CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Try as they might neither Colonel Gray Colonels volleyball teams could hold back the waves that were the Three Oaks Axemen and the Kensington Torchettes at the Prince Edward Island School Athletic Association AAA men’s and women’s gold medal matches on Friday.

Kensington sped past the Colonels 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-13) to earn the women’s gold, while Three Oaks blew by Colonel Gray 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-6) for the men’s gold medal.

In the women’s game, Casandra MacLeod and senior Hilary Bernard were a ferocious blocking wall against the smaller Colonels and routinely frustrated the host squad, despite the best efforts of Gray senior Abby Hyndman, who had several kills and was named to the tournament all-star team.

MacLeod, also named to the all-star squad, had two blocks and kill in the second set that gave Kensington a 19-13 edge and turned the frame the Torchettes’ way. Maddy Rogers served out the set.

In the third stanza, MacLeod blasted five kills past Gray blockers and had the final tip to win the set and the game.

But the Grade 11 student didn’t take anything for granted in the match.

“Never. We just kept playing, just kept having fun and (didn’t) get too cocky that we had it,” said MacLeod after winning her first AAA title. “I’m just proud of all my teammates. It was a lot of time and a lot of effort all season. It’s nice it came out with something good.”

For Jenny White, Gray head coach, it came down her team’s inability to execute consistently.

“It was a pretty competitive game. We had a tough time getting our passes going,” said White. “The girls showed a lot of heart. They stayed in it the whole time.”

On the men’s side, TOSH’s Ethan Boyd assaulted the Gray defence with kill after kill, especially in the third set where he wracked up six winners and two blocks as the Axemen’s 13-0 run closed out the set and the match.

Boyd, a 2017 Summer Canada Games indoor and beach volleyball team member, hurt his ankle at the Games and wasn’t a go for the season until just after school began.

Good thing it healed, too, as he was part of a senior trio (Logan Cameron, Kamden Arsenault) who now haven’t lost a game in three years together and have three straight gold medals.

“I’m pretty pumped about that. Definitely it’s the most special (of the three titles). My best memory will probably be Kamden getting all those serves. Unbelievable, so unbelievable.”

But the win wasn’t easy. Colonel Gray jumped out to 5-1 and 8-4 leads in the first and second sets, respectively, before TOSH gathered itself and roared back.

“We just knew we deserved to get those points. They were ours for the taking,” Boyd said.

Mistakes cost Gray points as much as TOSH took those points. And that, said Gray head coach Max Arsenault, hurts the most for the senior-laden team. Six of the 12 graduate this this year.

“I told them (afterwards) to take this game with a grain of salt. Disappointing we didn’t play up to our level. TOSH played great, but we didn’t play up to our potential,” said Arsenault. “It’s something even coaches sometimes can’t understand. We didn’t tale advantage of our chances. We got down a little a too quick and struggled to let stuff go. There’s always a learning curve.”

The Charlottetown Rural Raiders won the women’s bronze medal with a 3-1 (25-8, 22-25, 25-19 25-23) win over the Bluefield Bobcats, then Bluefield men got revenge with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-22) victory over Rural in the men’s bronze game.

KINKORA – There was an electric atmosphere in the Kinkora Regional High School (KRHS) gymnasium on Thursday night.
That was a result of host Kinkora winning the P.E.I. School Athletic Association Intermediate A Girls Volleyball League championship banner for the second year in a row.
Kinkora, comprised of students from Amherst Cove Consolidated School in Borden-Carleton, Somerset Elementary in Kinkora and Grade 9 students at KRHS, prevailed 3-1 in a thrilling gold-medal match against Souris that had fans on the edge of their seats, especially in the deciding fourth set. Scores were 22-25, 25-13, 25-17, 26-24.
“The last set went back and forth,” said Kinkora coach Jonny Martin in indicating just how evenly-matched the two finalists were. “We went up 20-16, they clawed right back to make it 20-20, then we went up 24-20, and they came back to tie it up at 24, and then we snuck it out with two quick points at the end.”
When asked to describe the atmosphere in the gym during the final, Martin commented, with a chuckle, “It was a loud gym, and it was fun.”

Semifinals
The semifinals, which were played Thursday afternoon, featured Kinkora defeating Belfast 3-1 (21-25, 25-9, 25-19, 25-22), and Souris overcoming a 2-0 deficit to pull out a five-set marathon over Summerside Intermediate School 3-2 (21-25, 16-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-11).
Summerside Intermediate defeated Belfast 3-0 (25-16, 15-13, 25-13) in the bronze-medal match.

McCardle MVP
Grade 9 student Shaelynn McCardle of Kinkora was selected as the most valuable player of the provincial championship tournament.
“Shaelynn certainly deserves it,” stressed Martin. “She was our setter, and one of our top players all year.
“She settled everything down on the court, is an excellent server and an excellent setter setting things up for the middle hitters.”
Martin said one key to Kinkora’s success was its defensive play.
“We played really, really well,” he added. “We had a lot of nice defensive plays, and we made it hard for our opponents to get points.”
The provincial championship capped a memorable season for Kinkora, which went 9-1 in league play, undefeated in a tournament in Charlottetown and the playoffs. This year’s Kinkora squad was comprised of two Grade 7s, three Grade 8s and seven Grade 9s, who will be moving onto the senior ranks next year.
“They were a pretty strong bunch,” said Martin. “We had a real good group that is in Grade 9.”

