Lourdes to face Ross for D10 senior boys’ volleyball title
GUELPH – The Lourdes Crusaders grabbed a berth in Monday’s District 10 high school senior boys’ volleyball final by surprising the Centennial Spartans in Wednesday’s semifinals.
The Crusaders handed the Spartans a 3-1 setback, winning three sets in a row (25-22, 25-19, 25-17) after dropping a lengthy opening set of the match 27-25.
Lourdes, who’ll be the district’s representative at next week’s CWOSSA A championship tournament, had finished third in the standings at 10-4 while the Spartans had been second at 12-2.
Centennial had twice beaten Lourdes 3-1 in the regular season as the Spartans had won at Lourdes Oct. 5 and at home Oct. 31.
The Crusaders are to play the Ross Royals in Monday’s final after the Royals defeated the Guelph CVI Green Gaels 3-1 at Ross Wednesday.
GCVI took the opening set 25-23 before Ross rallied with 25-14, 25-18 and 26-24 set victories.
Ross had finished atop the standings at 13-1 while GCVI was fourth at 7-7 and had defeated the Gaels twice in the regular season — 3-1 Oct. 5 at GCVI and 3-0 Oct. 31 at Ross.
The final, set for 8 p.m. Monday at the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, is an intriguing one as the Crusaders were the lone team to defeat the Royals during the regular season as they won 3-1 at Ross Sept. 28. However, the Royals were 3-0 winners at Lourdes Oct. 24.
The Royals are the defending champions and they’ve won the title five times in the last six seasons. Lourdes last won it in 2013 after winning it for the first time a year earlier.
It’s nothing new that Ross is in the final as this year’s final will mark the eighth consecutive season the Royals have participated in the championship match. The last time Ross wasn’t in the final was 2014, a year after the Crusaders were last in the championship match. Lourdes didn’t field a team for the 2019 season.
Both teams are to advance to CWOSSA championship tournaments. Ross is to compete in the AAA tournament next Thursday at RIM Park in Waterloo and Grand River CI in Kitchener. Lourdes is to compete in the AA tournament next Thursday at John Diefenbaker Senior School in Hanover.
Junior Boys’ Volleyball
The Ross Royals claimed a spot in Monday’s D10 junior final with a 3-0 sweep of the Lourdes Crusaders in a semifinal match Wednesday at Ross.
The Royals won 25-16, 25-13, 25-15.
The other semifinal between the Centre Wellington Falcons and Centennial Spartans that was to be played Wednesday at Centennial was postponed a day due to the weather and the difficult the Falcons would have had coming in from Fergus. It’s to go Thursday at 4 p.m. at Centennial.
Whoever advances to Monday’s 6 p.m. final at the GGAC is to battle Ross with both the D10 title and a berth in the CWOSSA AAA tournament at stake.
Lourdes is to be the D10 representative in the CWOSSA AA junior tournament at John Diefenbaker Senior School in Hanover next Friday.
- Guelph Sports Journal