WATERLOO REGION (February 20, 2020) – On Wednesday night the Saint’s looked to add another championship title as they took on a tough St. Mary’s Eagles squad.
The Eagles opened up each set with a scoring run to give them an early advantage, but in the first two sets, the Saints were able to battle back to win both.
The first set was closed out with two straight St. Benedict’s points; first a huge hit from grade 11 middle Elyse Hutchinson, followed by an ace serve from grade 12 Makayla Raymond.
The Saints stormed back in the second set with six straight points on serves from grade 12 Hannah Tunistra, and ended with another middle attack from Hutchinson.
The Eagles again started with a lead in the third set and was able to withstand the St. Benedict’s attacks. The Saints went on an 8-3 run in the set and eventually knotted up the score at 17-17 then took the lead at 20-19, but Eagles’ grade 10 left side attack Ashlynn Freiburger came up with some huge attacks to regain the lead and win the set 25-23.
With the momentum, St. Mary’s gained the lead early in the fourth set and did not relent. Eagles’ grade 12 middle Paulina Downar and grade 10 right side Nadia Anton were very impactful in St. Mary’s squaring up the match at two sets each, winning the fourth set 25-17.
St. Benedict’s grade 11 Libero Gemma Piraino and grade 11 setter Jenna Elises were great all match, but especially in the fifth set, as they were able to ensure quality passes to set up Hutchinson who finished the match with two huge hits to win the set, match and championship.
St. Benedict’s will advance to the triple-A CWOSSA championships being hosted in Kitchener-Waterloo on February 27th. St. David’s will represent District 8 at the double-A CWOSSA championships in Guelph, while Rockway and Woodland will play in the senior single-A championships in Walkerton.
The junior championship was also contested Wednesday night by the undefeated Resurrection Phoenix and the St. David’s Celtics.
St. David’s opened up the first set with five straight points, and after Resurrection was able to shake off the nerves, they went on to sweep all three sets.
Resurrection’s key grade 10s, Julia Prince, Sierra Philippi and Alexandra Slavcev, were huge factors in the decisive 25-16, 25-10, 25-3 victory.
Resurrection will advance to the triple-A CWOSSA championship being held on February 27th in Kitchener-Waterloo while St. David’s will play in the double-A championship on February 27th and 28th in Walkerton.
Rockway defeated Woodland on Wednesday in a CWOSSA qualifier match in three sets to advance to the single-A championship being held in Walkerton on February 27th.