The North Bay Youth Volleyball Club Lakers (NBYVC) captured three bronze medals at the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) Provincial Championships held in Toronto on April 20-25.
The Lakers 13U Rapids, who were playing in Division 2 Tier 1, finished the two day pool-play ranked 11th. During the playoff round, they went 2-1 and then defeated the SC Black Bandits (Winsor-Essex) 2-1 (15-25, 25-21 and 16-14) to win bronze.
Head Coach Michelle Georgiev says: "These girls showed incredible determination and grit throughout their three-day Ontario Championship debut. They never gave up. Their positive attitudes and mental toughness were impressive.”
The Lakers 14U Splash, who were competing in Division 3, Tier 1, went 1-2 on day one, 3-0 on day two and defeated the Durham Rebels in 3 sets (25-13, 24-26 and 15-9) on day three to capture the bronze.
"The girls battled hard all weekend, after loosing a hard fought semi final they were able to pull through with a win in the bronze. I could not have asked for a better result to end the weekend,” said Head Coach Jessica Curtis.
Meanwhile the Lakers 15U Riptide competed in Division 2, Tier 1 and finished the two day qualifier with a perfect record at 6-0. The playoff round saw them lose in the semi-final match against the Titans Hera (GTA), only to defeat the Scorpion Surge (Cambridge) to capture the bronze (25-16, 12-25, 16-14).“I am proud of their performance and very proud they were able to improve their finish from last year by 10 positions.” Said Head Coach Duane Culin, “This is a special group of girls that continues to head in the right direction and I’m so glad the were able to experience this level of success on the biggest stage in club volleyball.”
Other teams that competed over the weekend were Lakers Loch Ness (13U), Lakers White Caps (15U), Lakers Squall (16U), Lakers Tsunami (17U) and Lakers Surge (18U Boys).
Club president, Merv Shantz says “to have 3 of our NBYVC teams win medals at the Ontario Championships is unprecedented. Hundreds of teams from across the province are competing, and teams really have to bring it all together when it counts. We are so proud of all of our teams that competed at the OC’s and can only hope for an equally impressive season next year.”
The Lakers Splash (14U) are continuing to prepare for the upcoming National Championships in Ottawa, May 5 -7.
Lakers Rapids: Back Row: Assistant Coach Grant Ross, Head Coach Michelle Georgiev, Victoria Penner, Abagail Legault, Rylee Champagne, Evelyn Ross, Lauren Daly, Assistant Coach Sean Daly
Front Row: Laikyn Aspin, Amelia Gergi, Brooke Georgiev, Annie Joy Buell, Ella Silverthorn
Lakers Splash: Back row left to right: Assistant Coach Dave Brown, Alexie Dorval, Victoria Boisvert, Makayla Bole, Head Coach Jessica Curtis, Madison Amyotte, Meghan Winrow, Janie Senecal, Assistant Coach Kris Amyotte
Front Row: Brenna Gervais, Rylie Brown, Taylor Brown, Amyssa Zwolak, Elliana Giddens
Lakers Riptide: Back row left to right: Michelle Georgiev (Assistant Coach) ,Lisa Culin (Assistant Coach), Emma Culin, Gabi Kendall, Kiersten Daly, Rhea Gould, Ana Riley-Vachon, Maddy Gravel, Duane Culin (Head Coach)
Front row: Emily Scott, Kailynn Georgiev, Milah Koch, Izzy Aubin