Centre Wellington Falcons capture junior volleyball title
GUELPH – The Centre Wellington Falcons claimed their first District 10 high school junior girls’ volleyball championship in 17 years Tuesday when they swept the Bishop Macdonell Celtics in the final at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre.
“It feels really good,” Centre Wellington coach Dana Machin said. “I was actually here with my boys in the fall and we lost so this feels like good redemption. I have won with both boys and girls, but it’s been a while.”
The Falcons took the final in three consecutive sets, winning 25-23, 25-21, 25-19.
“Consistency. Whoever made the least mistakes,” Machin answered when asked the key for both the final and the season. “Just developing and gelling over the season and working hard. We weren’t at the top the whole season. We were in fifth place and then fourth place and then we ended in third so that’s where we were tonight when we started.”
The Falcons had finished the regular season in third at 9-5 while Bishop Mac had finished first at 13-1, but the loss was to Centre Wellington by a 3-2 score Jan. 15. Both teams entered the playoffs on three-match winning streaks.
For Centre Wellington, the Falcons got better as the season went along.
“That’s what I told them,” Machin said. “We don’t need to be at the top at the beginning, we just need to be somewhere in the middle of the pack. We need to climax at the end of the season, that’s where we need to be.”
But were the Falcons surprised that they ended up sweeping the league final.
“Not overly. I feel bad saying this, but I knew we were the better team,” Machin said. “It was just a matter of being in this venue I knew if we could have the consistency with the crowd and the atmosphere, I wasn’t sure mentally if we could hold it together, but I knew that we were the better team.”
Team MVPs in the final were Morgan Gemmell of Centre Wellington and Audrey Lamb of Bishop Mac.
The final’s held at a neutral site, one that has different sightlines and plenty of room compared to the high school gyms where walls are usually pretty close.
“And we’re the juniors, we’re always in the small gym,” Machin said.
Both teams advance to CWOSSA tournaments later this week as Centre Wellington goes to the CWOSSA AAA tournament Friday at RIM Park in Waterloo while Bishop Mac is to compete in the CWOSSA AA tournament Friday at Waterloo’s St. David Catholic Secondary School.
- Guelph Sports Journal