseph-Scollard Bears senior girls' volleyball team participated in their third tournament in two weeks. On December 3rd the girls participated in the Christ the King invitational in Georgetown. Following pool play the Bears were ranked second going into the playoffs with only the host Christ the King ranked ahead of them. In the semi-finals the Bears defeated Bishop Reding two games to one to advanced to the final against the host school. The Bears put up a great fight digging up many hard hit balls but in the end the hosts beat the Bears 20-25,21-25.

The Bears had little time to rest as they traveled to Mentor College in Mississauga for their second tournament in as many days. Again the competition was strong. The Bears finished second in their pool with their only loss coming at the hands of St. Thomas Aquinas of Oakville by scores of 23-25, 23-25. This set up a rematch against Christ the King in the tier one semi-finals. The Bears made a few adjustments and again played very strong defense, but once again fell short by scores of 21-25, 22-25.

Following a week of NDA competition the Bears were on the road to Ottawa to participate in the two day De La Salle High School Invitational. Again, competition was very strong with many "AA", "AAA" and "AAAA" OFSAA contenting teams in attendance as well as a number of powerhouse teams from Quebec. Following the first day of competition the Bears finished second in their pool which qualified them for Tier two play on Saturday. Following re-pooling play on Saturday the Bears qualified to meet Hill Crest from Ottawa in the quarter finals. The game was moved up by two hours without the Bears being notified until game time. Unfortunately, there were not enough members present to start the game so the Bears forfeited the first game due to a time violation. The Bears had to start the second game of the best of three down 1-0. This seemed to spur the Bears on and they played their best game of the tournament winning the second game 25-13 forcing a third game. The Bears never looked back eliminating Hillcrest 15-4. In the Semi-finials the Bears met up against Regiopolis Notre-Dame from Kingston. The two teams had split during pool play of Friday. Regiopolis Notre-Dame took the first game 21-25 but the Bears clawed their way back into the match winning the second set 25-16 . In the third set the Bears fell behind early down 8-4 at the switch over but again came back winning a closely contested match 15-13 advancing them to the finals. In the finals they met up against Glebe from Ottawa. Glebe had a very strong middle attack but the bears were able to shut it down with some great blocking and back court defense. The Bears took the first game 25-22 . The second game Glebe took advantage of some unforced errors by the Bears winning 16-25. Glebe came out strong in the third and was in control up 8-4 at the half way point of the game, but once again the Bears would not back down. Again their defense was the difference. The Bears were able to completed the comeback and beat Glebe 15-11 to take home the gold.

The Bears now turn their attention to the NDA loop with three games scheduled this week.

Team includes:

From Left to right: Coach Dave Buckle, Jackie Jennings, Jenna Valenti, Kelsey-Jane Lamprecht, Meghan Buckle, Sofia Benitez, Sarah Silveri, Haley Field, Sarah Pellanda, Abby Crown, Steph Jennings and Jenna Davidson. Missing - Bridget Tancredi and coaches Jill Jackson and Joe Butkevich

Submitted to BayToday.ca