The North Bay Youth Volleyball Club - Lakers Riptide 15U girls' team captured the Bronze Medal at the Ontario Volleyball Association McGregor Cup this past weekend. The team played in Barrie Ontario, as part of the Championship Division.
The Lakers were ranked 6th going into the tournament and finished last in morning pool play. This led them to the crossover game where they defeated Niagara Rapids, 2-0 (25-18, 25-21).
In the semi-final game, the Lakers squared off against EVP Merrigan Eagles, of Oakville. Unfortunately, the Eagles came out on top in 2 sets. The Lakers continued to play strong in the final match and overtook Scorpions Dynamite from Cambridge in two sets 2-0 (25-15, 25-16) to win the bronze medal.
"This tournament provided some valuable learning opportunities for our team around the importance of match preparation and believing in yourself even when things are not going your way.” said Head Coach Duane Culin, “I don't think any of us could have predicted the outcome of the tournament based on our pool play performances. To the girls' credit, and despite paving a difficult road to the medal rounds, they did improve as the tournament progressed showing more consistency in the cross-over, semi-final, and bronze medal matches. The coaching staff has identified several things we will be focused on over the upcoming weeks before we play our next tournament in March. We are very pleased that we will remain in the Championship division as the competition is strong and it forces us to bring our best to every match."