Top players
PEISAA Intermediate A Girls Volleyball League awards:
Provincial Championship
All-Stars
Mia Martell, Belfast
Alyssa Richard, SIS
Brooke Robertson, Souris
Allee Clinton, Souris
Faith Reeves, Kinkora
MVP
Shaelynn McCardle, Kinkora

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The Stonepark Tigers defeated the Queen Charlotte Coyotes in an epic five-set battle of skill to capture the Prince Edward Island School Athletic Association intermediate AA girls’ volleyball gold medals.

The Tigers jumped out to an early 2-0 sets lead (25-12, 25-18) before the Coyotes stormed back to tie the match (20-25, 24-26). Stonepark won the fifth and deciding match 15-11.

Tournament all-stars Ella Hickey and Seven McHatten led the way for Queen Charlotte, while all-star Alexis Power and tournament MVP Jenna Cyr helped the Tigers to gold.

Summerside Intermediate defeated Kensington 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-11, 25-15) to win the bronze-medal match. All-star Ellie Malayny led Summerside, while Rachel Phelan earned all-star honours for Kensington.

Boys

Tournament MVP Connor Ellsworth and all-star Emmett Gaudette led the ME Callaghan Cougars over the East Wiltshire Warriors 3-1 (25-21, 25-8, 25-27, 25-19) to capture the boys’ championship banner.

East Wiltshire put up a strong fight throughout and all-stars Neill Shaw and Thomas Yeo played big games for the Warriors.

The Queen Charlotte Coyotes defeated the Birchwood Cobras 3-0 (25-20,25-12, 25-23) to capture their second consecutive provincial bronze medal. Birchwood was making their first appearance in the provincials since 1991.

Tournament all-stars were Jeremy Norman for Queen Charlotte and Tyler Taylor for Birchwood.

Evangeline prevails in bronze-medal match

KINKORA – Parity was the word of the day at the 2017 P.E.I. School Athletic Association Senior A Girls Volleyball League championship.
Three of the four matches played at Kinkora Regional High School required a fifth and deciding set, and the championship match went four hard-fought sets. When all was said and done, the Francois Buote Jaguars were presented with the championship banner after defeating the Charlottetown Rural Raiders in the gold-medal match 3-1 (18-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-15).
“The girls arrived ready (for the final),” said Francois Buote head coach Maxime Duguay. “We lost the first set, but I told the girls you need three to win. They rallied, fought very hard and really hit the kill shots in the last set.”
Earlier Saturday, both the Jaguars and Raiders were pushed to the limit in their respective semifinals. Rural prevailed over the Evangeline Coyotes 25-14, 25-18, 20-25, 19-25, 15-11 while the Jaguars outlasted Grace Christian in a marathon match – 22-25, 25-21, 25-16, 22-25, 20-18.
“The first match was nerve-racking,” admitted Duguay. “It was intense.
“We knew Grace Christian was going to be tough to beat because we played them during the year, and they were getting better and better. We didn’t expect them to be that strong, but we managed to get a win.”

 

 

Evangeline
In the bronze-medal match, Evangeline overcame a 10-5 deficit in the fifth set to edge Grace Christian 3-2. Scores were 25-15, 20-25, 19-25, 25-18, 15-12.
A key point in the final came late in the third set, when the Jaguars won the point on a long rally to take a 19-17 lead en route building a 2-1 lead.
Duguay said the Jaguars were able to play a strong “power” match against the Raiders.
“The girls had awesome serves with a lot of punch, battled for every ball and we didn’t give up,” said Duguay.

 

 

MVP
Grade 11 Jessica Turbide, who plays the power position for the Jaguars, was selected the most valuable player of the provincial championship.
“It was a total team effort,” emphasized Duguay, who proudly added Francois Buote is building a volleyball tradition at the Charlottetown-based school.
“We have a great volleyball culture in our school,” he added.
With the Jaguars only graduating three players this year – Jenkins, centre Ariane Bélanger and power Miryam Palowska – Duguay feels the potential is there for Francois Buote to be right in the thick of things next year as well.
“The core of the group is staying, and we may get some good players from the intermediates,” said Duguay. “We are going to be strong next year as well.”

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Top Performers
PEISAA Senior A Girls Volleyball League provincial championship tournament awards:

All-Stars
Kaitlyn Milligan, Evangeline.
Zoe Good, Grace Christian.
Selina Mahajer, Charlottetown Rural.
Andrea Burns, Charlottetown Rural.
Sarah Jenkins, Francois Buote.
Most Valuable Player
Jessica Turbide, Francois Buote.

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Three Prince County teams pursuing PEISAA intermediate AA volleyball ch’ships

Semifinals go Friday, with medal games Saturday