Finck’s ‘aces in the hole’ lift Gemini senior volleyball girls to fifth-set victory

Gemini Hailey Lindie (right) powers a kill against St. Thomas Parkside. (Jeff Tribe photo)

Jeff Tribe, Post Correspondent

It was the long way around.

But a trio of euchre-playing Tillsonburg Gemini senior girls’ volleyball players did finally get the ‘ace in the hole’ reference.

“I’ve heard it, but I don’t know what it means,” confessed Megan Mullen, admitting she was not a poker player, the card game where the expression originated. For the record, ’ace in the hole’ references a player holding an ace, an advantage based on it being the highest card in the deck - in the hidden hole card position.

“I love euchre,” interjected Kherington Spanjers.

“Love it,” agreed Mullen.

“My family hosts euchre tournaments - so I love it (too),” said Meesha Finck.

Finck did provide the Gemini with a pair of literal aces in a hole in the St. Thomas Parkside Stampeders defence Tuesday, Dec. 2 inside Glendale’s Community Gym, an advantage pushing their lead in the fifth and final set to 12-6.

“Served two aces, right down the middle,” credited Spanjers.

“They were ‘tanks,’” added Mullen.

“They were rockets,” Spanjers concluded.

Finck, who has played at the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) level with the St. Thomas Spikers and Chaos, added a solid defensive dig, setting up a kill finished by Hailey Lindie to up Tillsonburg’s lead to 13-7. The Stampeders got back to 10 before the Gemini ’trumped’ (a more recognizable euchre reference) Parkside for a 15-10 win, salvaging the fifth and final set of the match.

Tillsonburg hadn’t started badly ‘out of the gates’ in its first Thames Valley Regional Athletics match of the season said coach Raelene Stockmans, displaying some good defence in its first set. However, dropping that one 25-15, they came out flat in a 25-10 second-set loss. Parkside wrapped up the match victory with a 25-14 win, taking the fourth set 25-9.

The Gemini were scheduled to be back in action the following day in Woodstock. Challenged by illness and work conflicts preventing as full a practice roster as she would prefer, Stockmans looks forward to building on the team’s potential as the season progresses.

In the interim, the Gemini weren’t about to fold their collective hand, keeping things positive.

“Even though we lost, we were still having fun,” said Spanjers.

“Only going to get better,” Mullen added.

TVRA SCOREBOARD

Senior Girls Volleyball

Wednesday, Dec. 3

Woodstock CI 25, 25, 25; Gemini 15, 13, 16

Tuesday, Dec. 2

Parkside 25, 25, 25, 25, 10; Gemini 15, 10, 14, 9, 15

Junior Girls Volleyball

Wednesday, Dec. 3

Woodstock CI 25, 25, 25; Gemini 16, 20, 8

Gemini 25, 27, 21, 25; Parkside 23, 25, 25, 14

Senior Boys Basketball

Wednesday, Dec. 3

Woodstock CI 53, Gemini 43

Tuesday, Dec. 2

St. Thomas Parkside 65, Gemini 45

Junior Boys Basketball

Wednesday, Dec. 3

Woodstock CI 62, Gemini 51

Tuesday, Dec. 2

St. Thomas Parkside 65, Gemini 45

Girls Curling

Wednesday, Dec. 3

Woodstock Huron Park 6, Gemini 4

Wednesday, Nov. 26

Gemini 8, Parkside 2

Boys Curling

Wednesday, Dec. 3

Aylmer East Elgin 13, Gemini 2

Wednesday, Nov. 26

Parkside 7, Gemini 3

Girls Hockey

Wednesday, Dec. 3

St. Thomas St. Joe’s 3, Gemini 0

Thursday, Nov. 27

East Elgin 4, Gemini 0

Boys Hockey

Wednesday, Dec. 3

Gemini 4, East Elgin 1