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SportsOakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010 25 Red Devils ground Hawks in junior volleyball final By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR What the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils lacked in size, they made up for with defence and tenacity. The under-sized Devils won the Halton jun- ior boys Division 1 volleyball championship Monday at Sheridan College, defeating the two-time defending champion Loyola Hawks 24-26, 25-18, 15-11. With the win, OT avenged its loss to the Hawks in last years final, a fact that the Devils Graham Prentice was fully aware of after- wards. Yep, and ironically it was by the exact same score, said the Grade 10 student, who deliv- ered the winning point with a float serve that seemed to bewilder the Hawks defenders and landed in bounds. I was a bit surprised it was an ace, but more happy than surprised, said Prentice. It was just a regular old serve. This years Devils squad may have been one of the largest in Halton when it came to num- bers (OT carried 18 players this season), but it was also one of the leagues smallest in stature. Grade 9 students Johnny Houston, Braden Taylor, Dan Higgins and Patrick Saddler were on the court most of the time, so the Devils couldnt rely on a high-flying power attack. Instead, their calling cards were defence, positioning and hustle. With four games left to go in our season, our guys started throwing themselves at balls, said OT coach Jay Anderson. OT was the only team to beat the Hawks in Halton play this season, posting a 2-1 victory in the final week of the regular season. Anderson saw a few things in that game that he looked to exploit in Mondays final. In junior volleyball, players can quickly lose confidence. When they lose their confi- dence in hitting, theyll go to something, Anderson said. When they abandoned hitting and went to the tip, we made sure our back- court guys shot right up the side to pick up those tipped balls. Hawks coach Claude Malette was impressed with OTs defence as well, though he also added that his teams struggles to pass the ball to setter Chris Bogias were also a fac- tor Monday. Our whole game all year was to attack, and we were struggling to do that in the second and third game, he said. We couldnt get the first pass up as clean as we wanted to. Its pret- ty hard to get your attack going when your set- ter is scrambling to get the ball. Malette expects Grade 9 starters John Whaley and Scott Docherty back with the jun- ior team next year as Loyola tries to make its fourth straight final. The Hawks will lose key starters Spencer Marion and Jake Babic to the senior squad. DIGGING DEEP: Tabe DeVries of the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils digs the ball during Mondays Halton junior boys Division 1 volleyball championship game at Sheridan College. OT downed the two-time defending champion Loyola Hawks 24-26, 25-18, 15-11. ERIC RIEHL / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER PUMPED UP: Iroquois Ridge players celebrate after winning a point during Mondays Halton senior boys Division 2 volley- ball final at Sheridan College. The Trailblazers defeated St. Thomas Aquinas 2-1. ERIC RIEHL / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Ridge rallies to beat STA in Sr. final By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR The Iroquois Ridge Trailblazers were two points away from being swept away in the Halton senior boys Division 2 volleyball final. Half an hour later, they were regional champions. Ridge rallied for a 17-25, 26- 24, 17-15 victory over the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders Monday at Sheridan College in a final that had more than its share of momentum swings. Trailblazers coach Marie Guest said her teams ability to stay together when it trailed the second game 23-22 was crucial to Ridge winning its third boys volleyball championship in school history. It was really a testimony to our kids abil- ity to work together as a team, she said. One of our strongest attributes is we have six strong players on the floor and theyre all able to attack and defend. Its a great group of kids. Ridge had plenty of contributors on the afternoon. Julian Tsui came up with a number of kills, includ- ing on the game-clinching point; Cody Baugh set well throughout the game; Paul Gauthier and Kevin Jarrett came up with big defensive plays; Will Thrall came through with some strong serves; libeiro Scott Corbett provided reliable passing; and vocal leader Jordan Batt also had a solid game offensively. Ridge was third in the Halton standings during the regular season and lost 2-0 to One of our strongest attributes is we have six strong players on the floor and theyre all able to attack and defend. Iroquois Ridge coach Marie Guest See Aquinas page 26